Does lack of oil in a car mean you need a new engine?

Question

My car broke down the other day and some guy looked at it and said that my car had no oil in it... could that be the only reason why my car broke down? and what are some other things to check out.

Answer 1

Its probably easiest for you to take your checkbook with you to an instant oil change every three months and whatever they recommend you to have, just do it.

Answer 2

If the motor seized because there was no oil in it then yes you need a new motor. Some cars have a safety that if the iol level or pressure drops below a certain point the motor will shut off, but that is on newer cars. Checking the dipstick won't tell you that there is no oil, but it will tell you that you are at least a couple of qts low. it is definitely not good to run your car with too little oil. The only way to tell if you need a new motor is to have it checked out by a mechanic. Sorry I can't tell you more than that.

Answer 3

Yes more than likelyt if you had no oil at all ur engie is blown i am a female and i know this did u have the car towed to a shop? u should have the oil changed every 3000 miles no more or less express lubes will do this for u for about 25 dollars or depending on where u live if ur motor is blowed u might as well get a newer car because a motor is not cheap and more tham likely u will have more problems with a new motor

Answer 4

Only two things will kill an engine, too much heat or not enough oil. It's unusual to have no oil in the engine, unless you have just had an oil change and someone forgot to re-fill it. Lack of oil in the engine will cause it to stop running, but you need to figure out the reason why it didn't have any oil.

Answer 5

You should take it to a certified mechanic to check it out. It sounds like the engine locked up because it ran out of oil, and if it did, you most likely do need a new engine. The only thing in this situation that I can say to check is the check the oil and other fluids frequently on your new or repaired engine.

Answer 6

Without oil, you most likely did a good amount of damage to the engine. As to why there is no oil, that was the cause of your break down. It souds like you'll need to either rebuild the engine or get a new short block. It'll cost some money to repair.

Answer 7

irreversable damage most likely happened at that time and even the inexsperienced driver can recognize engine failure.some cars can be filled up with new oil aand restart with no damage after one overheating mishap.fill with oil 4 or five quarts whatever your car takes and try to restart if wont turn over hes probably right.if car starts itll make a few rattles and ticks at start up.let idle 5 to 10 minutes if no noise you got extremely lucky.drive on get checked out a your local shop.should check your oil at every fillup,or daily if over 125,000 miles.happy trails............

Answer 8

that would cause the engine to get hot and not start, and it also could mean your not checking the oil on a reg. basis. check and see if you got a bad oil leak, like the drain plug or oil filter.

Answer 9

You had a leak somewhere. You might have threw a rod in it and that happens a lot when your oil drains away. So, you may need a new engine. If not, you need to fix it so the oil isn't leaking and think yourself lucky.

Answer 10

without oil the engine will lock up. If you have run it long without oil the motor most likely have very serious damage to it at this point.

Answer 11

hi, depends how long you were running without oil, shoudn't matter for a little while, but tends to kill your engine and cease it up after a period. how was the car performing before you broke down? any knocking or loud rattling?
pete