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EP3 ran on very low oil

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5
Hi, please someone offer some advice because I'm going out of my mind. Any help seriously appreciated. I own an EP3 on 130k miles which my friend has been borrowing for the last 2 or so months.

He brought the car to me a month ago advising no VTEC and it sounded absolutely horrid and the oil pressure light kept flickering Red. HE DECIDED FOR SOME REASON IT WOULD BE OKAY TO DRIVE THE CAR LIKE THIS FOR A FEW DAYS BEFORE BRINGING IT TO ME. Anyway i checked and the oil was extremely low so I added around 3 litres myself maybe a bit more to get it up to where it should be. Straight away after topping up, the car sounded fine, VTEC worked fine and I couldnt hear any knocking or anything. Since that day a month ago the car has ran fine, no oil light, no vtec issues or anything.

Now I was planning on doing a full oil change and filter change with Shell Helix 5W40 tomorrow and happened to stumble across a few threads advising permanent damage may already be done to the engine. He won't be driving the car again any time soon now that it's back with me, I just want to know if there is any way that I can check whether any serious damage has been done? The car has used about 2 litres since we last filled it up a month ago and he's a spirited driver so used vtec a fair bit but not a crazy amount. In the time since the last top up which fixed the car he has probably done about 1k miles and I used two different grades as I was only topping up to see whether it sorts the car hence I'm not sure whether it's now burning excess oil or if it's used quite a bit due to the different grades.

Is 1 month enough time to tell whether the engine will start knocking or is it too early to know? Anything else I should look out for as signs of damage?

Thanks in advance to anyone who offers any advice.
 
Drain the oil and send a sample away for analysis. Specialist companies will look at the copper and other metal content of it. They are very good. And I don’t think they’re too expensive either. Either that or whip of the sump and inspect the crank, shells etc from there.

Then send your friend a bill!
 
Is it running okay now? No knocks, ticking or rattles anywhere in the rev range? Either at cold or warm?

If so then you've most likely gotten away with it with zero or minimal bearing damage.
 
I'd do one oil and filter change with cheap oil. Run it for 10 miles then do another oil and filter change with decent oil and a branded filter.
 
Is it running okay now? No knocks, ticking or rattles anywhere in the rev range? Either at cold or warm?

If so then you've most likely gotten away with it with zero or minimal bearing damage.

Hi mate thanks both of you for the responses. Currently as far as I can tell, (im no mechanic at all) but it sounds perfectly fine. No loud ticking or anything from the chain, just the standard ticking youd get from the aux belt I think? Can't hear any loud knocking or anything when cold or when warm, and sounds fine throughout the rev range, not hesitant or anything and vtec pulls very strong.

I will look for metal shavings in the oil when I refill and I will drive the car with minimal vteccing for the next 2 week's or so and then check what the oil usage is looking like. Hopefully fingers crossed I'll be okay.
 
An oil pressure gauge would be a good investment too. You could probably DIY fit one for under £30.
 
K20's are pretty strong motors, as long as it didn't go completely dry, you might have just got away with it. But yeah, oil swap, use a cone filter paper to catch any particulate/shiny bits, get a good torch on it to make a proper check, even run it through your fingers to feel for any heavier pieces.
 
I have a question..... was it really your "friend" or was it you ;) ?

I wish it was me lol then at least if there's something wrong I would be paying for my damage. Right now I have no idea whether the car is going to blow up any second or if it's going to continue driving perfect and on top of that I will potentially have to explain to someone why they were the cause of the damage and why they should pay to put it right lol.
 
I wish it was me lol then at least if there's something wrong I would be paying for my damage. Right now I have no idea whether the car is going to blow up any second or if it's going to continue driving perfect and on top of that I will potentially have to explain to someone why they were the cause of the damage and why they should pay to put it right lol.

I was only messing fella. Good luck. If it sounds alright and your oil change doesnt spit out nuts and bolts you should be fine, as the guys have said, the K20 is a tough old engine.
 
Quick update - oil change all done guys, couldn't see any metal particles at all in the oil. Ran it through filter paper and can't seem to see any particles either so fingers crossed it's all okay. Thanks everyone for your input, much appreciated.
 
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