Did I damage my engine or it shut down as a protective measure?

In avoiding an accident I hit the bottom of my 2001 Toyota Corolla, damaging the oil pan. After some miles driving, the "low oil" light came on, I thought I could still make it home, which was a couple of miles away, so I kept going, but then the engine just shut down. It kept leaking oil while they were towing it and then in the driveway, the temperature (which I was observing) never went up, and it never smelled like burned oil or anything... I wonder if the car just shut down to prevent damage (Electronic Control Unit 's function) or the engine is damaged???|||If the car shut down because of low oil the noise would have been emence, they rattle and bang quite alot until the engine finally seizes. I have a Toyota Celica 2.0GTi and must agree that the brain is a very clever thing, In cold it does not let me rev over 2000rpm to make sure you don't muck up the engine until it has warmed up. I had to go through deep water when my road was flooded and after a mile my engine just shut down and refused to start, It refused until 3 days after when i suppose the brain knew it was dry enough to start. I had tried drying all connectors, leads, plugs, you name it I tried it.... But toyotas have a mind of thieir own sometimes.


I say if no noise it shut down itself


If noise your engine is knackered.





Get the oil pan fixed and a new oil change and see if this helps... but do not spend the money out first before you get someone to have a look at the engine just in case, it may be something else had been knocked off or damaged.





Hope this helps :) x|||Yes, the oil pressure sensor triggered the ECM because of low oil pressure and the ECM shut down the engine to avoid major damage. You will need to replace the oil pan and install fresh oil. Once the engine cranks over and the ECM sees 10psi oil pressure, it will engage the engines ignition system. Hope this helps. Christopher|||quite possible you might of ruined engine the only way you'll know for sure is when they put new pan on and refill it or they see any damage when they see something in the pan that's no good|||maybe it has siezed up, silly boy, never run a car without oil !