it was significantly low, luckily due to unpaid tickets, i wasnt vtec'ing around everywhere. didn't notice anything or see any dash lights but what would be damaged in a case of low oil? thanks in advance.

 

Thats an oil pressure light. When you see that you are pretty much out of oil.. Don't drive it until you put in at least 3-4 quarts which I assume it will probably take now...

Check your oil in the future every 200-500 miles. Mine burns oil and I made this a routine especially spirited drives... I'd suggest even looking to make sure you have no leaks first because if its a bad washer or loose oil filter you will lose the oil again.

Tricks like a catch can or drilled valve cover don't do much of anything either even though some say it works. Your best bet is to run a heavier weight oil, or run an oil like Amsoil/Kendalls even being they handle the higher temps much better than most oils on the market. I've tried 3 different brands aside from Amsoil and have had no luck thus far. I still burn oil sparingly... Also it will burn faster in while in vtec so stay outta vtec if you choose to preserve your oil.

sidenote: hopefully you didn't do any damage. I didn't when it happened to me but MANY people here have actually starved they're motors without knowing. Keep an eye on your oil level and listen for sounds that weren't there before. If you hear anything out of the norm I would say bring it to a mechanic that is familiar with these cars..

 

How low is low?

3-4 quarts is A LOT....when your dipstick shows one "x" of oil, youre only down ~one quart. So if it does show one "x" of oil on your dipstick and you put 3-4 quarts of oil in it, you motor is not going to like you lol.

Did you drain your oil to confirm you were low or are you just assuming?

 

The red oil light is for low oil pressure, so despite having lower than safe oil levels in the car, as long as there is good pressure, there shouldn't be damage. If you were driving aggressively it would be dangerous as you could cause starvation/pressure issues.

How much oil is "low"? How much oil did you end up putting in?

And if you're ever down on oil, don't just dump in 3-4 quarts at once - never add more than a quart at a time as that is the range you can read on the dipstick, and in an event where you are topping up on an unknown amount of oil, always give plenty of time for each quart to filter down to the pan before checking.

 

It helps to know how low it was as suggested above. If your oil level was above the low mark you are pretty safe.

Many times the damage doesn't show up for a long time afterwards and it can occur down the road when you don't expect it - it has happened that way to a few of us. You won't get a straight answer to this question but it helps to know how low the oil got.

 

If you perform a UOA on the oil in there now, after the low-condition, you can read for metals that indicate damage/excessive wear.

 

^ this is a great idea, it might give you some peace of mind if the used oil analysis comes back normal, relatively cheap too.

 

The low point for the pressure light to come on is pretty low. Under normal driving condtions this is about 1 to maybe 1.5 quarts of oil if you are lucky. Nothing to play with at all..

 

i said that i did NOT get any lights. and it was slightly below the last x! thinking back it couldnt have been that way too long.
so no one really answered, what WOULD be the first things to fail from running on low oil?

 

in the title it says UNKNOWINGLY, that means i didn't know it was low. can't afford really?