So a coworker of mine was telling me a story the other day about a couple years ago when she got her oil changed at a Jiffy Lube and they happened to forget to put oil back in after they drained it! I guess she only went 30-some miles before getting it taken care of and hasn't had any problems since, but now that her car is getting up there in mileage (around 90k) she's worried that incident might have prematurely worn the engine and it's life may be shortened. She's thinking of trying to trade it in or something before it blows up for good.
I was thinking that there may not be any significant damage since she didn't go too far and the residue from the oil taken out provided some lubrication, but I'm not sure. Any more knowledgeable car people that have an opinion on this?
Incidentally, this isn't the first time I've heard of this happening at a Jiffy Lube. I can't imagine how a place that does oil changes primarily can forget to put oil in the car, but somehow they manage it! Bottom line for those less knowledgable of cars, stay away from Jiffy Lube!!
Well it just so happens that one of the areas that I would consider myself VERY knowledgeable about (other than Macintosh computers)...is auto repair. I've been doing 95-99% of all of my own repair & maintenance on my vehicles for almost 30 years. I have NEVER owned a new car...and most of the time I buy cars that are 6-10 years old & have 50,000-90,000 miles on them (so when I get them, they usually need some sort of TLC).
I can do anything from pulling an engine or transmission out of a car, rebuilding an engine, replacing anything brake related, blown head gaskets, tune-ups...basically just about anything on a car I can diagnose and/or repair. So call that my "car repair resume".
Like "1991-C4" mentioned...seems sort of strange that this person is now worried about this oil change SNAFU a couple years later...or maybe this was just the first time they had the opportunity to tell you the story.
Anyhow...the first thing I would mention is...this person should have seen/noticed a "Low Oil Pressure warning light" on their dash very shortly after pulling away from the Jiffy Lube. I certainly would not have driven 30 miles before I would have noticed the warning light...but then I know that I pay more attention to these things than some other drivers.
As far as the wear. There's a product called "Slick-50" (similar products as well)...that you add (one time) to your oil. This product is supposed to contain "Teflon-like" molecules that impregnate/coat all metal surfaces it comes in contact with...making them more "slippery" (thus reducing friction), which leads to reduced wear & improved gas mileage.
One of the tests the makers of "Slick-50" did was, after treating the engine with Slick-50...they supposedly drained the oil out of the car's engine...and drove it for something like 50 or 100 miles. The results of the test were that there was no abnormal damage, and the engine did not overheat during the test (which would have been expected on an untreated engine). There have been similar tests/commercials on TV for other products.
What I'm trying to say is...it does seem possible to run an engine without oil for a period of time...but obviously this would not be a good thing to do...or something you could do for an indefinite distance. Also (like you mentioned) there was certainly some residual oil in the crankcase & coating all engine components even though the oil was drained.
Long story short...I'm sure (technically) some unnecessary or pre-mature damage was done driving 30 miles without the proper amount of oil in the engine...compared to if while driving the same 30 miles there was oil in the engine. The question is...was this wear significant?
Some things to consider:
1. It's been a couple of years since this incident...and it sounds like this car has been running fine (now with approx. 90,000 miles on it).
2. Areas that would have seen additional wear would be the piston rings, camshaft lobes, and crankshaft bearings (all other bearings as well).
3. If the car has an oil pressure gauge, the oil pressure while idling & driving would or could be lower than it used to be (compared to a new engine, or what the oil pressure was a couple of years ago).
4. A "compression test" could be performed to see what sort of shape the engine is in. The results would have to be compared against what a good engine or an "out of spec" engine would have.
5. If this engine was suffering from "being worn out"...the engine would probably be "eating oil". Meaning when the oil level was checked via the dipstick on a weekly or monthly basis...the oil level might be decreasing slowly (or rapidly)...requiring oil to be added. Assuming that the engine is not suffering from an oil leak of some sort.
Overall...considering that this incident happened 2 years ago...and that this car has nearly 90,000 miles on it...it could also simply be getting worn out due to:
- it's age
- the driving habits of the owner (good or bad)
- the regular maintenance upkeep of the vehicle (or lack of)
- the 90,000 miles it already has on it
So what I'm saying is...if the car is "eating/using" oil...and/or if a compression test show low compression...it may be time to think about another vehicle. But if the car is not "eating" oil & the compression test numbers are good...and the vehicle has no other issues...then this car may be just fine.
Sorry for the long post...hope this helps,
- Nick