Question re: Autorx app in 2001.5 Passat 1.8t

[justj1161]

Hey All,

I have a 2001.5 Passat 1.8t with 81xxx miles. I just bought this a month or so ago. The dealer (independent) changed the oil right before I took delivery using Castrol syntech full synthetic.

I want to do an Autorx application to cleanup any crud since the other day I got the dreaded "Stop Engine Low Oil Pressure" warning. After cooling down the engine (and myself) the warning went away and hasn't come back. I'm keeping the car local-only until I get the treatment into it.

Here are my questions:

It's my understanding that these engines have a coking problem rather than a sludging problem (maybe a combination of both). Is Autorx effective in addressing coked oil?

I intend to run dino oil for the cleaning and rinse cycles but I want to revert to synthetic post-application due to the tendency of the turbo coking the oil. Can I just change right back to full synthetic from the dino? I had been told this was a bad thing to do.

Help,

J.

 

[Gary Allan]

I'd first figure out if you've got a severe sludge issue. If so, then plan on doing a couple of clean/rinse/clean/rinse cycles. If you're going to just do one treatment, then I don't see why you cannot be back to your synth oil of choice right after the rinse.

 

[wavinwayne]

What does the top end of the engine look like through the oil fill hole? Shine a flashlight down in there and let us know what you see. If it's severely sludged, it will be obvious when you look into the oil fill hole.

Good luck with your VW. With proper care, it will last a long time. FWIW, I drive a '00 VW GTI.

 

[Rick20]

Should the top end be loaded with coked crude, in many cases the oil pan and particularly the oil pick up screens are loaded too.

Auto-Rx is very effective on coked oil. But you should first determine whether or not you have an unrestricted supply of oil to the oil pump. Secondly, verify that the drain back holes top side are not clogged. The oiling system needs to be properly flowing to get any good results. If there is good flow top side and proper drain back to the sump, you will get good results with ARX.

 

[VK56VD]

Auto-RX is a good idea in that engine. Conventional oil (non-syn.)during the clean and rinse phase, combined with Auto-RX makes a strong combination. Make sure to use VW approved oil and full synthetic after your Auto-RX treatment. Congratulations on your purchase.

 

[TurboJim]

Service your PCV system on a regular basis to avoid future problems.

 

[justj1161]

Originally Posted By: wavinwayne
What does the top end of the engine look like through the oil fill hole? Shine a flashlight down in there and let us know what you see. If it's severely sludged, it will be obvious when you look into the oil fill hole.

Good luck with your VW. With proper care, it will last a long time. FWIW, I drive a '00 VW GTI.


When I look in the fill hole I can see what looks like carbon build-up or varnish (like a dirty carb). I don't see anything that I would call sludge. Can you point me to a post that includes a picture of sludge.?

Thanks

 

[wavinwayne]

Here is an extreme example of what a sludged up VW 1.8T engine (not mine) looks like:

 

[Crashbox]

Blecch! I wonder if they used non-detergent oil in that engine- that is flat-out horrible!!!!! Reminds me of the SA portion of the side-by-side engine test with SL versus SA oils.

 

[justj1161]

I don't see anything that looks like that stuff when I look in the fill hole. As I said previously, I see carbon lookng crud like you would see on a dirty carb. Nothing gooey like that.

I've ordered some ARX and once it gets here I intend to drop the oil pan (no small task on a B5.5 engine) clean out any coked oil and/or other crud in the pan, replace the suction tube and screen on the oil pump and then start the clean/rinse cycle.

After the ARX treatment I'll change back to full synthetic (due to the coking tendency) and use a larger filter to increase the amount of oil available. "They" recommend a filter for an older Rabbit diesel model. Then fingers, toes and eyes crossed the oil pressure issue should be resolved.........right?

 

[wavinwayne]

Originally Posted By: Crashbox
Blecch! I wonder if they used non-detergent oil in that engine- that is flat-out horrible!!!!! Reminds me of the SA portion of the side-by-side engine test with SL versus SA oils.


Got that picture from the vwvortex forums. The guy in the picture bought the engine for next to nothing, from someone who severely neglected it. You can find pictures of all sorts of engine horror on the vwvortex.

 

[wavinwayne]

Originally Posted By: justj1161
..I've ordered some ARX and once it gets here I intend to drop the oil pan (no small task on a B5.5 engine)...


That's an understatement. Do you understand everything that is involved in dropping the oil pan on that car? It is a BIG job.

FWIW, I would do 2 ARX treatments on this car.

 

[BrianWC]

Originally Posted By: wavinwayne
Originally Posted By: justj1161
..I've ordered some ARX and once it gets here I intend to drop the oil pan (no small task on a B5.5 engine)...


That's an understatement. Do you understand everything that is involved in dropping the oil pan on that car? It is a BIG job.

FWIW, I would do 2 ARX treatments on this car.


Sounds like dropping my 9-5 oil pan. It was a six hour job to drop. Which....you might notice has been replaced on my signature line.

IMHO, bite the bullet and drop the pan at the very least to clean it out. You don't get low pressure warnings for no reason. Once you get that cleared up you can sit back and do the arx clean/rinse a couple of (or even three) times. And yes, make sure the PCV system is clear.

 

[demarpaint]

Maybe it's me but if I were going to drop the pan and clean things up, along with replacing the suction tube and P/U screen I'd also replace the oil pump. It's a big job to do and then leave the original pump in there.

Now the other side of me says if you're not seeing major sludge up top, there is a really good chance doing the A-Rx treatment will get things in good order w/o dropping the pan.


JMO

 

[BrianWC]

I don't know about that. On my 9-5, there wasn't a whole lot up top but there was still a decent collection of crud in the pan. Plus, some of the stuff in my pan was insoluable stuff life acid-decayed PCV hose rubber.

 

[demarpaint]

Then maybe he should drop the pan, which is probably what I'd do, especially since he had a warning light come on that one time. I always go a little over kill when I start a project like that, and for another maybe $100 or so I'd change the pump, especially if he plans on keeping the car.

 

[jldcol]

You can use a cheap group 3 oil, its dino enough to clean and syn enough to offer extra protection for turbo. The cleaning/rinse may take longer than initialy thought, and I think you would hate to waste/eat cost of the expensive higher cost oil, before sure trouble is corrected.