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The A/F sensor probably didn't like the solvent either.
The oil light problem had me wondering if enough carbon broke loose to plug the oil pickup screen. But it seems that is no longer an issue.
Help with a piston soak problem aka did I destroy my engine?
- Thread starter jsean
- Start date
The oil light problem had me wondering if enough carbon broke loose to plug the oil pickup screen. But it seems that is no longer an issue.
As in, combustion by products from the B12 got deposited in the cat converter and the mufflers?
That’s exactly what I was worried about. In my list of trouble shooting, pulling the oil pan to inspect the pick up screen was next. I’m not sure if I’m in the clear yet. If I can start it up tomorrow morning after a overnight cool down, that’ll give me a little more confidence that I should be ok.
Gallery !
Galley, because it was burning bunker oil
That was my very first thought when I started reading this thread /
I just noticed I missed the R, or phone auto correct. 
Any updates? Drive that thing!
180 miles this far. Driven in sport mode only once the engine warms up (4,200rpms and shifts at redline) - oil level steady on the dipstick!
That's great news! Following!
Running OK?
So far? Yeah, runs really well. Cold start up sounds a bit better. I always had a puff of black smoke upon start up, that’s become a very very small puff. You really gotta be paying attention to notice it now.
B12 soaks on V6's or V8's tend to be a pain. You really need to get a decent amount of B12 in there to coat the whole piston. A few of the cylinders are going to be near TDC and when you add B12 it will leak past intake or exhaust valves. This is especially true if you rotate the engine by hand. That liquid is going to go somewhere and depending on the cam/valve timing a bunch is going to make its way into the intake manifold or exhaust or both!
I'll bet you had a bunch of B12 in your intake and exhaust. Until you coughed it all out you were probably flooding the engine with B12 and gas.
Some alternative thoughts to help with your oil consumption:
Before the B12 soak did it normally have a puff of grey-blue smoke when starting it up after sitting overnight? That usually means valve seals. If it runs good and strong the compression is probably good. See if there is a good cross-hatch pattern on the cylinder wall with your boroscope, that usually means the piston rings and cylinder walls are in good shape.
I have no idea about the PCV system in your car if they are known to be problematic or not. But something maybe to look a bit further into.
I'll bet you had a bunch of B12 in your intake and exhaust. Until you coughed it all out you were probably flooding the engine with B12 and gas.
Some alternative thoughts to help with your oil consumption:
- Run a 32oz bottle of Yamaha Yamalube Ring Free Plus in your gas tank. This isn't a maintenance dose, it is a heavy treatment dose. Yamalube is good at cleaning rings and might help the top-side of the oil control ring.
- Run an oil known to have the chemistry to clean oil control rings. Valvoline Restore and Protect is available in 0W-20, 5W-20 and 5W-30. It takes about 12-15k miles for it to really do its thing. An alternative is HPL's oil. They will clean even faster but you might waste some money if you have to add makeup oil.
- BG EPR 109 is a great flush product known to help clear up the oil rings. Put a can in the oil, run it at idle for 45 minutes or 30 minutes at 1200-1500rpm. Drain the oil right after and fill it up with some good stuff.
Before the B12 soak did it normally have a puff of grey-blue smoke when starting it up after sitting overnight? That usually means valve seals. If it runs good and strong the compression is probably good. See if there is a good cross-hatch pattern on the cylinder wall with your boroscope, that usually means the piston rings and cylinder walls are in good shape.
I have no idea about the PCV system in your car if they are known to be problematic or not. But something maybe to look a bit further into.
That was my first thought clogged oil pick up screen the soak freed solids but the solvent did not have enough strength left to totally dissolve them before the debris hit the oil pump screen.
The VR6 in this thing has the banks offset by only 10.6 degrees. Not bad at all from a piston soak standpoint compared to regular V6s.
The BG EPR109 was my first action - it did nothing to help with the consumption. I ran 4 tanks for Yamalube (32oz at each fill up) and that did help clean the ring lands a little bit - but again did nothing with improving my consumption. Fwiw, I’m still running Yamalube in this tank and the next.
The PCV system is fine, VW is nice and gives you an easy way to check it with a pin hole.
I always had a decent puff of black smoke during cold startups, but never the grey blue smoke.
During the B12 soak, all cylinders showed cross hatching. Cylinders 1 and 4 showed a little bit of scratching I think in a couple of spots but my hope is its not bad enough.
The oil filter I pulled after running the engine right after piston soak had quite a bit of carbon chunks. Never seen that before.
OP was simply too ginger with the throttle. Since the spark plugs were so fouled, the cat probably got fouled as well, thus creating a restriction. That's why the engine wouldn't idle and die. But give it throttle and it pushed the junk through.
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
I use this Curt adjustable hitch, can adjust it depending on trailer height to keep it level. 2” and 2-5/16”. You’ll probably just use the 2”.
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Pretty much. In retrospect, I should’ve kept it at 4k RPMs the whole time and probably let it run at the higher RPMs for another 10-15 mins so that all the B12 could’ve been burnt off.
250 miles as of last evening and I’ve dropped a couple of notches on the dipstick. Seems to be better the before thus far - I’d be at or near the bottom of the cross hatches by this point pre piston soak.
Also learnt yesterday that in manual mode, this thing will let you rev right past the red line! The VR6 in the B7 Passat feels like very much an after thought - too much power for what the chassis and suspension were originally meant for.
Also learnt yesterday that in manual mode, this thing will let you rev right past the red line! The VR6 in the B7 Passat feels like very much an after thought - too much power for what the chassis and suspension were originally meant for.
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