Belle Tire Engine destroyed because for an oil change - they forgot to add oil! Garden City, Michigan

This is certainly a possible scenario as I also had a very similar incident. I pulled into a gas station and put (according to the pump) ten gallons of gas into my car. My gas gauge does not work but I KNOW my car gets 19 MPG per manufacturer.. Ten gallons @  19 MPG = 190 miles.....but guess what my car ran out of gas in only 150 miles, I tried to make it to the nearest gas station (only 2 miles) on empty but when I pulled into the station the mechanic on duty said I had already ruined the engine by driving on empty even if it was only 2 miles. He had to completely rebuild my engine and I had to come up with the $2500. So never ever drive your car without gas or oil in the engine!

Robert, a car will run for many miles with no oil in it.  I had a similar problem with a dealership - took it in for an oil change, drove it home, and left it running in the driveway while I ran inside to grab something.  When I came out I noticed the engine sounded unusually loud and clanky.  I opened it up and sure enough, no oil.  I drove it back up to the dealership and confronted them about it.  Of course, they denied it too.

Car will run for many miles with no oil in it.  I had a similar problem with a dealership - took it in for an oil change, drove it home, and left it running in the driveway while I ran inside to grab something.  When I came out I noticed the engine sounded unusually loud and clanky.  I opened it up and sure enough, no oil.  I drove it back up to the dealership and confronted them about it.  Of course, they denied it too.

I don't know about the car the person reporting is driving, but in 1987 my father purchased a new Dodge Grand Caravan (one of the first 'Grand' Caravans built). This van had a Mitsubishi 3.0L V6 in it, and after 3000 miles he took it to a Pennzoil quick lube on his way to work (he worked afternoons, 3PM-11PM) to get the oil changed. He got the oil changed, and drove to work (less than a mile from the oil change place). On his way home, the engine blew up - with no indicator light whatsoever. Here is the full timeline: They pulled the van in, removed the drain plug and the oil filter. Once the oil was drained they put the drain plug back in, but they did not have the correct filters for his engine in stock as it was a new model. The oil change guys grabbed an oil filter for a Mitsubishi 3.0L V6 engine from a different vehicle and installed it. They then gave the all clear to fill the oil pan and he was sent on his way. What they in fact didn't realize was the filter for the Mitsubishi engines were different than the filters for the Chrysler engine (which were both made by Mitsubishi). When he drove home from work that evening, the motor siezed because the oil was not flowing through the engine. He ended up suing Pennzoil, and they ended up having to pay the cost of the having the engine replaced. People do mess up, and sure Pennzoil didn't want to admit it, but the court saw it our way - I recommend you do the same, or at least talk to an attorney about your options. Can you see it from their side? They aren't going to admit wrongdoing without a full investigation and if you don't press them you won't get anywhere. What if you ran over a rock in the road that took out your oil pan? They certainly aren't responsible for something like that.

You drove two days no warning lights came on .

I would have a hard time believing that there was no oil in the car.

maybe a drain plug or oil filter leak .  You would have to prove there negligence and that is hard to do after the fact. maybe if you had some pics of the leak then you might could have gotten some help .



 

The real question is why any low oil pressure warning light did not come on. A motor vehicle in some cases can run for quite an extended period of time with the crank case drained of oil. Scientific tests have concluded this. It would also be quite noisy when the lifters and main bearings are oil starved.

However..if you have no oil in the crank case..you can not possibly have oil pressure. So if you had no warning light to indicate this condition the report does not make sense..has if you had no oil, you would of had no oil pressure..and certainly a warning light would come on if the vehicle has a working oil pressure warning light. (The warning light will come on when you first start the vehicle as a test, so will all other warning lights).

I am up  in the air on this one. It is considerably suspect that  2 days after an oil change this happens...but how a warning light or pressure gauge (if your vehicle is so equipped) would not warn you before catastrophic damage occurred (not to mention the noises that would logically be present if there was no motor oil), kind of puts a damper on this report.

You drove the car for 2 days. You couldn't have gone 1 mile with no oil. You have a massive leak.