Valves dry after sitting for 11 days

[dorkside]

Holy Smoke - That was a scary one!!!

I was on vacation for 11 days without my 2002 Q45 (129000 miles).
I had it parked on my driveway which sits at a prety good slope. The engine was at the top of the slope.

When I first started the car, it had a hard time starting. When it did kick over there was some loud rattling coming from the engine. It sounded like all the valve lifters were all loose bouncing around in the heads.

I quickly shut it off and checked the oil dipstick and it was dry. I knew it had to have plenty of oil. So I rolled the car down the driveway until it was level. When I rechecked the dipstick it did show it had a full amount of oil.

I then started the car again, it ran rough and loud for about a minute then it gradually got lubricated and quiet.

Whew, I was scared, I thought it was over - engine dead.

Has this happened to anyone else? Did I damage the engine in any way or should I have done something differently.

This is the first time the car has ever sat that long without running.

Thanks alot.

[Infinitiexpert]

Has this happened to anyone else?

It's normal, the lifter bleed off the oil.

Did I damage the engine in any way or should I have done something differently.

No, you can run that engine without oil for an hour and nothing will happen. I have seen people running the engine with low oil and making noise for months.

[sergey85]

same thing happens to my max