hi I was driving my 1999 miata and my engine failed on me. White smoke came out of the exhaust and some smoke was seen coming out of the hood and I had to pull over. The mechanic I took it to said the engine ran out of engine oil and to fix the car, i need to replace the engine itself. I wanted to know if there was another way to fix my car? What if I put oil in the car now, would that help start it?
Thanks.

 

Running the engine out oil is definitely on the 'things not to do list'. Does the vehicle crank over and start now and if so is there any noise from the engine like a very loud knock noise? Or does the engine just crank over really fast and not start? Usually running the engine out of oil will either sieze the crankshaft or camshaft or destroy engine bearings and there really is no other fix then to replace. Repair of individual parts is often fruitless as there is just too much damage to internal engine.

 

hi the engine actually makes no noise at all when you try to start it...there is no knocking noise or anything so do you think it will need an engine replacement?? thanks

 

Any knocking or most other noises will probably not occur until the engine is running. Does the engine start up? And if not, then why not? You could certainly try to put oil back in and see what happens but if it will not even start then not worth the effort. What reason did the mechanic give for needing the engine replaced besides ran out of oil? Running out of oil is the cause but what is the failure that has happened that requires engine replace? Rod knock, compression loss, hole in the block? If that information was not provided than would suggest you get that info first off.

 

You can contact http://www.mostlymiata.com for a quote on a used engine. It's a helluva lot cheaper than buying a new crate motor from Mazda.