MR2 Owners Club Forum banner

ran car hard on 2 quarts low oil

3K views 20 replies 8 participants last post by  mr2tailbreaker 
#1 ·
So today I drove my mr2 hard on the high way (short burst up to 90) and when I got off on the exit my car stalled it took a second to get it started again but ran fine. I got to the gas station and added oil. I was two quarts low. And had a sizeable oil leak. This had to have to developed today but it took an extra second to start back up (seemed sluggish)but drives fine once going. No engine noises developed. Other than a large oil leak did I do any damage?
 
#3 ·
I lost a oil cooler line and oil level got really low but I never drove over 70MPH. You may have dodged a bullet and got away with it. Keep an eye on your oil pressure and look for unusually low indication and noise from the engine. At your next oil change, examine the bottom of your oil drain pan for metal.
John
 
#5 ·
Well I dropped the pan today and replaced the baffle and pan gasket and the oil had a little shimmer to it. It looked like a brown metallic paint if I had to describe it. But other than that I didn't have any chunks of metal in there. Hopefully the shimmer doesn't mean the death of my car?
 
#10 ·
Usually just normal water condensation drip. Built up hydrocarbons in the exhaust pipes mixes with water before the engine gasses are warm enough to vaporize it. That mixture drips out the pipes. Happens to most old cars, especially if you have been running rich and have built up a lot of soot.
 
#12 ·
So this cars getting parked for awhile till I free up some funds. I believe the oil pump gasket is leaking? Its still drizzling out oil. I thought it was the pan, but I was wrong. I know its not crank seal or cam seals because they were like new and had no oil around them when I did the timing belt. What else on that side of the motor can leak a large amount of oil?
 
#13 ·
Leaky valve cover gasket? Oil can make its way around in curious ways... Not clear on how this oil leak, leaked so much oil so quickly?

Going a bit hard on the motor with 1.5-2qts in the sump, in a fairly straight line, for a short while, probably wont hurt anything. Taking hard turns with low oil is very bad however.
 
#14 ·
Not sure either. I just took it not a quarter mile down the road and back and there was a puddle of oil on the concrete the size of my hand. Its not the valve cover gaskets, the oil is coming from somewhere on the side of the motor with the timing belt. The car on start up almost acts like it's off a few degrees timing now. (I'm sure it's not, but that's how I can describe it)
 
#15 · (Edited)
Incidentally, I was at the track recently, and ran the car through some high G turns with the oil level at the low mark on the dipstick. I did in fact notice the oil pressure needle drop on track, but didnt know why yet, or where the oil level was. My car consumes a fair bit of oil during track days, sadly, so i have to stay on top of it.

Anyway, after first pulling to the hot pits for a courtesy inspection by one of the pit crew with no signs of leakage (hah, he started looking under the front of the car when I asked him to check for oil leaks :rolleyes:), I got off the track and found the low oil level. So there was probably about 2.5qts in the sump statically, maybe 1.5-2 qts while the engine was at 7000rpm.

I have a twosrus steel baffle in place, but it's a lesson to keep my oil level up during track use. Note I have some pretty grippy tires (Rivals, near competition tires), and after topping off the oil I noticed no more trouble or low oil pressure readings. This was a couple hundred miles ago, and I did several more track sessions (about an hour of track time) without incident, so I dont think I did any damage, although I worry.

I recall an anecdote on the web, concerning tests WWII fighter mechs did on engine oil starvation issues, and they supposedly found that a lack of oil pressure for short periods (seconds to a couple minutes) wouldnt kill a motor, but pumping air into the bearings would kill it real fast. I think I believe this.
 
#18 ·
Although I keep oil level full , we suspect oil starvation may have played a part in my engine's rod bearing failure... in autox ,will throw the car sideways instead of braking...so , fairly abusive....am installing a pan baffle. Beware of slight valve tappet sound which progressively got worse over @8-10 hrs run time til it limped home with the full fledged rod knock sound....spun #2 rod bearing....needs crank kit....oil pressure always stable but who has time to look at the gauge in the middle of a turn w/your tail hanging out?
 
#21 ·
I do intend to open up my spare used sensor soon enough. I know i've been "promising" that for a while. I'm cleaning up the mess in my house first, but soon enough. I dont think there's much if any digital processing in the stock system, nor need for it to used the circuit for other purposes, and I think the needle itself is at least one key issue - shut the car off and the needle doesnt just fall to zero instantly, even though the oil pressure just about does (plus the circuit is de-energized).

In my case, I have a spare port on my external oil plumbing, so a pressure switch would be a pretty simple solution... But the idea of just tapping into a signal under the dash, that's already there, is appealing.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top