Yep, fix it immediately, unless you like the sound of fireworks, as that is what you will hear--a big "BANG", and then no sounds from the engine, except for a clunking, clanging sound, and no work done ever again by that engine. You will probably be able to look intto the block and see the damage, with no disassembly required! BT/DT/RJ I picked a brand new chipper out of the garbage one morning, that had a block inspection hole in it. And, some connecting rod pieces fell out of it. Upon further inspection, i found no traces of oil ever having been in it! I surmised that the guy bought it brand new, brought it home, and in his fervor to try it out, installed the gasoline, but no oil! BANG! A hardware store owner gave me a new power mower that he had sold to a man, who promptly brought it back, complaining that the oil was "watery". The store man couldn't resell it, so i got it. Took it home, installed new oil and fuel, and it started and ran well. I sold it, and kept track of it. It was looking rather ratty after 10 years of use, but i resold it for $25, just last year. RJ

I bought a vacuum oil change canister from J.C. Whitney in 2000 for a new car that I couldn't get under without ramps or jacking up. It worked great for that, and now I mainly use it for the lawn mowers. Quick and clean. It's a kettle-shaped steel vessel of about 2 gal. capacity, with a pump cylinder on top and a pour spout/hose cap with a long hose. You stick the hose in the crankcase and work the pump to create a vacuum. For a car it goes right down the dipstick tube. I think I paid about $65 for it but it's a heavy-duty piece of equipment. Check marine supply houses for cheaper ones that really work fine. They have a lot of uses around boats. These are particularly useful when you want to take out only a certain amount of fluid because you can see it in the plastic vessel.

I ALWAYS play nice (well, at least MOST of the time!!!) Okay, pictures have been taken - but not DL'd to computer yet (I'm surfing @ poolside via WiFi... Oh the SACRIFICES I have to make! ;-) I think I've been inspired to post an addendum to my "Garden Page" (you can get there from my webpage, linked below). I haven't done it yet, but I'll try to post my GH erection efforts "Step-By-Step." They won't be as good as conifers'/Dax's pictorial, but I'll do my best (Gotta "Give Back to the Community," right?!!) I think the wood-cutting is still a "hair" off, but the 'errors' will be put on the back-side (next to a fence, where no one will ever walk / have an opportunity to bend the aluminum base). Or maybe I'll add some skinny/lath/shim kinda material for the Too hot to dig up veggies right now, so I'll postpone that 'til early evening (or early tomorrow morning). I'll probably move my "boring observations" to the webpage (When I start it!). I'll just make note, on here, when I post updates - so I won't bore everyone with my long-winded commentary!!! Of course, I'm *sure* I'll have more questions as I go through this - and I *will* post those questions here! And I just thought of another Q: Should I paint the RW base before I assemble it? If so, white (for reflective qualities)? Or black (for heat-sinking)??? Or should I just hold off on that altogether (bearing in mind that it'll be easier to paint BEFORE I assemble it)??? Any thoughts...??? Thanks - AGAIN - for all the support, insight and advice! And thanks - in advance - for enduring my upcoming questions!!! You guys ROCK!!! -Nancy Here is a link that might be useful: IMQTPI's Garden Page (I'll update it soon!!!)

Why did you leave the engine dry for 3 days ? BIG mistake. Every nook, krany, and oriface drained. If your lifters will not pump up there is no oil pressure in the lifter gallary. The lifters will pump up eventually but you have just taken 50,000 miles off your lifters and cam assembly by running them dry. did you prime the filter before starting the engine ? One very expensive lesson learned. Good luck.