Have had a number of mid-years, have always been very careful with the cars...but just made a major (and absolutely stupid) mistake.

My stock, lower mileage '66 327/350 roadster was in winter storage up on my lift, with zero signs of oil leakage (epoxy floor below with no drips). I just got this car prior to winter and had not had time to dig into it. It is very stock, and in excellent shape throughout.

Now the stupid part: I fired the car up this weekend, oil pressure came right up and after checking knockoffs, tire pressure, radiator fluid, etc. I took it for a spin. On the way home after a good 100 miles or so, I rounded a corner at low speed and noticed the oil pressure gauge bounce to zero, back to 40 and then back down to 0. I immediately pulled over, shut down, and restarted. Zero oil pressure. Checked dipstick and remembered that this car needed a change in the Fall, but that since winter hit so fast I had put it in storage and not done the change!!! Oil barely registered on bottom of dipstick. I was close to an auto parts store, re-filled the motor (only a few blocks from home) and pulled into the garage.

The motor is not making any unusual noises, pressure comes right up to 40 on starting and stays there, and there are no unusual noises even up to 4K on the tach.

Can anyone weigh-in on on whether there is there a strong likelihood that I have spun a bearing, etc.? I cannot flipping believe that I did this. - Completely bone-headed move on my part.

 

If you had spun a bearing you'd be hearing a VERY audible CLACKCLACKCLACK. Your vigilance on the pressure gage has saved your motor-it'll be fine.

 

I doubt you hurt it.

 

You probably didn't do any fatal damage . If there was a bearing spun you would know ( noise and oil pressure drop ) .

Change the oil and filter and keep a close eye on the oil level and the pressure guage . Don't forget to check the rest of the fluid levels .

Bill

 

You will probably be alright as you caught it just in time. We once did a 383 stroker for a police detective. It had a defective oil pump, there was a nole in the casting and it let the pressure out and he at one point realized there was no oil pressure and shut it off. Had it towed back to shop and when we figured out what happened we pulled some caps to check bearings and they were fine. Keep the oil clean and enjoy.

 

Heck on my '74 Z28 that is how I knew it was low on oil. Go around a corner, pressure goes to zero, time to add a qt.. I am like the others, it it probably fine. mike...

 

You really need to wait 3 - 4 weeks , then restart it to see if there has been any damage. This will give the bearings time to reseat in their new journals that YOU created with the lack of oil! ..
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.Just kidding. You probly saved the engine by watching the oil pressure like a hawk. Good job.
Did I scare you?

 

Thanks for the replies....I was back out in the garage and there was a strange noise after all...

but it was just me hitting my head against the wall for being such a dumb-@ss.

 

been there.....not the same way but had it happen to me after a night of hard driving (showing off like an idiot). The next morning, no oil pressure. I (like a bigger idiot) drove it to a gas station...I was 17.... and it took almost 4 quarts .Oil pressure came back to life and all was well. .....got about 30 miles down the road and,as someone said, "clackity clack"......threw a rod.

My advice would to be VERY careful at this point. You probably got SUPER lucky, but treat her gently for a while and change the oil frequently keeping an eye on what comes out.

 

Hi.
I dont think you need to worry to much about enginedamaged from the occasion you ar describing.

After i broke my engine last summer due to oilpressure drop i searched for information about this to prevent it from happend to my new engine.

And as I understand it, a couple of seconds of oilpressuredrop on low rpms and with a low oiltemp doesnt normally brake the lubricating film keeping the rods from hitting/destroing the bearings.

My engine (stock 300hp bigblock) broke after more then 2 days of driving on the track.

I did continously loosing oilpressure during breakeing and in left hand corners.

I didnt bother since this was the last event for the season and the building of my new engine already was in progress so i just kept going.

The oiltemp went high (noticed that pressure dropped) and i didnt eased of on the throttle in any of the corners.

In one of the long left hand corners i lost oilpressure when braking, cornering and under acceleration..

This resulting in that the oilpump blowing air instead of oil and as i understand it, blowing away the lubricating oilfilm from the bearings.

However, my bahaviour is a very good template of "how to brake a engine" and if you like to keep your engine alive dont do what i did.

Always check your oil level, oilpressure and if you drive hard for longer periods you will get high oiltemperatures so make sure you have a good oil, oilcontroll and an oilcooler to keep the oiltemp under controll.

Here is a little film of my stock -72 on roadtires from the event (never mind all the others driving faster than mee).

And you guys who havent yet tryed your C3 on a track.. -Just do it!!

Its soo much fun!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlJoN...eature=related

 

I think you've been very lucky

 

You probably caught it in time and will be OK. Your next task is to find out where the oil went. You bought last fall and it needed an oil change that was not done. It did not leak during the winter. So when you purchased the car it was low by ~4 quarts?

 

Is that a hydraulic or solid lifter engine? If it's a hydraulic engine, and the oil pressure REALLY dropped for any length of time, the lifters would "pump out", and the engine would start running really rough. If that didn't happen, I'd say you're OK.....

 

You B fine. BTDT too many times (racing etc). It is flat amazing what you can get away with and not suffer significant damage. A drop to zero in a turn, NOT under WOT when it dropped, you B good, based on my experiences w/ SBCs.

P.

 

My brother in law loaned me his truck to tow a car home. I stopped in the driveway before I left and checked the oil (to the dismay of my better half) to find that the truck was 2 quarts low. When I questioned my brother in law about it he told me he just waited until the oil pressure dropped. Then he knew it was "about" time to add oil. DOUH!

 

The Corvette gods have smiled on you. Nice to have some good luck.

Now go buy a lotto ticket for saturday and let us know how THAT comes out... !

 

I had the same thing happen to me when I got mine last year..I drove it home assuming it had oil in it..I was to excited..I stopped to put air in the tires and checked it there..put 3 quarts in..didn't drive all that far..found it was sticky rings..I put synthetic oil in it and ran it hard..went thru a few quarts in 3k..rings loosened up..but now it leaks!! Oh well I can handle a few drips here and there..I have tried to destroy demolition derby car engines that ran without coolant for at least 20 minutes..then back at the shop pull the plug and put a brick on the peddle..it ran for another half hour..funny thing is it started the next morning..it was noisey then..

 

I had a similar thing happen a couple years ago when/after I bought a used SUV at 56K miles. I looked it over top to bottom - everything. Gave the guy a check and when I got it home realized - "I forgot to check the oil level..." Pulled out the dipstick and it had no oil on it. Was only about 3 quarts in it. Drained - changed filter and refilled. 100K miles later - no problems.

 

long story but when changing to a lower temp thermostat I didn't do it right and two miles from home testing it, temp kept climbing. Stopped, looked under hood, saw the steam coming out where I didn't have it tightened correctly, let it cool...NO wrench in the car (dumb). Lots of spray on air cleaner,etc. of antifreeze. Temp down a bit, drove it home and it got to well over 200 but never in the red zone.

Let it cool overnight after filling the overflow with antifreeze...all of that sucked back into the radiator. Test drove it again after I'd redone the installation of the thermostat right, wrench in the car, drove around the block, darned temp just kept climbing again...drove in garage and four hours later cooled enough to open the radiator cap...lots of coils and air in there...it had sprayed out much more fluid than i thought so I put three more quarts in, closed it up, test drove it, 160 degrees like a clock. I felt terrible driving it the mile plus home originally that hot but it does not seem to have hurt it.

Second mistake was not carrying a 9/16" socket wrench. Third mistake was forgetting to check the radiator instead of relying on the overflow to fill.

won't make these dumb-*** mistakes again.

lance

 

When you got back and changed the oil how much come out? If there was something showing on the stick you should be fine. As far as a bearing issue I do not think so, AL.