Hello everyone,
Brand new to this forum... first time I've had any serious issues with my '08 CR-V EX, 112,000 miles. For an unknown reason, it ran out of oil before my maintenance minder prompted an oil change (it was still at 30%). I know I should have been checking my oil levels in between service, but it had never been an issue before... shame on me. As I was driving, the check engine/VSR warning lights came on. Drove straight to the mechanic and he discovered the problem was no/low oil. Prior to this happening, there were no obvious warning signs aside from a slightly louder engine (which I attributed to being an older car) and a very slight "rev" at start-up when it was cold for about two weeks (which was going to be checked the next day). The oil pressure warning light did NOT come on, which I understand means that it was dangerously low on oil, but there was still some oil pressure in the engine? When I asked the mechanic about damage, he said that it may not show up for another 20-40,000 miles. He did not notice anything at the time. I have been driving about a week and haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary except maybe that the RPMs jump suddenly when accelerating on the freeway instead of smoothly accelerating - but I could be reading into it too much and it could have been like that for a while. The engine noise and the rev at start-up have not been noticed since new oil was put in.

My questions are:
- What should I be looking for/listening for to indicate possible damage to the engine?
- Is it inevitable that there is damage that just hasn't shown up yet?
- I'm considering trading in this vehicle anyway, but would prefer to drive it a while longer... should I consider it sooner now that a problem may be lurking?

Thanks for any advice you can give... I just wasn't satisfied with the lack of explanation from the mechanic. Everything I'm finding online is telling me how no oil affects an engine, but not what to do if there isn't obvious damage or failure right away.

 

There could be bearing damage due to lack of lubrication. Usually that’ll exhibit itself as a knocking noise.

You mentioned that the mechanic “didn’t notice anything”, did they actually take the motor apart to check the bearings? Highly doubtful. That would cost a lot in diagnosis time. Did they drop the oil pan at least and check for metal particles? If not, they don’t really have any significance behind the “didn’t notice anything” - can’t see it if you don’t look!

The real question is why did you run low on oil? Do you have a leak? Did you have your oil changed recently at some sketchy shop? Or is your engine consuming it? I would want to find the root cause of this if you end up keeping it.

Since you’re thinking about selling it regardless, yeah I would do that sooner. But keep in mind if you’re replacing it with another car - check your oil about every other fill up at the gas station.

 

Thanks for your reply. I'm not noticing a knocking noise - when would I hear it? At startup? During idle? Or while driving?

TBH, I never thought to ask the mechanic how he determined that there wasn't obvious damage - I'm not sure if he looked in the pan, etc. I do know there is not a leak (been checking the garage floor daily), and I'm curious to see how quickly I go through this oil change.

 

You would notice knocking during driving - or if it got bad enough you’d hear it all the time. Just keep checking your oil level. If it goes down significantly and you don’t have a leak, that would indicate that the motor is consuming oil. Which would probably be worn piston rings or worn cylinder walls. In either case that’s a pretty big repair so I would trade it in.