An engine can run for a surprisingly ( surprising to many of you anyway ) long time with no oil pressure as long as the cooling system is intact.

1986 Audi 5000TQ, 130k, about 2.2 liters of turbo charged, fuel injected, inter-cooled, 5 cylinder motivation.

I changed the oil and filter.
My wife immediately got in the car and drove to the grocery store 3 miles away.
4 car lengths from the garage, the oil filter seal failed. All of the oil was pumped out in the next 100'.
When she got home, she told me that a new warning light had come on that she hadn't seen before. I was livid.
I removed the filter and went to the parts store. They gave me a new filter and oil.

We drove that car to over 250k before parking it due to rust, expensive brake system, and suspension issues. The engine was still strong and never needed oil added between changes.

Damage due to loss of oil pressure is not instantaneous.

I am not saying that I would buy that motor. And if I did, I would pay more towards the scrap price than the "you can hear it run" price.

__________________
Greg
2012 S350 BlueTEC 4Matic
2007 ML 320 CDI
2007 Leisure Travel Serenity
2006 Sprinter 432k
2005 E320 CDI
1998 SLK230 (teal)
1998 SLK230 (silver)
1996 E300D 99k, 30k on WVO
Previous:
1983 240D, on WVO
1982 300D, on WVO
1983 300CD, on WVO
1986 300SDL 237k, 25k on WVO (Deerslayer)
1991 350SDL 249k, 56k on WVO - Retired to a car spa in Phoenix
1983 380 SEC w/603 diesel, 8k on WVO
1996 E300D 351k, 177k on WVO

I lost track of this thread a while back, ended up buying the motor and here is a follow
up.

I should have listened to those in the net. Paid $ 800 for an engine that is a pile of broken parts. WWWWaaa.......

For the real story,. . . , it didn't have a thrown oil pump chain but motor has damage. Motor would only make 1/3 turn before hitting something solid. Looked through the access hole in the side of pan and saw rod caps missing, started to walk, he said make offer, I said $ 100 , sold. . ..

The access hole is about 2" dia for something, seems large for a oil level sensor. Looks like a great place for an oil heater.

After taking the oil pan off I could see someone took this partly apart to investigate, it is missing all rod caps, one main cap, oil pump and pickup, chain is intact. Two of the rod journals are very scored and one main scored, crank probably needs spray welded. Other journals look in decent shape. Rods need replaced due to missing caps, block can be saved with a donor cap and a line hone.

Nearly all the glow plugs ( newish looking ) came right out and still had antiseize on them. A couple unwound a few turns but then felt like carbon buildup was restricting progress, these were left in until the head is removed as there is no need to risk damage.

Motor is missing intake / exhaust but is otherwise externally complete. Motor has an apparently good head, injector pump, vac pump. For what I paid, I'll sit on it until a broken car / motor comes along.