No Oil From Factory?

[ktd01]

So my parents recently purchased a 2023 explorer st and until today it’s been perfect. However when I was driving home the car had a sudden drop in power and stopped accelerating. I pulled over and the engine was squeaking really bad. I turned the car off and back on and the squeak was still there with bad vibration. I checked and there was zero indication of any kind of oil leak, no warning on the dashboard, but when I checked the dipstick there was absolutely no oil. I checked 3 times and still nothing. The car has 3k miles and hasn’t even had its first oil change yet. There’s been no indication of oil burn either. Is it possible there was little to no oil from factory because that’s the only explanation that immediately comes to mind.

 

[Cdubya]

If they've been driving it lately, then no, it must've had oil but now, for whatever reason, it doesn't. Should be covered under warranty though.

 

[ktd01]

If they've been driving it lately, then no, it must've had oil but now, for whatever reason, it doesn't. Should be covered under warranty though.

It’s been driven daily since we got it a few months ago. Tow truck just came and picked it up so we’ll know tomorrow what the issue is but it’s just really weird. The vehicle health tab in the ford app also said all fluids and systems were perfectly fine.

 

[EDWYER]

Curious as to what they said.

 

[CoHPhasor]

Yea, I've heard the "Bam! Instantly I have no oil" comment before, I'd love to know where it goes.
Out the turbos into charge pipes or passed the piston rings into the combustion chamber? Shouldve seen a lot of blue smoke or stalled.
Out of the turbo exhaust side into the exhaust? I would expect to see blue smoke.
Out of the oil pan seal? There should be a lot of oil around it.
I definitely want to hear more about this. If there is a flaw for the oil system, we need to make a fix to correct the problem.
(Waiting for a Ford investigation may be a while.... I'm looking at you, differential....)

 

[ktd01]

Curious as to what they said.

All they did was confirm that the engine was blown and there was no oil in the engine. It’s under warranty so they’re replacing the engine

 

[ktd01]

Yeah there was never any smoke or smell any other indication of burning oil. Also not a single drip of oil ever so no indication of a leak. The crazy thing is that there was never any warning or notification for low oil either. The only explanation we can think of is that it had critically low oil from factory and finally let go.

Yea, I've heard the "Bam! Instantly I have no oil" comment before, I'd love to know where it goes.
Out the turbos into charge pipes or passed the piston rings into the combustion chamber? Shouldve seen a lot of blue smoke or stalled.
Out of the turbo exhaust side into the exhaust? I would expect to see blue smoke.
Out of the oil pan seal? There should be a lot of oil around it.
I definitely want to hear more about this. If there is a flaw for the oil system, we need to make a fix to correct the problem.
(Waiting for a Ford investigation may be a while.... I'm looking at you, differential....)

 

[Stone17]

Oil is banned in California . Maybe that why.

 

[BrooseDaMoose]

That's crazy it ran that long without oil! Maybe there was just enough to keep it going that long but you should have got a warning before it got to a blown engine. At least it's covered but it sucks you will be without your new vehicle for a while.

 

[CoHPhasor]

Yeah there was never any smoke or smell any other indication of burning oil. Also not a single drip of oil ever so no indication of a leak. The crazy thing is that there was never any warning or notification for low oil either. The only explanation we can think of is that it had critically low oil from factory and finally let go.

The lack of oil light is what gets me on "It came from the factory that way".
This engine is setup for high pressure oil (why the pan gasket can be such a problem) - I can't imagine that there is no warning for low/no pressure.

I would definitely push them to forensically checking for signs of where the oil is/was.
If there was never any oil, the oil filter should be mostly clean (assembly lube may have made it into the filter).
If there was oil but it went somewhere, they might find it in tubes/etc.

Of course, what I'm getting at is making sure that Ford is aware of some flaw they have in assembly/QC/Parts that they can later correct, and this in no way is your responsibility, but pushing them could help us.