This is what happens when you do not change your oil

[Matt Attallah]

Siezed already. Was a PITA to turn the crank to get to the nuts that holds the flywheel to the torque converter. Had to dissamble the whole bottom half...

[Mike AA]

About a week and a half ago my dad and I were trenching a ditch with our trencher and after about 1/2 hour of it stopping on its own and making lots of noise it literally shot apart, leaving a 2 inch hold in the crank case. At home when we tried starting it we heard loud scraping/metallic noise, checked the oil, completely empty, we think that guy who used it a month before ran it all/most all day without oil then returned it not noticing it being different. We now have to hunt down a new one or replacement engine. Its difficult to find a 9.2 Hp engine with the bolt configuration.

-Mike

[sanddrag]

That reminds me I need to change the oil in my minibike and gokart engines too. They are both full but the oil in both is very black colored.

I once ran the minibike engine when it was low on oil (it had been sitting a long time and I forgot to check it before my run) and it siezed up right while I was riding it but a little WD40 down the sparkplug hole and some vise grips on the crankshaft quickly remeied that problem.

Hooray! My 4000th post What a milestone eh?

[Jay H 237]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

..........but a little WD40 down the sparkplug hole..........

ATF transmission fluid and Marvel Mystery oil are also good to pour in cylinders to help free stuck pistons.


Sanddrag's story reminded me of our old LawnBoy mower my father had back when I was little. It was an oil and gas mixture, 15 year old mower (built sometime in the early 70's) when it started having problems where it would seize up after running a short time. It would start and run with no problems when it was cold but after pushing it around for a few minutes, when the motor started warming up it would start making noises and then shortly freeze up. You couldn't pull the cord at all. After letting it cool you could pull the cord easily and it would start again like nothing ever happened.
My father bought an Airens after that and placed the old LawnBoy out by the curb for the refuse truck to take away. It was only by the curb for a half hour or so when a guy in a pick-up stopped and put it in the back of his truck. I always wondered what he thought of the mower when he got it home, "Darn! This thing started on the first pull and runs great! I can't believe they just tossed it away!" Then it seizes up on him.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Matt,
Thanks for the great pictures. I am guessing that this engine went longer than 10K without an oil change. Probably was running hot as well and may have been sitting for some time without any attention. I assume you are replacing, not rebuilding right? I can imagine what the bearing surfaces on the camshafts must look like. Had a '58 Chevy 235 six, that clogged the oil ports to the top side and siezed the front rocker arm. It broke the rocker arm shaft and just laid it down on the head. Since it was the intake valve, the engine backfired through the carb something awful.

[KenWittlief]

I wonder if its possible to tell if the engine ran dry?

when oil has been used for a long time it gets thinner (lower viscosity), not thicker. The oil filter should remove any sludge.

Maybe the engine was running rich? O2 sensor shot? Valve fouled out throughing a lot of carbon into the oil?

Sadly many people think, when the oil light comes on it means you have to stop at the next gas station and buy another quart of oil

what it really means is, you better turn the engine off in a matter of seconds, because when the oil light comes on your engine is running bare metal against metal.

I figured out once (did the math) that a tie rod bearing has about 10 tons of force on it during NORMAL operation (when the piston fires). With no oil pressure on the bearing it doesnt last very long.

[Jay H 237]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

Sadly many people think, when the oil light comes on it means you have to stop at the next gas station and buy another quart of oil

what it really means is, you better turn the engine off in a matter of seconds, because when the oil light comes on your engine is running bare metal against metal.

Ken, you brought up a good point about the idiot lights. By the time the idiot light comes on the problem(s) has(have) already developed and damage may have been done. With a gauge you could normally see before a problem develops..............as long as you were keeping an eye on the gauge, which no one really does constantly while they drive.

[KenWittlief]

usually if your engine is low on oil the light will come on for a few seconds when you turn a corner quickly, or stop quickly, and the oil pump sucks air for a second

then your odds of no damage are good if you stop the car, and get the quart of oil that you ALWAYS carry around in your trunk, and put it in the engine

its the occasional failures, like when you forget to put the oil filler cap back on, and you are driving down the highway at 75mph, straight and steady, and eventaully the oil pump sucks air, and nothing but air. Those are the conditions that will melt your bearings to the crankshaft.

I think some of those new additives they have will protect your engine a bit if it runs dry, but most of the time there is no excuse. If you check your oil every other week or so, it should never run dry on you.

I met a guy once who had a nice old style VW bus. He told me the oil light came on one sunny afternoon, and he was only a 'few miles from home'. He thought he could make it. The bearings thought otherwise.

while he was telling me this my hands clenched into fists, and I wanted to pummel him for murdering a vintage VW :^)

[Matt Attallah]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

Matt,
... Probably was running hot...I assume you are replacing, not rebuilding right?

I think it ran quite hot. I did an engine failure analysis (Basically tear the engine down and see what went wrong) and found out that the lower intake gaskets where blown. Between not having any cooling and lack of an oil change - that's what ya get.

Yes - I am replacing the whole engine. Don't even bother messing with this one.

Ken - there was a TON of sludge/wax.

Yes - under normal conditions it does drop down to a lower viscoscity - but when it runs hot - it litteraly cooks the oil to wax. Have seen it very well on a neon that the head was completly wax-covered. (You could actucally chip away at it with a screwdriver)

For anyone wanting to know anything about oil (They go from what type to use when all the way down to the molecular level) visit http://www.bobistheoilguy.com Very, very good stuff in there!

I think this is the best you will get to tell if the engine ran dry. This was completly siezed on to the crankshaft. Had to chip it out with my air hammer!