My 2001 had an oil change 1 1/2 months before I discovered this problem.
I was driving my car and noticed a small "knocking" sound. I drove it right back home to discover no oil in it. I noticed no leaks, no smells, no fumes while driving and no spills in the drive way. I'm at a loss for words and would like some advice on how or what could have happened? Isn't it new enough not to be burning oil? I get routine oil changes and have never had a problem with my car before. And no warning lights came on in my car(check oil or low oil light). Help!!!

If your car had no oil in it while you were driving it, it would have lasted only a few seconds, if it would even start. Plus, you would have had much more than a "small knocking sound".

Maybe you should get a second opinion about the oil level, and have someone else check it. That seems pretty weird. But there is no way you could drive for 1 1/2 months with no oil in it.

have someone else check it just in case, if there was no ooil like he said thae car would not have gone to far and the noise would be insane

it could be that the oil level is just low enough that the dip stick isn't getting it which could be fixed b adding some oil but I can't give you a real answer without having seen the car

The Low------Full marks only represent 1 quart of oil. Could just be a quart low.

The car could have only had 1 or 2 quarts of oil in it. My suggestion is to put more oil in - and monitor the level daily for several weeks- and cross your fingers. Maybe the place you had the oil changed didn't fill it properly.

Anthony

My celica had almost no oil in it, the dealership said it was 4qts short. How could it be that low? I've never had a problem with my car and no warning lights came on? Just one morning it began knocking and I stopped driving it and now they said I need a new engine!!! Why would this of happened and how was i suppost to know? Could it be the dealerships fault when I had the oil changed? I am in a bad situation!!!!

If you are not leaking any, then it is almost certain that it was underfilled.
I can't imagine it only making a "small knocking sound" if it was 4 quarts low.

no leaks seen, hmm

let me ask this did you see any odd smoke coming from the exhuast, like was there thick or dark smoke, when you drove

also I'm guessing that it is at the dealership but if you are able could you look at the coolant, like if the engine is cold open the radiator cap and look in if there are any dark particles in the coolant

if there were none of these symptoms that means that it was most likly way underfilled by the people who changed it and the wear of the motor just consumed what little they did put in

now another thing is that there should have been a light if it was that bad, something else might be wrong

What basis does the dealer/mechanic have saying you need a new engine? Is the engine seized? Is the head gasket damaged? Once you put the proper amount of oil in the car, does it run properly? Granted - driving with only 1 or 2 quarts of oil isn't good for the engine - but you still may be ok. If the car runs properly after putting in oil - I would take a "wait and see" approach.

Also, I would suspect that the place you had the oil changed didn't fill it properly, but I'm sure they would deny that.

Anthony

Wow. Bad situation allright. AT this point, I guess its a bit too late to get someone accountable for the missing oil. At least, get the dealer's mechanics to explain THOROUGHLY about the damage and the results of inspection. Oil less than 1 quart should definitely give you the "oil" light, and most likely the "check engine" light will come up too, especially if the oil went to wherever its not supposed to go. maybe its a good idea to ask them if its even motor oil in there...

I have recently run into the same problem. Small knocking noise from the engine. I took it to the garage and they told me i had a problem with the short engine (short block) in other words the bottom end of the engine and guess what they told me... it was because of lack of engine oil at some stage. The cure -> yep a new bottom half of the engine.

However i have recently heard that there is a common problem with the celica engine when it gets to around 60 000 km that the piston "big end bearings" break due to low oil levels.

now i'm needing to find out how much all this is going to cost!!!

yeah, as i said in my other post my engine went bye bye. It started with a small knocking sound and then it got louder and louder. finnally i was driving down the road and i could barly hear my radio because the knocking was so loud. the suddenly i heard something blow and my car shut off.

Well it was a rod breaking through the bottom of the engine. They gave ma a brand new engine and put it all in and everything considering extened warranty covered it.