# Will no oil ruin 2004 altima??



## Hallacres (May 24, 2004)

Just had taken the 2004 Altima to the oil change shop for its first, 3000miles. 3 days later, Saturday, it stalls on the road and oil light and check engine light comes on. Before going to pick up my family stuck in the car, I notice a small oil spot in the dirt where the car has been parked in the driveway. As the tow truck is raising the car, oil is dripping onto the ground. LOW AND BEHOLD, THERE IS NO DRAIN PLUG. The dipstick is showing NO OIL.

So, QUESTION IS: Will running the car with no oil damage the engine, or is there a failsafe!?!?!?!? 
Afterall, it did stall out automatically with no apparent bad sounds from the engine (says the wife). I dont know how to get it to dealership monday morning without paying for tow!!


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## blueboost (Jul 25, 2002)

well. I've been there before. lost my oil plug and ceazed my engine. the oil light never came on (it flickered briefly). but then I heard metal on metal noises and the engine seazed. yes, there could have been damage. did the engine overheat at all? If the temperature got too high you could have warped parts. if you just had an oil change I would contact a lawyer and then tow to nissan dealership to have them chk everything (at the expense of the oil change place). don't let them screw you around its their fault and they ARE liable. I got a rental car and my engine replaced at their expense.

Their may be some fail safe on the new altima, that I do not know the answer to. Someone else here will be able to answer that. either way I wish you best of luck and hope there was no damage.


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## BikerFry (Jul 31, 2003)

The QR25 (the engine in your car) is a very, uh, delicate engine. I can't imagine running one without oil without damaging the engine. Definitely have the dealership do a leakdown and/or compression test. I wouldn't be too surprised if the place that did your oil change owes you a new engine. I mean, I can't say for sure so wait till the dealership has the chance to check, but it doesn't seem good to me...


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## Hallacres (May 24, 2004)

blueboost said:


> well. I've been there before. lost my oil plug and ceazed my engine. the oil light never came on (it flickered briefly). but then I heard metal on metal noises and the engine seazed. yes, there could have been damage. did the engine overheat at all? If the temperature got too high you could have warped parts. if you just had an oil change I would contact a lawyer and then tow to nissan dealership to have them chk everything (at the expense of the oil change place). don't let them screw you around its their fault and they ARE liable. I got a rental car and my engine replaced at their expense.
> 
> Their may be some fail safe on the new altima, that I do not know the answer to. Someone else here will be able to answer that. either way I wish you best of luck and hope there was no damage.


I wasn't in the car, my wife was. She doesNT know about temp, so thats unknown. She did not hear anything out of the ordinary, only the car stalled and she had to coast it off the road, luckily. I was hoping I could just plop a plug in and put oil into her, but knew it would not be that easy. First oil change and I spend $50 to put Mobil1 Full synthetic into her. 

I would have done it myself (correctly for that matter) but did not know about warranty issues!

Thanks for replies!


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## altima04 (Feb 28, 2004)

Hallacres said:


> I wasn't in the car, my wife was. She does know about temp, so thats unknown. She did not hear anything out of the ordinary, only the car stalled and she had to coast it off the road, luckily. I was hoping I could just plop a plug in and put oil into her, but knew it would not be that easy. First oil change and I spend $50 to put Mobil1 Full synthetic into her.
> 
> I would have done it myself (correctly for that matter) but did not know about warranty issues!
> 
> Thanks for replies!


yall said change the oil every 3000 miles right?


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## Token Moron (Mar 28, 2003)

u'll be surprised how quickly an engine can get damaged without any oil.....one time, my dad was changing the oil on his 2000 frontier and couldnt get the filter off..so he accidentally punctured it and decided to wait for me to come to help(smart move )......anyway i wasnt able to look at it and next thing i know my goes out on an errand at night and 5mins later i go outside to go to my car and to my surprise i see 95% of the trucks oil on the driveway.....my heart immediately sank and i got into my car and sped to where my mom was going hoping to see her on the road and have her pull over....after not seeing her, i went back home to see the truck parked in the driveway.....because i think she said the CEL/oil light came on so she came back home after noticing the lights on the dash....to this day the truck drives fine....while she was letting the car warm up, all the oil came out, so she basically drove it halfway to the store and back with practically no oil in the engine...of course this is a KA24 engine which is waaay better built than the QR25


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## Hallacres (May 24, 2004)

altima04 said:


> yall said change the oil every 3000 miles right?



???? The owners manual list 3750 miles for super maintence, but I grew up always doing 3000 miles.

Whats your question though???


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

running with no oil can ruin just about any engine. you said it stalled 3 days aftert the oil change... was the vehicle being driven during those 3 days?


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## Bror Jace (Apr 26, 2003)

It will be almost impossible to tell how much damage was done to the engine without a complete tear down and inspection. No, there are no "failsafes" involved with running an engine without oil. I've seen some really old, nearly worn-out vehicles that have run for short periods of time with no oil ... but they are rare, indeed.

If this were my car, I'd be livid!  

However, I do all my oil changes myself ... and threads like merely strengthen my resolve to _always_ do this. 

For those interested in oil selection and maintenance, you might enjoy reading through this thread:

http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=006413;p=1


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## Hallacres (May 24, 2004)

Bror Jace said:


> It will be almost impossible to tell how much damage was done to the engine without a complete tear down and inspection. No, there are no "failsafes" involved with running an engine without oil. I've seen some really old, nearly worn-out vehicles that have run for short periods of time with no oil ... but they are rare, indeed.
> 
> If this were my car, I'd be livid!
> 
> ...



ok, i think this is what happened. The local oil change place I went to probably only hand tightened the drain plug. I had no problems for the 3 days running it. On saturday, I noticed the SMALL, very small, oil stain in the dirt where it was sitting. The wife had the car. She did some shopping and then saw a movie. Right after leaving the theater, she "thought" she heard a noise. A MILE later, the oil light came on, and shortly (half mile???), it stalled completely. 

I took pics of the oil spot in my driveway, and the two spots where it died, after she parked it (sat for 15 minutes), and where I moved it to, to wait for tow (sat for 20 min.). THOSE SPOTS WERE ALSO VERY SMALL. Right before he hooked up the tow, I check oil, and it was dry. Some dripped out when being lifted, and then I saw no plug.

I rode my bike (yes, all this happened very close to home) to the oil change place. I did not see any large pools or runs of oil, this backs up my theory that the plug was in!

The fact that I have proof that it was leaking oil at my house, is that good evidence??!! I think so, as it means the plug was loose.

GOing to tow it to dealership in morning, and waste probably a days work :thumbdwn:


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## Hallacres (May 24, 2004)

Hallacres said:


> GOing to tow it to dealership in morning, and waste probably a days work :thumbdwn:


UPDATE: Towed to Dealership. They cant look at it untill tuesday. Got me a rental. Dealer shop manager said to call Oil Change Shop and inform Manager/Owner of issue. I did so and the owner seems cooperative, though I am not taking anything for granted. He took down all my info and what happened and is now awaiting word from me about the car.

More later.


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## altima04 (Feb 28, 2004)

Hallacres said:


> ???? The owners manual list 3750 miles for super maintence, but I grew up always doing 3000 miles.
> 
> Whats your question though???


o cuz my car just completed 6000 miles so i think i need my oil change now
thats y i was asking


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