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no oil

  • Thread starter Thread starter DrewDude320i
  • Start date Start date
D

DrewDude320i

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One of my friends decided it would be cool to drive my GS550L 3 miles without any oil in the engine. Should I expect any damages, besides the ones that are going to be done to his face?
 
Um, stupid question, but why wasn't there any oil in your engine?

Only thing I can think of, put oil in, go ahead and change the filter (to catch any metal particles, buy a good one!), then do a compression check. If you hear clattering or knocking, your friend owes you a new bike.
 
DrewDude320i said:
One of my friends decided it would be cool to drive my GS550L 3 miles without any oil in the engine. Should I expect any damages, besides the ones that are going to be done to his face?
Click to expand...

Suggestion #1) Kick your friend right in the nutz.
Comment #2) Your engine is most likely a boat anchor now. I would be amazed if there was no serious damage.

Comment #3) WHY???????????
 
Yikes. 3 miles with no oil is a very , very bad thing for a motor. Are you sure it had NO oil at all? Not a drop? Suprised it made it that far.

Most motors won't take that kind of abuse, but if any can, the GS motor may be able to. Good luck.
 
Assuming your bike is an 8 valver with the roller bearing crank, there might not be as much damage as first thought. You might want to pull the valve cover and look at the cams, and do a compression check to get some idea of what's going on there.

Good luck.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if it's still ok.

Think about it.

roller bearings everywhere (no journal bearings which would cook).

as long as there was some residual oil to wet the cylinders and keep the cams damp, it should be ok.

Although, the farthest I've ever rode without oil is to the end of the driveway.
 
we need more details here...

#1 Why is said friend still a friend?
#2 How much oil was really in the bike?
#3 Why did he do this?

But i bet your bike will be fine. Just fill it up with oil, and start it up. Don't rev any, just let the oil circulate.
 
As others have said, you may be ok. My car mechanic drained the oil out of a retired shop car, an 85 civic with 330K on the clock. He then ran it all day just to see what would happen. It ran fine with no problems at all and he still uses it, now with 360K miles! So you never know.
 
I would think the bottom end is still OK. Probably enough oil clinging to the surfaces of the bearings for three miles. I would think the clutch and trans are probably OK too. The pistons and valve train may be another matter. You just need to check for symptoms of top-end engine wear - low compression and/or excessive oil consumption.
 
KEEP YOUR KEY ON YOU.

You don't ride another's bike without permission.
 
why did he do it? I was 100 miles away, and he "assumed it was ok." Don't worry, he will be thoroughly destroyed. I can't hear much knocking, but then again i don't exactly know what these sound like running correctly so i don't have a good reference. I'm doing carb work on it now. It's still down in Houston, and he said he added oil, but can't find the oil filter. I can't get down to show him, how should i describe how to get to it and get it off? Also, how do I check transmission fluid (just got to thinking, maybe that might be gone too). There was a little oil in there, enough to keep it wet, but not enough for happiness.
 
Oil filter is under the cover in the front.

I'd treat it as if nothing happened. Oil it up. Idle it a while, take a tentative ride. Then go hard.

I'd of course still beat your friend.
 
Um, if he was stupid enough to ride a bike without oil, I definitely wouldn't be letting him turn any wrenches on my bike. Especially if he can't find the oil filter. Granted, it's not "sticking out" like it normally is on a car's engine, but the thought of someone like that working on my bike makes me want to get my REALLY heavy crescent wrench.....
 
txironhead said:
Um, if he was stupid enough to ride a bike without oil, I definitely wouldn't be letting him turn any wrenches on my bike. Especially if he can't find the oil filter. Granted, it's not "sticking out" like it normally is on a car's engine, but the thought of someone like that working on my bike makes me want to get my REALLY heavy crescent wrench.....
Click to expand...

Yeah, no kidding! Don't let him touch it. Especially after running it without oil.
 
The cam journals will be the first to recieve abrupt distruction from lack of oil. They only have .0015 of clearence to begin with. Three miles without oil is a LOT of time for some destruction......
 
Well, he's usually quite the gear head (he has a Nissan Maxima that he's done a lot of work on, and he's a damn good detailer) but I guess checking the basics...must have slipped his mind. I'm bringing it up to College Station so I can work on it. I'm thinking about putting in some SeaFoam and carb cleaner to see how that'll help out my clogged carb situation, if that doesnt do it I guess I'll have to clean them by hand and put the bike in my dorm room (fun fun).
 
one more question that is related:

When it was running with no oil, he reported that it was smoking from the left side only - no smoke out the right muffler. When oil was added, it stopped. Now, it's back. We've added a lot of carb cleaner in there though, including SeaFoam (the right amount), so could that be what's causing it?
 
DrewDude320i said:
one more question that is related:

When it was running with no oil, he reported that it was smoking from the left side only - no smoke out the right muffler. When oil was added, it stopped. Now, it's back. We've added a lot of carb cleaner in there though, including SeaFoam (the right amount), so could that be what's causing it?
Click to expand...

Changing the filter on my seester thats one thing. Touching my bike thats something all together different. I would have to know you for a long time and have total faith in your abilities before I would let you near my bike.
 
He's good with cars, he just made a mistake. as long as it doesnt cause damage, i'll only hospitalize him for a week or so.
 
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