Engine done for? Some hope?

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I am starting to think the previous owner is being dishonest about something. I called him and asked him if he poured additive in the oil and he paused and said, "I don't think so"... What kind of answer is that? Either you did or you didn't.

I now suspect that he poured bar's leak liquid copper in the engine! Again, this is speculation but I did find a very minor leak coming from the back of the engine. I think he somehow mistaken the liquid copper as a stop leak for engine. I think he realized his mistake and off loaded the car for cheap, thinking that might save him from liability if the buyer (me) did find out about it.

https://barsleaks.com/product/liquid-copper-block-seal-intake-radiator-stop-leak/

I might try to get in contact with bars leak and send them a sample to see if it's indeed their product. I'm willing to pay them for the test.

The new question is, if it's liquid copper, how did the engine take it? Damaged for sure? Maybe?

Yes, I might have to sue him in small claims court.
 
Sheesh. That would be beyond stupid.

Only one was to find out, IMO. Do two short OCIs with two UOAs and see if whatever shows up trends down.

If it is Bar's, it should plummet in consecutive UOAs.
 
If you have access to a microscope, you should look at the particles with it. With enough magnification, you might be able to see the shapes well enough to see if they looked jagged and torn apart (bearings) or smooth (possibly copper antisieze).
 
Originally Posted by TimeRS4
I am starting to think the previous owner is being dishonest about something. I called him and asked him if he poured additive in the oil and he paused and said, "I don't think so"... What kind of answer is that? Either you did or you didn't.

I now suspect that he poured bar's leak liquid copper in the engine! Again, this is speculation but I did find a very minor leak coming from the back of the engine. I think he somehow mistaken the liquid copper as a stop leak for engine. I think he realized his mistake and off loaded the car for cheap, thinking that might save him from liability if the buyer (me) did find out about it.

https://barsleaks.com/product/liquid-copper-block-seal-intake-radiator-stop-leak/

I might try to get in contact with bars leak and send them a sample to see if it's indeed their product. I'm willing to pay them for the test.

The new question is, if it's liquid copper, how did the engine take it? Damaged for sure? Maybe?

Yes, I might have to sue him in small claims court.


Unless the seller offered a written guarantee of serviceability of that high mileage used vehicle, in most states that sale is going to be considered a "as is" transaction. Small claims court is not going to do squat for you unless the seller wants to get diarrhea of the mouth and admit to anything.
 
That's something really crappy not to disclose. But you're right, might not have recourse on this situation.
 
If you think its BARS then I would do a few short OCI.. like REALLY short. 15mins short. Get a few jugs up supertech and really cheap filters. Run it up to temp and then quicky dump it to get everything out while it's still suspended in the oil.
Then after a few of those flushes run a short 1500 OCI and get a UOA.
 
Originally Posted by CrAlt
If you think its BARS then I would do a few short OCI.. like REALLY short. 15mins short. Get a few jugs up supertech and really cheap filters. Run it up to temp and then quicky dump it to get everything out while it's still suspended in the oil.
Then after a few of those flushes run a short 1500 OCI and get a UOA.


This.
 
Man, I was thinking "that looks just like what Barrs Leak calls copper" You would think the oil filter would catch it right?
 
If he has had the car a while "I don't think so" might not be an unreasonable answer to "did you use any additives" if he took the question to mean "ever"... He may not be certain.

At any rate, agree with advice to do several very short changes with very inexpensive oil and see how it works out.

The fact that none of this is in the oil filter would suggest to me that it either never made it to the filter or is so fine that the filter can't retain it. Either would suggest damage is unlikely.

If it is in fact radiator sealant, the carrier is water soluble and it might just sit in the presence of oil. If you were so inclined you could test it by putting some of the bars leak in a jar with oil.
 
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Those pictures look terrible.

Run thicker oil, and change it at 1000 miles next time, to see if you see any more of that stuff. If not, then consider it a fluke, but I would still keep the change interval at 3K miles for that engine for the foreseeable future.

And yeah, that;s a good possibility that someone ran some kind of additive in that engine. If he did dump some block sealant in, time to offload that car, quick!
 
What If OP idled the engine for 20 mins using LM Engine Flush with the cheapest SAE30 he could find?
 
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Originally Posted by TimeRS4
I bought an 07 Audi RS4 about a month ago. The car has high mileage, 122k miles, but is clean and drives really well. I *thought* I got a really good deal on it until I changed the oil last week.


That's 10K miles a year which is considered LOW mileage.
Just how much did you pay such that you got a really good deal on it?
If a shop did the oil change and you never saw the copper stuff you wouldn't be freaking out, would you?

Are you having any drivability issues like a miss or a knock? If not, don't worry about it and keep driving. If you got a good deal, you should be able to flip it and get your money back if you want out.
 
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I got the car for $13,000 USD. I considered it a good deal. Many around the same mileage go for around $20k.

If the engine isn't damaged, I don't want to sell the car. If I do sell it, I'm disclosing everything.
 
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It's a used car. It's not supposed to be perfect. Try to enjoy it for the time you have it. Take the seven grand you saved and buy another engine if the current engine craps out.
 
Originally Posted by TimeRS4
I got the car for $13,000 USD. I considered it a good deal. Many around the same mileage go for around $20k.

If the engine isn't damaged, I don't want to sell the car. If I do sell it, I'm disclosing everything.



I don't think you've answered one of the more important questions asked multiple times:

Can you pull the oil pan and take a looksee or have someone else do it for you?

I'd honest have that done, if relatively easy and cheaply to do, before running the car again.

//

I honestly don't understand the long intervals some are suggesting! This could be never-seize for all we know, but why take the risk?

I'd be idling this thing for 20 minutes with some cheap oil and dumping it, over and over, until what came out was completely clean.
 
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