Dumbest Mistake Ever - Come in to roast me and give me advice

[Ichikohh]

I’ve created this account to get some expert opinion on what has been the biggest mess up of me wrenching cars. I am floored at this point and realized I’ve made a very stupid mistake.

 

My car is an R33 GTR. I’ve recently purchased an oil filter block to relocate my oil filter. In my quest to figure out where in the engine bay I will be fabricating a bracket to mount the remote oil filter plate, I’ve decided to cap off both -10AN outlet/inlet while I first start on the car to verify it runs good, thinking oil pressure will still flow through out the motor without an oil filter. I’ve called up the manufacturer of the oil block after the fact to verify this (which I should have done since the beginning) and quickly gave me the news that I f$&ked up very badly. I thought the oil pressure light was probably a result of a faulty oil sensor. Man am I stupid.. Regardless to say he advised my to rehook the oil filter, run the engine with oil pressure, redrain and look for particles in the oil.

 

Ive ran the motor for a total of 10 minutes or so. How f**ked am I for running the motor with oil but no oil pressure? Should I assume the worst at this point, that being requiring a rebuild? 

[Ben C34]

oh man, thats bad. That is engine out and rebuild it bad, not really fix up mistake and  and see what happens, although you may as well in case you are the luckiest guy alive.

10 minutes! was it noisy? 

 

[Ichikohh]

18 minutes ago, Ben C34 said:

oh man, thats bad. That is engine out and rebuild it bad, not really fix up mistake and  and see what happens, although you may as well in case you are the luckiest guy alive.

10 minutes! was it noisy? 

 

Not really noisy. Sounded normal

[joshuaho96]

I'm amazed you haven't spun a bearing yet. Engines do not last long without oil pressure.

[Ichikohh]

17 minutes ago, joshuaho96 said:

I'm amazed you haven't spun a bearing yet. Engines do not last long without oil pressure.

That’s what I’m afraid of. That I’ve already started shredding the bearing in some way for running it that long. I am anticipating there is some chance that something has not been compromised.

Either way, tomorrow I have some extra fittings arrive to complete the oil filter relocation so tomorrow I will be rerunning it with oil pressure and looking at the oil. My anxiety is killing me and wanting to know of more of a certainty at this point in time 

Edited February 8, 2021 by Ichikohh

[Duncan]

If it is running and sounding normal, all you can do is drive it. Unless and until it starts knocking, you will recognise the quite different noise if it happens

[joshuaho96]

2 hours ago, Duncan said:

If it is running and sounding normal, all you can do is drive it. Unless and until it starts knocking, you will recognise the quite different noise if it happens

Is it better to just run until it spins a bearing? I got the impression that rebuilds are more straightforward if you do it before catastrophic failure.

[Duncan]

I'm just some random on the internet. Yes, if the bearings are damaged it will be cheaper to rebuild it before they spin; the longer a damaged motor runs the more likely other parts will be damaged.

On the other hand, my bet is that if it ran for 10 minutes and isn't knocking already, it will be fine and the rebuild is not necessary.

[BK]

1 hour ago, Duncan said:

I'm just some random on the internet. Yes, if the bearings are damaged it will be cheaper to rebuild it before they spin; the longer a damaged motor runs the more likely other parts will be damaged.

On the other hand, my bet is that if it ran for 10 minutes and isn't knocking already, it will be fine and the rebuild is not necessary.

This guy would need to go and buy a lotto ticket if the crank doesn't need a at least a 10 thou regrind with no oil pressure for 10 minutes !

[MoMnDadGTR]

1 hour ago, joshuaho96 said:

Is it better to just run until it spins a bearing? I got the impression that rebuilds are more straightforward if you do it before catastrophic failure.

i just did a rebuild on a totally turn key engine(rb26) never cracked, and mate its not cheap either way. the theory here is if you rebuild it now you may save it from totally destroying your cast block/head completely "maybe". BUT BUT BUT mate ive seen some crazy things(actual things) not only with rb's but with diesel motors where motors have even run out of oil and went for another what ever km because im still using them. sometimes a guy get a break and you can learn from your mistake without to much penny bank flipping. i would without a doubt put it back to normal and try it out who cares its jsut metal mate. when i say try it i mean dont go track it. maybe start it and take it around the block and listen a bit as best you can. may seem like a pain but ive thrown on stock exhaust just so i can hear my motor when diagnosing a serious issue, although gtr's are pretty quiet should be ok. im cheap man and also just an opinion. but ive been around motors long enough to know if it aint broke dont fix it. quit tinkering with shit you dont know mate! get a manual for your car too good buddy. small example, i have an sti that has been blowing oil for 4 years now and i have debated rebuilding it probably 15 times. -50 celcius, still street race it, still pulls hard, still drive it everyday, fill the oil up like its  a type r integra b18c5 and keep going. cheers

[djr81]

Do what he said.

Drop the oil.  Look for go fast glitter. If you have a sump full of bits of metal/big end bearing you are up for a rebuild.  You don't need to wait for the oil bypass to do this. You can do it now.

If you have shiny metal bits in the oil and you have oil pressure back when you restart it then you have won.

[hardsteppa]

Thought there was some sort of a pressure relief/bypass valve for cold start etc when too much pressure at filter? In which case if you were just idling, maybe still getting enough flow?

On the other hand i could be thinking of a different engine..

 

[r32-25t]

4 minutes ago, hardsteppa said:

Thought there was some sort of a pressure relief/bypass valve for cold start etc when too much pressure at filter? In which case if you were just idling, maybe still getting enough flow?

On the other hand i could be thinking of a different engine..

 

His issue is the oil pump picks the oil up feeds it straight into the oil filter and then into the oil passages.
 

Because of capping it off all the oil would have gone straight back out the oil pressure relief valve in the pump 

dump the oil, when its sparky pull the engine 

[cachorro]

Well.. The oil does not looks sparky or glittery. I started the car as well and everything sounded smooth. Not sure if I dodged a bullet quite yet.. Am also mailing out the oil to be analyzed

[joshuaho96]

4 hours ago, cachorro said:

Well.. The oil does not looks sparky or glittery. I started the car as well and everything sounded smooth. Not sure if I dodged a bullet quite yet.. Am also mailing out the oil to be analyzed

If there isn't a ton of metal in the oil/filter you've won the lottery.

[admS15]

No one has said it yet,

Just send it

but seriously don't, get the oil analysis results and let that decide the course of action.

 

 

[PLYNX]

At the risk of being flamed mercilessly. 

Use this until it pops ! :

[GTSBoy]

Nothing wrong with HPR 50. Bit thick for winter perhaps. But fine in summer in Oz.

[Gareth]

Ever see that MCM video when they drove the corolla with no oil to see how long it would last......couldn't believe how long it went and that was giving it the beans too! I'm happy for you anyway man, sounds like you might have gotten lucky

[PLYNX]

Yep !

Many years ago, i think it was Slick50 or Nulon, ran a promotion where they treated a motor with their silicon additives, drained he motor dry, sealed it up and proceeded to drive it around Australia. 

So your right you may well be OK.