Hi,

I got a phone call from the mechanic and the reason why I was earing a terrible noise from the engine is just because it was completely out of oil for at least two weeks. I was not able to notice it because the jauge was wrong the whole time... He told me that with new oil and a new filter, the noise disapeared.

He said that my engine will be burning a lot of oil and I would probably have to check/add oil every week or so. According to him, it is just too old and engine should be changed in the next 15,000 miles.

I am about (well, actually he is about) to put a T5 and 3.55 ratio in it. Do you think that it will shorten the engine's life expectancy?

It could have been worse but still, I am sad

 

I've been reading along as you posted. I'm a bit dubious about his assessment. First the gauge doesn't tell you the oil level, it tells the oil pressure. Second, unless you were running pure synthetic, and drove like my grandma (scratch that, grandma drove like Petty), I doubt you'd last two weeks, much less an hour in traffic. The engine would have been making more than one noise too. The lifters alone would have sounded like a Japanese drum festival.

I'd check to see how much oil you are burning. Check the level everytime you fuel up. I'm sure someone here has a daily driver to compare with on adding oil, I don't recall having to put oil in mine all that much between changes, but it's fairly new.

 

Let me rephrase, it seems that I had oil but no pressure at all... Plus it's not a daily driver and I was only driving it once/twice a week in the City. At low RPM for some reasons it was not making any noise but when I crossed the Bay Bridge, it really was like a japanese drum festival

 

The tranny change will not shorten the engine life!!

Check the oil at every fill up and don't be sad! just drive it till it drops!

 

These engines wont survive 5 minutes at idle with zero oil pressure or with no oil (which would result in zero pressure)

you might want to clarify with your mechanic whats going on. if the oil pressure is low it could be because the engine is worn out and switching to a thicker oil may buy you a few 1000 more miles. you need at least 10psi of oil pressure for every 1000 RPM so at 3,000 rpm you need 30 psi for safe operation.

-Gun

 

an engine that's good to run for another 15000 is a good engine :-]
in any case just keep the engine, keep refilling, see how much oil she's drinking and keep going until you know how much oil this thing is actually drinking per 500 miles. mayeb ... and only maybe ... it is an ok engine that was never refilled.
As all the above say: no oil or no oil pressure kills an engine instantly. yours survived, so it couldn't have been that bad ;-)

 

Well, thank you for your optimistic messages

I guess I still had some pressure and that's why my engine did not die. I am going to ask this tomorrow to the mechanic!