Did some major owrk to the wifes 960 volvo. Left to get oil, had already drained it and already had my filter. Drained and put filter back on. All i had was 1 quart of oil. Got home and she had taken the car about a mile down the road. Found her at her grandmothers house. Put in the remaining oil. Do yall think that there was much damage done with only one quart, driving a mile? If so what sort of symptoms would I see and how soon will they appear?

Did the oil pressure lamp burn?
Look at the oil during your next change, which I would do very soon. If it appears to be a little grey, she may have spoiled the bearings. As loong as there are strange sounds from the engine, I wouldn't be worried.

Edith says: As long as you don't hear strange sounds, you don'thave to be worried.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Callisa,

I am guessing you are going to be just fine. Not much you can do now anyway. Guessing the capacity is 4 or 5 quarts. Probably the one quart was enough to lube up the engine and it carried along on the anti wear additives the rest of the way. Did it take long for oil pressure to come up after you added the remaining oil?

For peace of mind you could do a used oil analysis. Not sure at what miles, though. And even if some minor wear occurred and raised wear metals in this analysis, it probably would go back to normal in the next analysis or two.

Now you can be an oil nut like me and have too much oil stocked up and you will never come up short of oil (yeah, I have 80 quarts stashed in my cellar--can't pass up a deal--, but I suggest something more sane like having a case and a couple extra filters always on hand).

I don't know if the oil light came on, she was driving. For an anylysis where do you recommend, and about how much would that cost?

There are several out there. I have only had a couple done yet. Blackstone Labs in Fort Wayne Indiana does a good job (about $20) and for extra you can get Dyson analysis (an expert interpertation of your results, but maybe overkill). Another lab that I have heard is good is ANA Laboratories. I would talk to a tech person at the lab, tell them what happened, and ask if the oil analysis should wait for more miles on the new oil change. See what they say. Or if you want more opinion, not to steer folks away from here, but the Bobistheoilguy site has a huge level of traffic and you will get multiple opinions on this.

What I meant about the oil light was, when you got back and poured the rest of the oil in, did the light come on and for how long. If it only came on for seconds, then it would tell me the quart was enough to maintain fairly continuous flow during the one mile trip and likely no damage was done. But I think you dumped the rest of the oil in and went home without starting it and so don't know for sure.

no, the oil light behaved as it should. Drove it today for about 60 miles, and had no issues...so far.

I bet you are fine. Good thing she didn't go on a 30 mile trip to Walmart! So long as there was enough oil to be in the sump it would get continuous flow. Running 30 miles would likely cook the quart since oil also cools. Also you maybe did not get that good of splash lube. Probably some of the type operation happened where the extreme pressure additives come into play like zinc and phosphorus. That and the fact that the engine never got too hot probably saved you. All IMO.

By the way, what grade of oil do you run in that car? I am guessing down in LA you would be running a 10w something at a minimum.

In her volvo I run castrol 10 40, in my chevrolet truck i run castrol 5 30. If I use anything other than than the 5 30 the valves clatter really bad on a cold start up.

To add to the last post, today it was 97, with 82% humidity, feels like 115. At 9 PM its still 88

I am running 10w40 in my pickup truck, but 10 w30 in all else. In Michigan we usually will get a month with daytimes in the 90s, but this has been an unusually cool year. I don't recall any 90s temps this summer, though probably did have a couple days. I am happy if it stays in mid 70s though.