IF YOUR OIL PAN BREAKS, STOP DRIVING!

[bernzpeed]

I've been through this situation before. Cracked the oil pan, didn't see any leaks. Drove home and a puddle formed under the car the next morning. Needless to say I replaced it and I'm now overly cautious when driving in areas I don't know well.

That's because there is vacuum in the engine while it is running. It's sucking in oil. When you turn off the enfine, vacuum stops and it dumps it all out. So when you crack your oil pan, you can still drive it to a safe location and stop for assistance rather than actually stopping right away and dumping all the oil. If the damage is big, then you're absolutely screwed.