Honda Odyssey run with no oil

[Nelso]

Here is my story and I am looking for a little advice from a few of the experts on this forum or others that have experienced similar situations in the past.

So today I bring my wife's 2008 Honda Odyssey in for some warranty work on one of the leather seats. While I drop it off I tell the service guy at the dealership that I want the oil changed as well.

Long story short I get the vehicle back in the afternoon and I noticed the oil light on. So I drive from the parking lot to inside the service department. Vehicle was probably running two minutes. I shut the vehcile off and we check the oil. Dry as a bone.

So now what. The service department took the matter very serious and wanted to keep my vehicle overnight. Not exactly sure what they are doing but it was on the lift before they could get me another vehicle to take home for the night.

My concerns are that there may not be any noticable damage now, but is there premature wear that will compromise the life of the vehicle. I am not sure I will ever trust the vehicle for road trips in the middle of the winter, especially if it's just my wife and kids.

We settled on this vehicle a couple years ago with the intentions of it lasting as a longtime. We figured the additional upfront cost would payoff over time. It's our first Honda and I don't want this experience to result in it being my last Honda.

What can I expect from the dealership to make this situation whole. Anybody ever experienced this before?

Thanks for any advice. I don't contribute much on this HSOforum but I have definitely learned a lot over the years.

Nelso

[deadeye]

Idk I guess I would be talking with the service manager about getting a warranty or something.

Honostly though, if it didn't make any noise your probably fine. Its a Honda and their motors are pretty solid. Two minutes is nothing, I bet it would run for a hour without oil before it popped.

[Jeremy airjer W]

You would be surprised at how often that happens without the owner knowing.

I agree its a Honda. It was run with very little load and for a short time. It happened at the dealer and the dealer will make note of what happened (if its not notated than I wouldn't leave until it is). I wouldn't worry about reliability or getting stranded. There are plenty of opportunities for that to happen without this incident.

I couldn't tell you how many vehicles come into the shop with literally a shot glass worth of oil in the crankcase and 3+ thousand miles overdue for service. Those cars continue to run until the wheels fall off.

Its unfortunate that it happened and it should have been caught before it even left the bay it was serviced in.

[Nelso]

Thanks Airjer, I appreciate the advice.

[Scott K]

I will agree with the others, I wouldnt be overly concerned. Ask the dealer if they will offer a free extended warranty to your engine for 2 years 24k, if there was any damage done, it would more then certainly show up prior to that.

As airjer said, this does happen, and in the majority of the cases has very little effect on the engine long term. Now if your engine was knocking for a long time, or locked up, I would then be concerned.

In the cash for clunkers program, techs got to see how long these engines will last with no oil, and even with a liquid made to wreck the engine.

Several years ago I bought an old truck for a few of the body parts, the engine was an old 4.9 straight 6. I decided to see how long the engine would last with no oil in it, and a block on the gas pedal, well it lasted about 15 minutes, at wide open throttle, it sure knocked for awhile, then all of a sudden, a big bang, the rod flew through the hood, one of the parts I bought the truck for.

In other words, a few minutes shouldnt hurt the engine much.

[spearchucker]

You are probably fine as others said, but it will cause some wear. Its not like the engine was bone dry. There is still some oil on the parts. Just because it wasn't knocking and lock up doesn't mean there wasn't a small amount of damage done.

[zamboni]

the rod flew through the hood, one of the parts I bought the truck for.

Thats funny! did the kids learn any new words?

[Whoaru99]

I'd get something in writing from the Service Manager and signed by the Dealer Principal/owner(s) as to what happened and that they (the dealership) will stand behind any necessary repairs for "X" amount of time. "X" to be negotiated.

Honda proper is not really responsible to fix anything under warranty resulting from this dealership screwup, no different than Honda denying warranty if you ran it out of oil.

[Hookmaster]

The few times I've had the dealer change the oil they have put too much back in.