Grey color when wiping dipstick on VW VR6

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Bought the car for $250, did tons of work and got it running great. Has 177k miles on it. Just changed the oil with Amsoil euro formula 5w40 300 miles ago. The oil itself still looks clear as can be, but the part of the paper towel that wipes the sides of the dipstick seems to stain a grey color. In light it doesn't look metallic at all and the oil in the middle is clear. Is this a warning sign or something normal for this euro blend oil?
 
Wouldn't it be really great if we had some easy, inexpensive way to send a small sample of oil off to a lab and receive an analysis? Crazy futurology stuff!

Oh well...maybe one day such a novel service will exist, and we won't have to rely upon visual inspection of color on a paper towel.
 
You need to send in a UOA after a couple thousand miles.

It's a $250 high mileage VW...
 
Originally Posted By: bubbatime
Amsoil in a well used $250 car?


crazy2.gif


my exact thoughts
 
This doesn't look bad and may just be a residue of many miles on the dipstick.
Grey usually indicates very fine metal particles.
Keep an eye on things and if it doesn't seem to be continuing, relax.
As a couple of those above suggested, one as parody and another seriously, a UOA would tell you if you have some ridiculous level of metal shedding as well as whether you have coolant in the oil.
I'd run this oil some three or four thousand and then drain it. You may then want to sample again, since what you see may be simply the cleaning up of previous owner neglect. This car wasn't sold for scrap value because the POs had taken excellent care of it.
I'd recommend a UOA kit from Polaris.
Also, save yourself some money and run a cheaper complying oil, like a 0W-40 from M1, Valvoline or Castrol.
In this old beast in your climate, I'd also seriously consider a 15W-40 HDEO. It'll take anything this little VW V6 can dish out.
 
Originally Posted By: bubbatime
Amsoil in a well used $250 car?


He said he did a bunch of work and got it running great, so it's almost certainly not a $250 car anymore...
 
Originally Posted By: Ethan1
Originally Posted By: bubbatime
Amsoil in a well used $250 car?


He said he did a bunch of work and got it running great, so it's almost certainly not a $250 car anymore...


Yeah, it's maybe worth a grand now.
Nobody wants tired old VWs unless they have their engine in the back.
Then they're cult cars.
 
Every market is different. Go to a college town and you'll see ratty old Subarus and VWs going for crazy prices. The higher the miles, the better. It's ironically cool or something. Hipsters love 'em.
 
Joking aside, I have always done regular UOA on my other cars. The process is nothing new to me. I have a few posted in the UOA forum here. I'll sample it in a few thousand miles. Crossing my fingers. I did a major refresh to this engine at home about 600 miles ago. Ran first oil change for about 100 miles then changed it to the Amsoil. Didn't touch the bottom end as I still saw crosshatch on all 6 cylinder walls. It runs 1000x better and doesn't leak any fluids. I also cleared 13 engine faults little by little. The car had 25 total faults when I bought it and borrowed a Vag-com scanner. Dash was a Christmas tree, but now shows no lights at all (who knows for how long). I'll agree that no one wanted the car, even the mechanic of almost 30 years who just got fed up with it and dumped it on CL. I always wanted a VR6 as a kid. I'm living the dream, the wallet-emptying dream
eek.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Ethan1
Every market is different. Go to a college town and you'll see ratty old Subarus and VWs going for crazy prices. The higher the miles, the better. It's ironically cool or something. Hipsters love 'em.


Ow, that Buggy sound!...
 
Just a thought but maybe your grey stuff on your dipstick is ash derived from burning engine oil? The ash (if that's what it is) would come from thermally decomposing the over-based metallic detergent and ZDDP in the oil.
 
Originally Posted By: SonofJoe
Just a thought but maybe your grey stuff on your dipstick is ash derived from burning engine oil? The ash (if that's what it is) would come from thermally decomposing the over-based metallic detergent and ZDDP in the oil.


+1

Also agree with the post about possible cleaning going on. No way to know what oil was in a used car, or how long it had been in there. Add package could have been depleted long ago, so a lot of ash, etc., needs to be removed. I would recommend changing the filter in the middle of this first OCI, in case it is getting loaded up with ash.

And if you want to use Amsoil, go ahead. Great product, especially if you need Full SAPS. I would only "go cheaper" if you are going to be putting a lot of miles on per year, or it is a financial burden.
 
I'd run the biggest filter that will physically fit. I'd run Napa Gold (WIX) or Baldwin. I'd prolly not do the Amsoil thing again until I did maybe three changes... I'd install a magnetic drain plug and see what that attracts?

I'd run Rotella T6 5W-40 for a while (because it's inexpensive) with a full can of BG 109 for 500 miles as I approached a change at 3K because I'm almost convinced that it is little pockets of sludge left from the PO lack of maintenance...

If it had 25 codes, it was not well taken care of... Almost certainly there are deposits lodged in the nooks and crannies. You did a back yard overhaul. You did not boil the block and heads. You now have higher oil pressures. And I'll bet you are "enjoying" that VR6 which means you are revving it
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I think UOA's are great. But since it was not a freshly boiled block, it might be useless... You could get false readings of old bearing metal and such that are residue coming loose and nothing to do with actual wear metals from new parts. How will you, or they, know?
 
I have heard that the VR6 engine would wear out timing chains. Could the timing chains and sprockets worn? Sometimes when a plastic chain tensioner wears out, the chain rides against the metal that backs up the tensioner. That can create a large amount of wear metal.

I have heard that timing chain and hardware issues are common on VR6 engines, and repairs are very expensive.

Despite all this expense and challenge, I still am going to buy a Winnebago Rialta.
 
I found the pan and head very clean when I opened them up on this engine. I was pleasantly surprised. I did see minor deposits on the chain covers. I cleaned it all up before I reassembled everything. The car takes a cartridge paper filter so I cannot just change the size. Part of my backyard overhaul included all new chains, guides, and tensioners. I still see grey when I check the oil level, but not in greater amounts. I just returned from a 600 mile round trip Tampa to Tallahassee this past weekend. I took the Jetta and it was smooth along the highway cruising about 75 mph and got excellent gas mileage with no hiccups or CELs. The car used no noticeable amount of oil. Oil pressure maintained at about 60 psi during the highway travel and idles hot right at 1bar on my gauge. The oil has about 1100 miles on it and has darkened slightly, but is still somewhat transparent. I plan to change it around 1500-2000 miles.
 
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