empty sump start - Biggest blunder EVER…..

If there is metal in the oil or oil filter then you start the inspection process to figure out where it is coming from.

You mention if it is running fine why would you do anything, because over time that tiny bit of damage that you do not audibly hear now can progress and get worse and cause further damage resulting in a higher cost of repair.

For example GM 5.3 AFM engines are known to have lifter failures typically they progressively get worse over time, if you catch the lifter failure early you can get away without causing damage to the camshaft and save a good chunk of money by only having to do the lifters.

Running fine doesn't necessarily mean it is fine.
I’ll change the filter and cut it open. Hopefully it’s clear.
 
Gotcha. U need not to step on brake pedal to close the window. I remind myself all the time.
Sad part is, I’m well aware. Just a bone head moment. The feeling I had when I realized I had started it with no oil is indescribable……

Going to check filter in a couple days. Praying no tiny bits of metal or glitter. Based on most comments here and some research, plus a conversation on FB with a childhood friend that’s a mechanic (worked at GM for 25 years.). He said don’t worry about it. He asked if I had warmed up engine before draining oil. I always do that, so it had just been run. He said with no load, 20 seconds or so isn’t any big deal. Then he said don’t do it again! Lol
 
Back when I was 18, in 1997, and didn’t know anything about cars and hadn’t started changing my own oil (but did, however, believe in the superiority of Mobil 1), I would usually take my car, a 1987 Nissan Maxima 5-speed, to a local quickie lube place for oil changes.

As I mentioned, I’d often go buy Mobil 1 oil and take it to them to have them put in it, and many times, I’d also buy a bottle of Prolong or Slick 50 for them to pour in as well.

(Hey, gimme a break, I was 18 and if you were around back then, you remember the Slick 50 and Prolong ads where they showed an engine running with no oil, having supposedly been treated with the additive… I was taken in by the advertising at the time and believed in it.)

Anyway, once, when I left the Valvoline Instant Oil Change to make the 8-minute drive to the parents’ house, I noticed a pretty bad knocking from the engine. I didn’t put 2 and 2 together and neither did my dad, who told me to drive it to Firestone. Well, I did, and my dad followed me in his car and picked me up.

A short while later the phone rang and they said, “Mr. Pifer, that car didn’t have any oil in the engine and the oil drain plug was missing, but we replaced the drain plug and put oil in it, and it started up and quit knocking.”

I went and picked the car up and drove it for thousands and thousands more miles until I wrecked it and then sold it in wrecked condition to a dude for like $1200. I was happy, considering I only gave $5500 for it a few years before (I bought it from a schoolteacher and it only had about 50,000 miles).

Moral of the story is that engines can take a lot of abuse, including running for several miles with essentially no oil. Well, at least, that one could :)

And, no, I never went back to that VIOC to ask for any compensation.

Another funny story. About 2 months ago my sister had a 4 wheel brake job done at that same Firestone (Germantown, TN). 4 days later she was driving down a boulevard at about 40 mph when suddenly the rear driver’s side wheel detached, rolled across the median into oncoming traffic, which had to slam on their brakes to avoid hitting it.

I told her to take it to the Ford dealership and have them send the bill to Firestone. The bill was over $5000.
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Back when I was 18, in 1997, and didn’t know anything about cars and hadn’t started changing my own oil (but did, however, believe in the superiority of Mobil 1), I would usually take my car, a 1987 Nissan Maxima 5-speed, to a local quickie lube place for oil changes.

As I mentioned, I’d often go buy Mobil 1 oil and take it to them to have them put in it, and many times, I’d also buy a bottle of Prolong or Slick 50 for them to pour in as well.

(Hey, gimme a break, I was 18 and if you were around back then, you remember the Slick 50 and Prolong ads where they showed an engine running with no oil, having supposedly been treated with the additive… I was taken in by the advertising at the time and believed in it.)

Anyway, once, when I left the Valvoline Instant Oil Change to make the 8-minute drive to the parents’ house, I noticed a pretty bad knocking from the engine. I didn’t put 2 and 2 together and neither did my dad, who told me to drive it to Firestone. Well, I did, and my dad followed me in his car and picked me up.

A short while later the phone rang and they said, “Mr. Pifer, that car didn’t have any oil in the engine and the oil drain plug was missing, but we replaced the drain plug and put oil in it, and it started up and quit knocking.”

I went and picked the car up and drove it for thousands and thousands more miles until I wrecked it and then sold it in wrecked condition to a dude for like $1200. I was happy, considering I only gave $5500 for it a few years before (I bought it from a schoolteacher and it only had about 50,000 miles).

Moral of the story is that engines can take a lot of abuse, including running for several miles with essentially no oil. Well, at least, that one could :)

And, no, I never went back to that VIOC to ask for any compensation.

Another funny story. About 2 months ago my sister had a 4 wheel brake job done at that same Firestone (Germantown, TN). 4 days later she was driving down a boulevard at about 40 mph when suddenly the rear driver’s side wheel detached, rolled across the median into oncoming traffic, which had to slam on their brakes to avoid hitting it.

I told her to take it to the Ford dealership and have them send the bill to Firestone. The bill was over $5000. View attachment 277217View attachment 277218View attachment 277219
Wow. Glad everyone was okay.
 
I did this myself recently. I was putting the drain plug in… left the key in my pocket… rolled just right, engaged the remote starter that we never use. Took me a bit to figure out how to turn it off—and the blasted thing restarted itself!

I really need to empty my pockets before crawling under vehicles. But until now it was just annoying to lock/unlock the vehicle.
 
I did this myself recently. I was putting the drain plug in… left the key in my pocket… rolled just right, engaged the remote starter that we never use. Took me a bit to figure out how to turn it off—and the blasted thing restarted itself!

I really need to empty my pockets before crawling under vehicles. But until now it was just annoying to lock/unlock the vehicle.
I guess it happens to a lot of people. How long do you think it ran without oil? Everything been okay since?
 
It will be fine. While others think that not pre filling the oil filter is the end of the world even if it’s horizontal or inverted lol
I saw a guy trying to prefill on a Raptor 3.5 EB but the filter runs 100% horizontal. His solution was to not fill all the way. Sure, it kinda works if you're The Flash.

I prefill all vertical filters and gave up on everything else. It just wastes oil and makes a mess. If the manufacturers cared, they should have hung the filter vertically.

But yeah, no quickie lube in the country is doing this, even when they're vertical. And those vehicles motor on for hundreds of thousands of miles.
 
I’ll change the filter and cut it open. Hopefully it’s clear.
You could consider a magnetic drain plug. Obviously it'll only catch ferrous, but that's what the really important stuff is anyway.

It's a REALLY quick way to look for some potential problems. But the presence of a little bit doesn't mean gloom and doom. And of course there could/will be stuff caught in the filter that you won't see on the drain plug.
 
You could consider a magnetic drain plug. Obviously it'll only catch ferrous, but that's what the really important stuff is anyway.

It's a REALLY quick way to look for some potential problems. But the presence of a little bit doesn't mean gloom and doom. And of course there could/will be stuff caught in the filter that you won't see on the drain plug.
That’s a great idea! Can you recommend a brand to buy? I know there are some cheap ones out there to avoid.
 
That’s a great idea! Can you recommend a brand to buy? I know there are some cheap ones out there to avoid.
Someone just started a thread, probably in General Automotive. I don't really see a problem with cheap ones. Even if the magnet goes MIA, it's not going far.
 
I saw a guy trying to prefill on a Raptor 3.5 EB but the filter runs 100% horizontal. His solution was to not fill all the way. Sure, it kinda works if you're The Flash.

I prefill all vertical filters and gave up on everything else. It just wastes oil and makes a mess. If the manufacturers cared, they should have hung the filter vertically.

But yeah, no quickie lube in the country is doing this, even when they're vertical. And those vehicles motor on for hundreds of thousands of miles.
Yeah both my GTI and Grand Cherokee have inverted cartridge oil filters so I guess I’m just out of luck lol
 
Trick on Audi 2.5 V6 TDI (the worst engine Audi ever made Did not make it to US). To get oil out of all hydraulics, you run engine dry for 10-15sec.
As someone mentioned, there are additives sticking and took that load.
 
I would not even bother. Nothing to see there. Just drive it.
Shavings? Really? From where? The rings scraping the cylinders? Lol.
I’m sure you’re right, but I’ll feel better doing it just to put my mind at ease. Reality is, even if I find some dust of glitter, what exactly can I do about it? Nothing probably……

I drove it about 15 miles today, including 4 on highway. Gave it a little “spirited” run. Nothing to report. Seems perfectly normal and nice and quiet at idle and load.
 
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