01 wont start after oil loss

[Frydaddy1]

Ok my co-workers were driving an 01 GT when somehow they realized they had low or no oil, filled the oil and drove down the road... without putting the filler cap back on . A while later down the road they lost power and disciovered this mistake. They went for oil, filled it again and now it dosent want to run. I have pulled the plugs and rotated the engine with a breaker bar, pistons rising as they should, no broken rods. Turning the crank by hand was a little tight to me but it just might be this engine (not much experiance with Toyota). When this car does attempt to start (maybey runs for five seconds) there is a knock. My best guess from here is that the engine almost sized up / maybey tweaked a rod / and or has worn the rings out all from oil starvation. I am saying a full bottom end rebuild, because that knock must be mechanical.

Now we dont know how to pull codes. They dont have a manual... like I told them to when they brought the car to MY HOUSE. Havent attempted a compression test yet. We disconnected the battery in an attempt to clear a code that may have put this car in limp mode but no luck.

Any help in geting this car away from my garage would be appreciated.

Thanks
Fry

[toyomoho]

Doubt if a rod would break from lack of oil. More probable is you have spun a rod bearing; the result is a knocking noise. Knocking is not good; most likely will not go away and usually gets worse with time (assuming you can keep the engine running).

With the spark plugs still installed, you will experience crank turning resistance during the piston compression strokes. Pull out the spark plugs and see if the engine turns smoothly using a breaker bar. The engine bearings and maybe rings/cylinders may have been damaged and are now scored.

Drain the oil out and see what you get (you would be looking for signs of metal).

There may or may not be codes stored in the ECU. Is the check engine light on? This system is ODBII and requires a code reader. Thought AutoZone rented or loaned these out, but? Supposedly you can clear the codes by removing the EFI fuse for 30 seconds or disconnecting the battery. Don’t disconnect the battery if you have a radio with theft protection enabled unless you have the reset code.

Check past TN posts especially in the Camry forum. A number of owners have run out of oil, experienced knocking noises, spun bearings and even left the oil cap off. So, your friend is not the first to do this. You may be able to find something to help you better diagnose just what happens when the engine runs out of oil.

Worse case, the bearing(s) are gone, the bottom end needs repair. I would not run the engine with this knock. If a bearing, the crank will get even more damaged, the result being the need for a replacement.

[BrightTundra04]

If there is a knock don't try to start it again if it fires and stays running you'll just ruin the crank and rods if its a main bearing you'll need a short block with it being an 01 I'd check around to see if you can find a pullout from a wreak at a salvage yard to put in there. I'd do a whole motor if it ran out of oil than the cam took a beating too. it's the one first parts to lose oil.

[Frydaddy1]

The owner is looking for another engine so he can pull and hopefully rebuild this one as a performance engine. I wish him the best of luck. They wanted to do a compression test on it but after I felt how hard the crank was to turn by hand I told them there was no reason. The engine has not been run after they had to demonstrate the knock and the crank still rotates so mabey there is a chance of saving her.

Thanks for the help, searching your fourms has been helpful. I probably wont be posting much after this... that is until the other engine install goes terriably wrong .

Later
Dennis