Cleaning the VW 1.8T Questions

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lancerplayer

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I just bought a 2001 VW Golf GTI 1.8T. It has 93K on it and I want to perform the Auto-RX treatment to ensure it is clean. I noticed under the oil cap, there are some signs of sludge. I will feel better knowing I did what is necessary to ensure that the 1.8T is cleaner.

Is the correct process I should follow? http://auto-rx.com/pages/heavy_sludge_app.html

I need to know what oil you all recommend for the clean/rinse phase. I hope it is not synthetic. I cannot justify spending that much to have it drained after only 3K miles.

Would I be better off using something like Marvel Mystery Oil and a synthetic with strong cleaning agents?

Am I on the right track here? I'm open to suggestions.
 
Did you have or receive any information on the oil change history/frequency/brand/weight?

If you are using AutoRX wouldn't it be prudent to follow the process they have outlined for best results and return on investment? If it was me I would be doing exactly that...
 
Lots of folks here have had good things to say about ARX & long clean & rinse phases, like 5k miles. I'd run it with Rotella T6 which is group 3 and shouldn't compete with the esters in ARX. Plus it's inexpensive and easy to find.

Don't run the already sludge-prone 1.8T (nevrlose) with conventional oil, please.
 
Originally Posted By: JXW
Did you have or receive any information on the oil change history/frequency/brand/weight?

If you are using AutoRX wouldn't it be prudent to follow the process they have outlined for best results and return on investment? If it was me I would be doing exactly that...


I do not know what the previous owner ran in terms of oil and OCI.
 
Originally Posted By: dgee
id run PP/PU at 4-5k intervals continuously.

Except that these oils don't meet the required VW spec with respect to HT/HS.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: dgee
id run PP/PU at 4-5k intervals continuously.

Except that these oils don't meet the required VW spec with respect to HT/HS.


Which doesn't seem to matter one bit on the UOAs that have been posted with this combo.


Anyway...

Before Auto-Rx, I'd do a mild solvent cleaning to soften/loosen the deposits. That is, 1q of kero or diesel, pref biodiesel in the hot engine at idle with the OLD oil for 10 minutes, and drain. Myself, I'd then do a quick run of cheap oil for a week or so and drain that after another similar solvent treatment too.

Now, get some good synth oil, run the whole bottle of ARX, Rinse the bottle out with oil, a lot stays behind. Run a full 5000 miles oci and drain. You can now either do normal 5000 miles ocis with a non-ester oil (any synth that is not European, not Hi-Miles, not Ultra) OR do a quick flush of dino oil...with ANOTHER kero flush and then to the synth again.

Basically, you can either do regular ocis with a good non-ester synth, (like PP) just that one of the regular fills contains ARX, or you can do that plus go ahead with the kero flushes and one week dino changes.

PepBoys is a good source for cheap filters, the Proline filters are large Audi filters made by Purolator, the Proline oil is a good deal when on special (conoco product). Let me knw of you have any more questions.
 
Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
Which doesn't seem to matter one bit on the UOAs that have been posted with this combo.

How does sludge buildup show up on a $20 UOA?
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
Which doesn't seem to matter one bit on the UOAs that have been posted with this combo.

How does sludge buildup show up on a $20 UOA?



He means the insufficiency of the HTHS.
 
Originally Posted By: znode
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
Which doesn't seem to matter one bit on the UOAs that have been posted with this combo.

How does sludge buildup show up on a $20 UOA?



He means the insufficiency of the HTHS.

I know that. What I'm saying is that it's possible that insufficient HT/HS (inability to deal with very high temps such as these that exist in turbo applications) may lead to oil coking and sludge formation. Unfortunately, a typical UOA doesn't give you enough information to determine if sludge is forming.
 
Doesn't the arx site have a run down of what and how to use for the process? I thought I recall someone using "cheap dino" for the flush and rinse process(es) - particularly SuperTech.
 
The catch with the 1.8t is using dino oil for a normal oci with a turbo. The no synth recommendation is misleading and not fully explained, G-III synth oils are fine. If Frank said "no polarized esters", we'd have a whole bunch of other questions to field.

Pete, I dunno what your getting at, low HT/HS oils are approved under HT-06 for turbo service, such as PP 5w-30. The HT/HS spec itself has nothing to do with sludge.
 
Originally Posted By: Neil Womack
Is the sign of sludge look like dirty mayo?


I don't have the car in my possession yet, but if I remember correctly it was more of a black color under the oil cap. When I took the cap off, a little bit of smoke came out as well.
 
Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: dgee
id run PP/PU at 4-5k intervals continuously.

Except that these oils don't meet the required VW spec with respect to HT/HS.


Which doesn't seem to matter one bit on the UOAs that have been posted with this combo.


Anyway...

Before Auto-Rx, I'd do a mild solvent cleaning to soften/loosen the deposits. That is, 1q of kero or diesel, pref biodiesel in the hot engine at idle with the OLD oil for 10 minutes, and drain. Myself, I'd then do a quick run of cheap oil for a week or so and drain that after another similar solvent treatment too.

Now, get some good synth oil, run the whole bottle of ARX, Rinse the bottle out with oil, a lot stays behind. Run a full 5000 miles oci and drain. You can now either do normal 5000 miles ocis with a non-ester oil (any synth that is not European, not Hi-Miles, not Ultra) OR do a quick flush of dino oil...with ANOTHER kero flush and then to the synth again.

Basically, you can either do regular ocis with a good non-ester synth, (like PP) just that one of the regular fills contains ARX, or you can do that plus go ahead with the kero flushes and one week dino changes.

PepBoys is a good source for cheap filters, the Proline filters are large Audi filters made by Purolator, the Proline oil is a good deal when on special (conoco product). Let me knw of you have any more questions.


1 bottle of MMO or 1 quart of kerosene/diesel will do the trick? I did a little research and it seems the kerosene/diesel method has been used for some time.

Have you used the method in your original message with success? I just want to clean my engine up a bit, but not run the risk of something catastrophic happening.
 
Originally Posted By: lancerplayer
Originally Posted By: Neil Womack
Is the sign of sludge look like dirty mayo?


I don't have the car in my possession yet, but if I remember correctly it was more of a black color under the oil cap. When I took the cap off, a little bit of smoke came out as well.


There is a black plastic shield right under the oil cap. You should remove the valve cover to confirm that you even have a contaminent build up.
 
Originally Posted By: TurboJim

There is a black plastic shield right under the oil cap. You should remove the valve cover to confirm that you even have a contaminent build up.

+1

When you take the oil cap off, all you're seeing is the black plastic baffle, not the engine internals. Can't really judge by looking at that baffle alone.
 
The PCV system may be clogged. Mine clogged even though the deposits visible through the oil fill hole looked like thin brown varnish. Parts and labor brought the repair to over $500.

I used Auto-RX and apparently the lanolin esters stuck to metal surfaces visible through the oil fill hole and would not come loose. Over time, they get baked on, creating their own varnish in the process. I recommend NOT using Auto-RX in this engine.

1 qt. MMO in 15W-40 HDEO during the summer with 2K mile oil change intervals is what I recommend.
 
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