1.8t sludge cleaning

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99vw Passat 1.8t. Purchases the vehicle used with 149k on the odometer.

Small world, saw the oil change sticker, recognized my hand writing, called a co worker, looked up service history, pretty consistently long oil changes with 5w-30 Dino. 10k range.

This motor is a known sludger, so I've been changing with rotella t6 when the oil gets dark a series of 750-1000mile oil changes. Fast forward to now, car has 158k. Oil is starting to run clean for a little while and get visually dirty at what I could call closer to a normal rate.

Next step Id like to do as far as healing goes is some sort of flush to get the rest out, presumably because the short OCIs have gotten rid of the major stuff that could clog the pickup screen.

I've read good things about auto-Rx. However I can't seem to get it local. I'm a support local business sort of guy and a pretty loyal Napa customer. Folks at the store know me and give me a discount since I'm there so much. If it's something I could grab there that would be ideal.

What's out there? Yes I know this is a beating the dead horse sort of thread, however product availability and mindsets are always changing. Just trying to get the most up to date info I can
smile.gif
 
First you really need to pull the valve cover and have a look. Maybe you are worrying about something that does not exist. I would not use any flush. In a worst case scenario you loosen some crud with the flush that blocks an oil return passage and the engine is toast.

Slow but steady with quality synthetic oils is the tried and true method.

You can order Auto-Rx from Frank. I think someone has a container listed in the for-sale section with other stuff he is selling. Auto-Rx gets mixed results and I assume it depends upon the type of sludge and whether one follows the directions.
 
Just posted on another thread that when I got my car 3 years ago and I was a clueless 18 year old I let a cheap nasty dino oil go 25k in my engine and in that time I drove the car for about 45 minutes with no coolant, so it would have super heated that cheap well used cr*p!
It made my lifters clatter, so after learning a thing or two I also did a few short OCIs, 2k or so until they stopped coming out black and then I put some clean oil in, ran for 500 miles or so and then added a can of Liqui Moly engine detox and left it in there for about 20-30 minutes. When I drained that out it came out jet black! Ever since then the same oil has taken about 3k before it starts turning dark and is still dark golden after about 8k. Lifter rattle is almost inexistent bar morning start ups for 2 seconds or so.
I took my rocker cover off to have a look and it was spotless! I can definitely recommend the engine detox because it worked well for me
 
My choice is rislone engine treatment, had good results with it on a dirty motor. If you have to top up you could add instead of oil or run it the whole oci. The concentrate version (16oz iirc) at wally for about $5, other stores sometimes have the non-concentrate larger bottles. Good luck
 
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Must be one heck of a good head gasket design.

Yeah haha previous model had a head gasket flaw so with this model it got a triple layer steel gasket and an engine mode designed to run without coolant, when coolant is lost and the temperature rises it shuts down the 3 hottest cylinders and uses them to draw cool air into the block. Basically you can't do a head gasket in one, never heard of a single case even after 1,600,000 Kms!
The engine might be designed to run without coolant but the oil sure wasn't!
 
You can get Rislone Engine Treatment at Napa. It would be a good, safe choice.
 
ARX can be ordered online from many places, Frank included, and probably would not hurt.

After a couple rounds with ARX I'd follow with several shorter (4000km) intervals with a good cleaning oil then gradually increase from there.

Agree with Donald though; having a look under the valve cover to check the condition is a good idea. If it's sludged, pulling the pan to clean that out would be my first move.


And after all that, a quality synthetic and moderate intervals to avoid further sludging.
 
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Pull the valve cover and see if sludge. If yes, scrape as much as u can manually. Drop the oil pan, scrape as much as u can manually. Clean or replace pick up tube. Change oil and drive (use a flush of u want).

If no sludge, change oil and drive.
 
Suggest you service the PCV system on a regular basis. To increase the oil capacity by about a quart there are several options: Mann W950/4, Purolator L40316, Wix 51333 / NAPA Gold 1333
 
I hear ya. I'm hoping to avoid having to result to mechanical removal on this one. pulling the oil pan and valve cover is no biggie, but having access to a parts washer and the solvents to mechanically remove sludge in my driveway is tough.

Though FWIW I grabbed 2 bottles of mac engine flush and a bottle of Rislone. Oil doesn't seem to be getting dirty with the Mac stuff, seems the T6 did most of the work already.

The Mac looks and smells like the same stuff we use at work too
 
Outside of getting maintenance up to date, I would switch to a Euro oil and let that take care of things slowly.

You have not reported any engine issues and have no real idea of how dirty things are. So your need to clean the engine is based only on what you don't know.

So you should either find out for sure or go the safest route which IMO is to use a Euro oil.
 
I've done an old school flush on many vehicles using kerosene or Gunk Motor Flush mixed into fresh motor oil. Some people think it's extreme but I've never had any trouble from doing it. This is what I do:

- Run engine until oil is hot.
- Drain oil and replace filter.
- Refill sump to normal capacity with approx 2/3 engine oil (cheap store brand) and 1/3 kerosene or motor flush.
- Start engine and run at fast idle (~1,200 RPM) for about 15 minutes. Do not drive vehicle or put any sort of load on the engine.
- Drain oil again, change filter again, refill with your usual engine oil and drive car normally.

In my experience after doing a flush like this the oil stays cleaner longer, judging by the dipstick.
 
Truth be told after seeing how clean the second flush came out, I'm comfortable continuing to run T6 at a reasonable interval. Probably stick to around 3k as I've read mixed reports of sludge at a 5k OCI. Could probably go longer, but oil's cheap and peace of mind goes a long way.

Thanks everyone for the help!
 
While I never took apart the motor to check, it's something I inferred due to the maintenance history and that the oil was diesel-dark after 500 miles. Under the fill cap, there is a plastic piece which blocks by view into the head so I couldn't tell from there either.

At this point, it's peace of mind
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: SnowDrifter
99vw Passat 1.8t. Purchases the vehicle used with 149k on the odometer.

Small world, saw the oil change sticker, recognized my hand writing, called a co worker, looked up service history, pretty consistently long oil changes with 5w-30 Dino. 10k range.

This motor is a known sludger, so I've been changing with rotella t6 when the oil gets dark a series of 750-1000mile oil changes. Fast forward to now, car has 158k. Oil is starting to run clean for a little while and get visually dirty at what I could call closer to a normal rate.

Next step Id like to do as far as healing goes is some sort of flush to get the rest out, presumably because the short OCIs have gotten rid of the major stuff that could clog the pickup screen.

I've read good things about auto-Rx. However I can't seem to get it local. I'm a support local business sort of guy and a pretty loyal Napa customer. Folks at the store know me and give me a discount since I'm there so much. If it's something I could grab there that would be ideal.

What's out there? Yes I know this is a beating the dead horse sort of thread, however product availability and mindsets are always changing. Just trying to get the most up to date info I can
smile.gif



Oh, and pics when you take off the valve cover please!!
 
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