Larry/car

From what information was stated the engine never lost oil pressure. You can operate an engine quite some time prior to failure, there was/is video on utube where they have added some kind of substance to the engine of a C4 to trash it. Even with this stuff in it the engine ran quite some time prior to failure. I think your fine. Have the dealer document the event and move on with life.

Churchkey

In this case its impossible to determine possible internal engine damage with oil pressure & without mechanical noise.

Without dismantling the engine & physically checking bearing clearances suggest the following test.

Drive the car for 30 minutes minimum to ensure the crank, con rods etc are fully warmed up & are at operating temperature & internal clearances..

Drain the oil & install a new oil filter. Do not pre fill the new filter with motor oil, install it dry with the exception of lubricating the filter gasket surface. Refill the crankcase.

With the hood open & an ear to the engine have an assistant start the motor without adding any fuel with the throttle & listen carefully for mechanical noise.

If any noise occurs such as rattling, knocking etc from the engine before the oil pressure builds up the bearing clearances have been compromised.

If the engine starts & remains quiet until the oil pressure builds up your good to go.

Luck.

jimmymack

I would also ask that the General Mgr/owner sign it....service managers come and go. And get it on the dealer letterhead. Good luck.

rocco16

Agree +2

The synthetic oil probably saved the engine. You might be just fine.

Mensadan

1. Remove new oil filter after driving ~100+ miles.
2. Place in clean plastic bags.
3. Take filter to an oil analysis lab. for internal exam
4. Post lab. results here.

mrmtrtrnd

That should tell a lot about the motor, by what they find or don't find in the oil. Someone I know that raced his car a lot and did that periodically to look for any excessive engine wear before the motor took a dump.

Mensadan

It's standard practice for aircraft engines and many race car engines. Sometimes they do the quick and dirty oil analysis alone, but cutting open the filter is a better method. You also get the oil analysis if you leave the used filter full.

PLRX

JackDidley

Its real easy to drop the oil pan and look at some bearings. If the crank looks good, plastigage it. If the clearances are good, roll in some bearing as preventive maintenance.

Klondike

Don't know why the oil light didn't shine out. I thought you had to have the filter in place to have oil pressure. Don't know how the oil circulates in a SBC, but I thought with the filter off, it would just pump it out on the ground and make no pressure. I think I would have the pressure sender & connection checked. Pull the wire & see of the oil light comes on.
I think the cam & lifters are prob OK. it's a roller cam so except for colapsing the lifter plungers from lack of pressure, they too should be OK. The fact that it didn't pitch any pushrods is a good indication that the valve train survived. Bet they rattled though. As long as it wasn't stressed by too much throttle, the mains and rods are prob OK too with the Synth Oil. The old timey engines just had 'dippers' and splash to oil everything & as long as they wern't over revved, they were happy for lots of miles. I think you got lucky it was a short run.

rodj

That would indicate there was still "some" oil pressure there,
it not being low enough to turn on the light (4 psi ?)

cvan-68

This sounds like a good option, my brother had mentioned this when I was telling him about the incident and a friend here told me he has had this done and showed me the printouts they give you.

Have not yet heard from the service manager, work has prevented me from pursuing to much (also wanted to see what people here thought) but will see what answers I can get tomorrow and post here.

Cliff Harris

I knew a guy who had a Chevy pickup truck and he ran it over a boulder on his dirt driveway in the mountains. He went to a local gas station to fill up and somebody told him there was a puddle of oil under his truck. He looked under it and there was a big hole in the oil pan. He said the oil light never came on and he thought the oil pump was pumping enough air pressure to keep the oil light off. I don't remember how far he drove with the hole in the pan, but there was no damage to the engine.

RollaMo-LT4

Without the filter, you can't build oil pressure.
Either the driver didn't notice the light being on, or it's not working correctly.

I've knocked an oil filter off a SBC before, and oil immediately poured out and lost oil pressure. Oil light comes on rather quickly.

red89c4

so many suggestions and problems to consider. i had a POS monte back in the eighties, consistently drove it until the oil light came on and then would add oil. engine blew after 175K when my wife was driving at high speed with trans in 2nd gear.
if you had pressure and oil on dipstick when you found it i would not want to risk further damage by allowing someone to remove parts to look at internal engine. if it seems fine now, get the dealership to document your problem and try to get them to agree to some sort of mileage warranty and drive it. i agree with several others these SBCs are tough engines, syn oil, no overheating when this occurred, no knocking, mad as hell yes, only a little worried.
good luck and keep us posted pls

dukeallen

I'm still wondering about that "told the oil light never came on". How many times have we seen people driving with turn signals on because they don't see the light or hear the bell. That light could have been on all along.
So I wonder if the dealer might use that in arguing against giving the OP cash/warranty.

joe Villarreal

Tell the Dealer if any damage was done they are responsible because Ive been in the business for 10years and the only way a filter will come off is if it it crossed threaded or the wrong filter get a good lawyer or your receipt should have a warranty on the back for the service done read it and advise the dealer about their mistake next time u take it in make sure they have a trained vette technician working on your car. if u can look for the filter that fell off and take it to the dealer with u that is the best bet.
Next time do your own oil changes no one else touches my car for regular maintenance work

Chuck Tribolet

A third way a filter can come off is if it wasn't properly tightened. I
think that's most likely in this case.

Chuck

spartanc4vette

if your motor breaks within like 30k miles id ask to get replacement from them since they killed the life span of YOUR motor. like what others have said, they will run to over 200k miles no prob...

couperdecar

Take the car to the dealer and trade it off. Tell them you want a sweatheart deal. Or sell it yourself. Go find another one.