2000 Honda Civic - no oil leads to compression problem
 

My daughter called me yesterday to inform me that the car had to be towed to a garage as it would not start. Garage tell me there is no oil. Oil was changed 8000miles ago.

I am down $140 but will be up to $3000 worst case (new Engine)
My options are scrap the car. But would appreciate some advice. Problem symptom is no compression. Garage can investigate further but of course it is expensive. Any advice would be appreciated.

If all the oil leaked or burned away, this is a bad sign. 8000 miles is a long way to go without an oil change, even with synthetic oil. If there is low or no compression, it's likely the lack of oil caused mechanical damage to the engine. This would require a rebuild or, more cheaply, a replacement salvage engine.

Did they give compression numbers from their test?

Thanks for the response. Yes they did but I misplaced them overnight. None were above 100 and at least two in the 40-60 range. She is hundreds of miles away at college so it is all the more frustrating. I agree a rebuild or new engine or reconditioned seems the only recourse. Thanks.

If they are below 100, I would say that engine is toast. I hate that the news for you is bad, but 40-60 range is awful.

If the car is paid off and still in otherwise decent shape, you could go the more time consuming and expensive route and have the engine rebuilt. That way you'll know its dependable. Or you can grab a salvage engine and hope for the best. Cheaper and easier.

I just authorized the repair (if he can).:( Still as you say it should be good when complete. Thanks for the input.

Even with nothing wrong, trying to go 8000 miles without checking the oil you're likely to run out. For an engine that has some miles on it, it will start to normally use a little oil, like a quart every 2000 miles. The Civic engine holds 3.5 quarts. So it's important to check the oil and add some as needed even if it isn't due for a change.

Like Hobo said, the least expensive option is to declare the engine to be toast and not waste time and money tinkering with it any more. Swap in a used engine.

Thanks for the input mk378 and WellFedHobo. I thought I would update you. My mechanic has just informed me that he found out the root cause of the problem: It was a plugged (clogged) Catalytic Converter. I meant to ask him if this was caused by lack of oil but did not. It appears the "head" is the only part damaged. A new cat from the dealer runs about $628 + the repair to the Head (he will tell me tonight) + labor will still be expensive and probably more expensive than just swapping the engine. But at least I'll know what I've got. He mentioned to me that in all 32 years of repairing cars he had never seen this before.

so... you're saying that the cat got clogged, and backed up the pressure in the engine and blew the head? I've never heard of that happening either.

I had an 02 Chevrolet impala that started losing power and even got to the point that it just died and I had to have i towed (thank god for Triple A)

anyways, it turns out that i was a recall issue with the catalytic converter. They would fall apart inside and clog the exhaust. But i didn't hurt my car, it just wouldn't run. After the dealership swapped out the cat, the car drove like a dream.