7000 miles and no more transmission oil
 

so today i took a 5 mile drive to a friends house, everything in the car was functioning fine. he helped me use his air compressor to fill up my tires and replace the oil and oil filter. At this point everything is still fine: no leaks, nothing to cause any concern. i end up visiting with him over lunch for an hour and a half or so at which point i decide to be on my way back home.

i get in my "tide water blue" fit (not my choice of color but hey i have a car that works, well..not for long, and i am great full for it) and start the engine. i start the engine, no problems, but then i put it into reverse and out comes this horrible rattling/grinding noise. i am stunned but not too fazed because it wasn't too loud. Anyways, i press the gas and the engine revs up to around 3 to 4000 rpms but the car barely moves out of the garage. i stop the car and get out to check if it is leaking oil but find that it is leaking what i believed to be water from between the front wheels which i assumed was coming from the airconditioning so i continue to drive on.

well half way home there is a plume of smoke behind me and the engine is reving but not pushing the car, as if i was in neutral. i turn the car off and check the oil dipstick. perfect. i then check the transmission oil level. dead dry, barely a hint of oil on it. my precious fit is now sitting in the Hoen Honda repare lot waiting for the mechanics to check it out on monday.

i dont think we drained the transmission fluid instead of the engine oil because it would have overflowed when we poured the new oil in. what could have caused the transmission oil to leak out? how come i didnt notice anything driving to his house? was it the watery substance, that i mistakened to be from the airconditioning, from between the tires?



i hope this didnt destroy my transmission.

Do you still have the spent oil so you can examine it? If the oil was not drained I'd imagine that removing the oil filter would cause a significant amount of oil to come pouring out. Did this happen?

well i drained the engine oil then replaced the filter and filled the engine oil back up. the transmission oil should be totally separate from the engine oil and i didnt touch anything that has to do with the transmission which is why i am at such a loss as to why it was all gone.

A bad/loose fitting or damaged oil cooler line is the only thing that I can think of.

maybe your friend got jelly of your "TWB" and did it when you werent looking?

:)

Did you have any shifting problem before the oil change?

Sounds to me like you may have removed the wrong drain plug by mistake.

Describe where it was located, and we can tell you if it was the wrong one.

you were right. turns out i drained the transmission and then added more oil to the engine. needless to say picking it up was a tad embarrassing but no big deal cause i didnt destroy the transmission. where is the bolt to drain the engine oil? :confused:

On the the oilpan that is attached to the block of the engine. Check your service manual, there should be a drawing.

Count yourself lucky your AT is in working order, all that metal to metal contact definitely was not a good thing.

i know im lucky. and thanks

Thanks for owning up to this. Most wouldn't have bothered.

On the plus side you had me check my transmission fluid!

Fwiw, I assume you also ended up changing the engine oil. Twice the proper amount of oil in the engine can also really screw things up.

On the oil pan facing the back of the car. It's right next to the oil filter.

Don't feel too bad, i've seen more experienced people do the same thing (kind of scary lol), you're not the first person in the world to do it.

I admire your honesty. :p

It takes courage to admit that happened on a car forum... you won't
get raked over the coals by me.

At one time or another we have all done embarrassing things associated
with our vehicles. I should put a disclaimer on this... embarrassing things
that did not involve the opposite sex. :D

My embarrassment happened many years ago during my college years
when I drove 50 miles in the dead of winter wondering why I had no heat.
Mom went out and checked the rad... no coolant. Duh!

I hope there are no long term effects from the short period of no-oil
operation.

I wonder if an oil flush would be warranted... in other words draining
this fill after a short period of time (less than 100 miles) and refill with
fresh oil and a new filter... just to get any metal particles that may be
in there out.

Ouch. Thats what I expected after reading your description.

We all make mistakes. That just happens to be a very serious one.

I bet you will make sure you have the right drain plug from now on tho! :p

The good news is, it may cost you $$, but its a machine that can be fixed.

BIGAMV is one lucky dude and the Fit has one tough tranny.

I once did an oil change without adding the oil... started the engine and immediately shut it down.
The clatter and the oil light were the two red flags.
That was a lesson learned on a 63 Corvair, my first car.

We all need to learn somehow_:D

i thought there was "OIL" embossed in these honda engines... no? or maybe an arrow or something for the engine oil plug?

or was that anohter car i had before? i'll take a look next time i do the GE's oil change as it's coming up soon. i can sort of understand (naw, not really) folks mistaking a subaru's engine/tranny if theyve never worked on boxer engines before but.... lol :D

It happens.You were honest,good for you.

I too give props to the opening poster for being honest and manning up to his mistake rather than lying about it and blaming Honda.

Others who've had engine damage for lack of oil, didn't hesitate to post about the issue, but they failed to post the true cause.

I do have a question for you Paul. You mentioned that you drove 50 miles without coolant? Did you mean "tiny bit low" coolant or small air pocket in cooling system or just as you said "no coolant"?

I still haven't seen an engine that can survive under those conditions without overheating, blowing a radiator hose, locking up or all of the above when driven just 10 miles without the proper coolant.

50 miles without a properly working cooling system is simply amazing and I am curious to know of the year, make and model of the beast that had such a bullet proof engine.

Cheers.