Since there's no freakin low oil light that goes on, i just realized that i've driven a few times over the 4 years i've had my s2k with low oil....to the point where the engine actually makes a rattling noise....Anyways, call it stupidity on my part but now it has oil and rattling is gone, question is have I done permanent damage to the engine? My lease is up soon.....

Thanks,

 

You are correct, there is a light for low oil pressure but not for low oil level. The manual states that you should check your oil level every time you fill up with gas. This is not a car that can have its oil changed and go 3000-5000 miles without checking the oil.

If you've run the car low enough on oil that it was making noise I would think that some damage has been done. But you're asking us to do the impossible and besides, my crystal ball is broken today, so I can't look into your engine and know for sure how bad the damage is.

 

honestly, when you go to turn it in, as long as the CEL isnt on, they wont notice

 

Like was said, when you turn it in after the lease, they won't know the difference. Honda has an outside company inspect the car before you turn it in. If they approve of the tires, mileage, body, paint, and interior condition, they will pass it. Once it passes, you drop it off at a Honda dealer, toss the keys, and roll. As long as you can drive up to the lot, it won't matter. I turned in a lease once, I was so nervous, eventhough my car was darn near perfect. The guy that inspected it was so fat, that he couldn't even sit in the car. He asked me to read the mileage, checked the tires, walked around it, and he was done.

 

I wouldnt buy out the lease ill tell you that much hehe.

 

Dan

 

so is there permanent damage?

 

The rattling you may have heard could have been your throw out bearing, but since the noise is gone now and your lease is up .... who cares

 

my question is this.

was the noise really a RATTLING or a TICKING

ticking sound you're fine.

another important question was HOW LOW on oil and for HOW LONG

 

Here's my theory: Since the oil was low but the pressure okay, the engine was getting the proper oiling during operation. If the rattling was during operation all the time, perhaps there was simply less oil to damp the sound. If it was only on startup, I've heard that sound when doing oil changes - I assume it's the oil pump forcing oil through the passages that drained due to drained oil. Perhaps if the oil is low enough the same thing happens. In any case, since the oil pressure never dropped, wouldn't that mean the engine was getting plenty of it?