Question by Gix: Running a high performance engine with no oil?
I drained all the oil out of my suzuki gsxr 1100 motorcycle my and put it away over xmas cos i was busy at work, today i in my infinate wisdom i decided to run it for a couple of minutes to clear any old petrol from the carbs forgeting i han no oil, so i had it running on half choke for about 2 minutes and gave it a few little blips on the throttle before i had my OH NO moment and killed the motor (figurativly i hope)
it seemed to be running ok with no strage noises and the barrels felt hot but not as hot as they usually get also i figure there was still a litre and a half of oil in the cooler and lines.
What i would like to know is whats the likely hood that i have done some serious engine damage to the bottom end of my lump?
I am having the top end stripped tuned and rebuilt at the end of jan but i don’t wanna spend over a grand on it if the botom end is dead but i don’t really wanna but i don’t really wanna spend money on the bottom end either unless i really have to.
Best answer:
Answer by smart guy
Well, if it was only for a few minutes, then there shouldn’t be any problems. Still, if I were you, I’d take it to a mechanic just to be safe.
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9 Responses
Before they start on the top end, have them inspect your crank. Won’t take an hour of labor, and will answer your question better than I can.
Put some oil in it and see if it is running OK. If it is burning oil or knocking, you know you have done some damage.
Don’t feel bad. You are not the first to do this.
If you did not run it any longer than that and it was just in nuetral then it should be ok there is usually enough residual oil that wont drain out to offer some protection for a short run time.
It was cold, and the oil that was left in there probably lasted long enough to protect the engine. Good luck.
if there was some oil left in there you should be ok just as long as you didnt run it for a long time
I would guess you signifigantly reduced the life of your engine. 2 minutes is a very long time to run on no oil. Might be worth filling the oil up, riding it a bit, draining the oil again and having it inspected content.
Good luck.
Odds are about ZERO that you bothered it at all
It’s a plain-bearing bottom end.
They lube-fail in a rather hard-knee fashion.
When it gets ANY damage,,it’s severe and leaves no doubt.
A more critical consideration of the bottom end’s condition is what sort of shape it was in BEFORE you did that.
You’re fixing to hop it up a bit?
You’ll likely be riding it accordingly ,I’m sure.
I can only assume You’re not having Thumper Torque Mods done….but probably looking forward to turning a few more RPMS at a bit elevated BMEP.
You clearly Skated on the oil deal.
But,,How’s the Metallurgy on your connecting rod bolts,,,rod’s beams,,,etc
Timing chain?
All the stuff thats been under fatigue cycle for last several years/1000’s of miles
Go rev it up Higher & under greater pressure,,,and the risk is that Those things are what’s gonna getcha.
If it pops next summer,,,dont think back on the No Oil episode.
Think back on it’s life prior to that.
I dunno what your mod program is,or your intended app.
But,,metal’s metal.
A part is gonna work only X- number of times before it fails.
Higher Loads reduce life expectancy exponentially.
Bottom end failure is rarely a random event.
Which is why professional competition engines are rebuilt on a very specific schedule.
“Freshen Up” between races or mid season is Not about making HP or keeping it running sharp.
It’s about the half of success formula which a rider has no control over.
It’s the “Last a Long Time…” part of
“Go Fast,,Last a Long time”
Bolts & Bearings are always cheap insurance,,,wouldnt hurt to treat the rods themselves either .
If it Trashes a crank/crankcase,,,ya gotta replace all those things anyway.
Keeping the ” Weak Links ” in the chain fresh sorta protects the rest of the works,,and the more expensive stuff.
Anyway,,,thats all beyond the scope of your question.
If the no-oil thing woulda hurt it,,,you’d be very well aware of it.
Feels Foolish though in that instant you realize,dont it??
Dont even sweat that,,,
You are far from being 1st to do that,,and no way will be the last.
Good luck with your rebuild,,I hope it does Better than you’re expecting!
I think the lower end would O.K. unless those “blips” you mentioned were into the higher RPM range. Then you may have some burned bearings.
If you want to be safe, remove the spark plug and rotate the crankshaft by hand and feel/listen for any resistance on the shaft.
If you hear metal on metal sounds(you will know if you hear them!) or feel a grinding, forget the tuning and rebuild the motor.
If not, and the shaft turns smoothly and quietly, fill the crank case to the proper level, get the bike roadworthy, and go for a nice cold ride and listen for any odd sounds from the motor.
Still nothing, go ahead and have the tuning done. Remember it is O.K. to leave the oil in the crankcase if you are going to run the engine in the winter for short amounts of time.
Best of Luck to you.
Ride Safe
It will be fine there is still oil on the pistons just running like that it is fine but if you had of jumped on it and went down the street you would be taking it to the shop lol but yeah it is ok from what lil bit you ran it as long as it isnt ticking or clanking its ok!
well if u did u more then likely to blow your engine to hell and then u gone have to put more money into it awhole lot of money and the engine would run just for a few minutes.