New engine no oil

[Speedster 229]

I made one of the largest mistakes ever!!!!! And I need some advice. But first the story.
I primed the oil pump started my new 350 crate engine , broke in the cam for about 30 minutes, drained the oil, installed a new filter and started the engine again. Thats right ,no oil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was running open headers so i didn't hear anything and it didn't get hot. Ran it for about 3 minutes and when I let it down on idle it quit. Starterhad a real problem turning it over. After trying about two times , what I had done hit me like a ton of bricks!!!!!!
I drained the oil. New filter and this time 4 quarts of new 10/40 valvaline and I put in one quart of Lucas oil additive.Primed the oil pump and started it.It started hard but ran well. No valve noise or other bad noises. I now have mufflers on it and have it tuned and running well.
It smokes pretty bad when it first starts. Can't tell if it uses oil yet as I haven't driven it yet.I'm still assembling the truck.What do you think?? Should I stop now and have It rebuilt? Do you think I ruined the rings? Will they seat ? Could I have ruined the valve guides??
Because it runs well, I'm just concerned with the smoke. If you think it will cure itself I'd like to continue assembling the truck but if I should pull the engine, now would be the time before final paint etc.

What would you do?????????????????

[progress]

It is a little hard to say but let me tell you a story about breaking in new Honda motorcycles. We would run them hard and about 15%-20% of them would stop dead while on the test ride...ring seize. We would let them cool off and run them again...never any problem. We tore a couple of them down and there was never a problem with them and always noted it in the warranty file but never noticed any furture problems. You were running it slow so I really doubt that it did any damage. I would just keep running it and see how it sorts itself out.

[JimKshortstep4x4]

If it were my engine, I would risk driving it and not do a teardown.
Based on what you described, I would expect minimal damage to the engine. The smoking is fairly normal for a new engine especially if you pour oil into the cyliders before starting them as we do. Oil gets trapped in the exhaust and will take a while to burn out.

Back when I worked in a used car lot we had this customer drive over a curb with one of our Buicks which broke the oil filter off. He drove the car for 45 minutes with no oil in the engine. We repaired the filter adapter filled it with oil and he bought the car.
He drove the car for (3) years that I know of without engine problems. After that I lost contact with the car.

Jim

[toms68cst]

My new engine smoked some when I first started it for a couple of times too. It has since stopped. I'd check compression and make sure my oil pressure looks normal. If everylooks ok then put it together and drive it. Hopefully it holds up over time.

[Truckstr]

My cousin and I - with nothing better to do, of course - decided that we needed to "get rid" of an old car that he had. It was a 1967 Plymouth station wagon with a 383 2bbl.

Well, we thought about it a while (yes, it involved alcohol. LOL) and decided that we wanted to see how long the engine would run without any oil. Yep, we drained the oil on purpose! Then we cranked it up and put a brick on the gas pedal. It ran WOT for about 10 minutes before it overheated and quit.

We laughed like crazy. We had a couple more brews and then I sat down in it and hit the starter. It fired right up! No smoke, death rattles or anything. That was one tough Mopar!

Eventually, we parted out that car and, yes, we kept the engine. My cousin had the bright idea that he wanted to run the "fender bender" class at the Nashville Speedway. He had an old Chrysler 300 that he planned on using, but it needed an engine. Yep, you guessed it, we put that old 383 in it - without ever pulling the pan off to check the damage. All we knew was that it would run.

He ran that car 2 seasons before wrecking it beyond repair at the Highland Rim dirt track. He let the whole thing go, although I was curious to see the crank journals. I'm sure that they were scored, but, like I say, that engine was tough.

Personally, I'd pull the pan, if it were my engine, and check the crank and rod journals. You might be Okay, but...

Jeff

[cdowns]

i'd try running it asis but that oil additive ma prevent the rings from seating on a new engine i don't use synthetic oil or additives till 3-4yhousand miles

[Speedster 229]

Thank's guys. I'm feeling better. Your right about the oil additive. I'm draining it today. I ran it for about 2 hours total while I have been tuning etc. I guess I over reacted andthought it might help loosen it up for the restart but I fully intended to only run it a short time. That probably may be causing the smoking.I'll install a new filter and 10/40 Valvoline this P.M.. I've been running magnets on the filter too. Maybe alittle vodoo but I figure it didn't hurt.

[ginter]

You never want to use additives or synthetics until you're absolutely certain the rings have seated.

I'd run it. What's the worse thing that could happen? You'd end up tearing it down and re-ringing. You're already considering that anyway. As long as you know that's a possibility, go ahead and run it. I'll bet it will be fine.

[71-longbed]

went to a car show with last week and they drained all the oil out of this old dodge and ran it at WOT ..the engine only last a minute and 30 seconds ...i dont know if they were able to start it back up or not .... it smoked a bunch before it finally died.... pretty fun

[Longhorn Man]

Well, here is what happened to me.
I was cruising the turd GMC and noticed my oil guage was jumping and dripping. I pulled over (I'm on the freeway and it was in the mid 90s outside) and discovered she was pretty much drier than a pop corn fart. I looked for my extra oil that I almost always carry with me, and discovered I had nothign but one bottle of dextron.
I poured the dextron in, and limped it about 1/4 mile to a gas station and poured in about 3 1/2 quarts of oil, then went straight home and drained it all out.
I have no idea how long the pump has sucking the pan dry, but now I have very low oil pressure, when it was perfectly fine before. I was getting about 40 - 50 pounds at an idle in park after it was warmed up, and I was normally running 10W40. Now I am happy if it reads 15 under the same conditions with 20W50.

Your rings are probably OK since it still runs fine. Before going any further, I would do two things.
Check your oil pressure when the engine is cold, and again when it is warm.
Then I would pull all the plugs and do a good compression check.
You'll be p!ssed if you need to pull it apart, but it is better than cruising it sor 6 months and have it start knocking in the bottom and scatter it all over the freeway trying to limp it home.


I hate to go against the popular vote here, but I'm sure you have alot of time and even more money into it,a dn I would hate to scatter an engine knowing I coulda prevented it.
I check my oil all the time now...just for the record.

[casey]

man I know that feeling, whats done is done,I'd just drive it,sounds like it will be ok.