ive been pretty busy as of late. been intending to have my oil changed for a while but never found the time. well anyway i figured it was getting pretty low, (my truck leaks oil) so i decide im gonna check it and add some. well as it turns out it was bone dry. as in not anything on the stick except for a tiny tiny drop at the tip. well i filled it up. but do you guys think there was any damage, or anything to look for or be worried about?

 

Even though no oil was showing up on the dipstick, there was probably at least a couple quarts still in the pan. As long as you didn't lose oil pressure and the oil didn't overheat you probably didn't do too much damage. If the engine still runs and you don't hear any new funny noises I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

You should be fine as long as your oil pressure didn't drop on your gauge.

 

well that sort of a problem then. cause it went lower before i added some in, but it never really went back up, maybe a tiny bit but its hard to tell. now its not flat out on the low side, but lower than what im used to seeing it at. BUT ive heard that its supposed to be a very very inacurate gauge so i dunno. also something to note is before i filled it back up, when i had the heater on that night there was a funky oil...gas burning smell or something coming through the vent. doesn't do it now but it did. also when i reved it a bit today i got the same smells, not inside the cab but outside, pretty strong too, and i don't remember my truck really doing this before.

 

look under the hood the next time you smell it, burning oil gives off nice smoke and should be fairly easy to locate. If you don't smell / see it under the hood then go smell the exhaust.
Let us know where its coming from.
Popa Tim

 

If you had a small drop of oil on the end of your dipstick after you wiped it off and reinserted it for a reading, #1 you're lucky you caught it, and #2 you were roughly 2 qts. down. I'll bet this never happens again. If you don't have time to change it you can always add oil until the change.

 

well i put 2 quarts in it after i checked it. still running ok so i don't think anything really harmful was done if anything. i need to find a chance to get it checked. the oil is pitch black. saturday will prob be my first chance.