Hit pothole and drove with no oil for 5 miles. How much damage to engine?
 

Last night i hit a huge pothole. No engine lights when this happened. Then parked my car and went out to dinner. Finished dinner 2 hrs later and got into car and started driving.

My low oil pressure light was flashing, the engine was not knocking and I made it home driving 3.5 miles.

The next day (this morning), I turned my car on to warm up for a few minutes, got in my car and heard knocking and the oil pressure light was now fully on, so I drove it to the Volvo dealer 1.5 miles. Noticed something leaking in the lot. Ended finding out there's a hole in my oil container and all of my oil leaked.

Volvo recommended changing the oil pan, but said there is possibly engine damage. Anyone have expereince on how long you can drive with no oil and how much damage is done? I had them order the part and it should be here on Monday. Not sure if I should go with the fix and continue owning this car. Just had inspection and passed. Car is in mint shape.

The poor old girl was screaming at you to stop yet you failed to even look below and notice that oil had to be leaking from a shattered/cracked sump or a dislodged oil return hose.
The next morning warmup and the drive to the Volvo dealer was likely the last straw for her.
What more can one say, I'm gob smacked.

Genreal big time rule of thumb, when the oil light turns on the engine should be turned off.... No driving home... no driving to the dealer.. pull over and check the oil. if its low and it never has been before, look for an obvious oil leak. If you see a big leak, tow it home/to the repair shop for repair.

You know what happens when we assume! I would go for the repair. Other wise you will never know.

Engine is toast.

I don't have any personal experience on the driver side, but do on the repair side. The answer is not how long you can drive but how long the engine can run. As you know, you can start the engine and let it run for several minutes without driving the car 6 inches, while the motor is grinding multiple parts away at idle.

The answer to your question from a bystanders view is NOT THAT LONG and if noise is heard, THE MOTOR IS WORN OUT...DONE.

If you ask, "what would you do if you seen an oil light flicker while driving?" my answer would be, pull over immediately and check the oil level.

If you ask, "what would you do if you see an oil light on while the motor is running?" my answer would be stop and check the oil level. Maybe drive to safety if the level is good.

If you ask, "what would you do if you see an oil light and hear sounds coming from the motor?" my answer would be, plan for a motor replacement.

I recently purchased a Volvo R for $280. The driver drove over something, seen the oil light and kept driving, trying to make it home. Didn't make it.

WHAT WOULD I DO NOW???
1. Call the dealer that has the car and ask them how much would a new motor cost? If I'm not willing to pay that cost to keep the car, tell them to stop where they are, tally up your current bill, and have the car towed elsewhere.
Driving a car with no oil will damage parts in seconds. Minutes will damage multiple parts. A 5 minute drive with no oil may be equal to 1,000,000 miles of driving wear. They can open the motor and replace a few parts but in reality ever moving part is likely worn out.
2. If you are not having the dealer replace the motor, check around for a mechanic that will replace the motor with a used one for a cost that you are willing to pay to keep the car.

As others have stated, the motor is damaged. There is no need to test it out. If you really want someone to test it out, the oil pan can be patched with JB Weld on the car, filled with oil, and tested.

thanks guys for the quick replies.

I was planning on having them test out with the repairs which would cost $900.

From your replies, I will now get it towed and look for a new motor. Rough estimate for a new engine is 5k to 8k.

5k to 8k for a new engine from volvo.

not worth it for me.

talking to insurance now to see if they will cover the cost. I have a $500 deductible. that seems somewhat reasonable to me to at least see if the engine is ok. then insurance will pay the other $400.

Worst case I can sell car as is for hopefully $500

Normal insurance does not cover mechanical failure is what you have here and you are at fault for the destruction. (not pulling over and not towing it) look for a good used engine. car-part.com is a good place. I use Southern Volvo for most used parts. Looking at ~1000 for an engine and 12-16 hours to swap it out. Affordable

A good deal on a motor swap will be about $1,400. Not sure why you are considering testing the motor.

I have actually heard of people getting the city to pay for car damage on monster pot hole damage but I wouldn't hold my breath on that.

thanks for the feedback guys.

i'll check out the city and my auto insurance will look at the car monday. i'll be shopping around for a new motor.

what should i be looking at for a 98 S70 T5? just the motor or a whole new engine? anything else to look into that could have been damaged?
1400$ is more doable than 5k.

Do you mean a short block versus a long block? Motor and engine are the same thing. A short block is the body of the engine without the head. A long block is everything including the head. The head holds the camshaft, therefore that will need service since it ran dry of oil. In short, you need a long block.


If you are in the market to look, check out buying a totaled 98 and have the junk yard/auction house pull the motor. You want to get something with the lowest miles you can. Make sure it has a good oil pan on it.

thank you for all the replies everyone.

the insurance adjuster will be checking out the car tomorrow and i will you all updated on the status of what happens.

So here's the breakdown of what Volvo's estimate of the repairs are to my auto insurance.

4 * Repl Oil pan 1271604 1 $482.00

5 ** Repl A/M O Ring Kit 1 $29.00

6 ** Repl A/M Chemical Gasket 1 $46.00

7 ** Repl A/M Oil Cooler Gasket 1 $7.00

8 ** Repl A/M Oil 1 $35.00

9 # Subl Labor to install oil pan 1 $339.50

SUBTOTALS 938.50 0.0 0.0

My insurance wants to write me a check for $890 to cover these repairs. I asked Volvo if the repairs did not work, what would happen and they said they would contact the insurance if more repairs were needed.

After that I called the insurance and they would need a statement if furthur repairs are needed after the oil pan replacement. Someone is going to call me today or tomorrow about this. I also asked if I could use the money towards another engine and they said that was ok because the check will be written out to me.

Options:

1. Volvo Dealership fix - sounds like this is not the way to go and have to go threw insurance again.

2. Tried contacting PennDot to see if city would pay for damages. Waiting for paperwork in mail to complete and send back. Not sure if this will work but am trying this option

3. Have insurance move to a different auto shop to evaluate. Get a new estimate to pay for replacing the engine. Don't know if this will work. will have to wait for call from insurance to see what kind of coverage i have.

4. Take the $890 from insurance, tow to another shop to replace engine. Today I've been shopping around. I found a shop close and they had an engine. Looks like they specialize in Volvos. (https://www.facebook.com/Fl1ck1ngerS?rf=158341664200774) They said it would be 2k to fix which includes:
- new engine
- timing belt replacement
- spark plug replacement
- any wires that need replacement.

5. Use the website provided from a kind user on this forum, but was not sure which one to get:
- Search Results
- I think it's 53, because when i tried calling a junk yard, they asked for this number from my VIN (Search Results)
- Junkyard said this is rare and how can i know the above auto shop has the correct one and not just replacing with a random one? And do I need a special one because I have a T5?
- Also, how do you decided which one to buy? Sort by (Part Grade) and then by (lowest miles)?

1998 Volvo S70 T5

Trying to make a decision soon

An oil pan is not going to help you....

running without oil that long likely toaste any bearing and cylinder surfaces.


Rod bearings, main bearing, cylkinder honing at a MINIMUM if you go cheap, rings and pistons and cam/bearing work.

It will be cheaper toi go with the insruance. If you tell them this stuff they may go for it, but they will likely wnat to total the car.

$2K is not bad for an angine swap but make sure its a low mileage motor.

I would speak to the service manager at the dealer. If the oil pan is not cracked and only has a puncture hole in it, they should be able to patch it to test the motor and give you a real estimate. That motor is toast and if the insurance pays out on $890 they will likely NOT pay on it again. Also, a motor replacement at the dealer will TOTAL the car and the dealer will pay you what they think the car is worth, minus your deductable, minus what they paid on the useless oil pan repair.

What you may want to do is have the dealer pull the oil pan and do a visual inspection of what it looks like with the pan off. If the pan only has a hole, they can plug it with something and test it.

If this is something the insurance company has agreed to get involved in, have the dealer estimate a motor replacement and speak with the claims officer about it.

Reading about your most recent efforts and negotiations it seems to me that the $890 offered by the insurance company reflects a reasonable share of repairs to the oil pan and associated work one would normally need to do, directly in relation to that only .

They do not seem to be taking into account the fact that the engine itself may have suffered more major damage or sudden excessive wear to moving parts directly attributed to the oil loss you suffered.
It's essential that you get, 'in writing' an undertaking from them to accept the possibility of extra costs for the yet unknown internal engine damage over and above the $890 offered or alternatively they meet the cost of a suitable replacement engine, professionally fitted, tuned etc,compatible with the vehicles computer with say a 6 month warrantee.
I fear that you accepting the $890 may finish up being the full and final payout and that you will possibly be no better off if the oil pan and associated work proves to be insufficient.

Update:

Last Thursday, I got a voice message from Volvo that my car was ready. I don't know if I should have been pissed because I did not authorize the them to do the repairs. I was planning on using the $890 towards replacing the engine. I had a place lined up for 2k to replace the engine, timing belt, spark plugs and wires.

Got to the dealership and the had a talk with the mechanic. He said I got lucky and no knocking when they replaced the oil pan. Originally it was a clicking sound i heard and not a knocking sound. I saw the hole in the old oil pan and it was a puncture hole the size of an inch wide along the pan and half an inch deep.

Next I called my insurance to see what they would do if I took the car back from Volvo and my engine had issues. They said they to contact them back if anything happened.

Next I spoke to the service manager about completing the work without my authorization and how much damage my engine could have had. He said he would put back on the old oil pan, so I could get my insurance money to do my own repairs.

I decided, to give my car a test drive. Took it on the highway for and around town for about 40 mins. She drove like nothing happened for now. During the drive I called the 3 mechanics I've been speaking to the past few days and they all agreed it was ok to take the car back from Volvo.

I ended up taking the car back that day and have been driving it for the past 3 days. Still rolling like it did before. Engine has 217,000 miles on it. It passed Volvo inspection 2 days before the accident. Hoping it will last another 100,000 miles. Only paid $100 out of pocket and insurance covered the $890. No increases in my insurance payments too.