Second hand 1.8t Passat - Best oil/detergent?

[kovert]

I'm a commuter outside of DC. I drive 50+ miles each way to work, and not typically stop and go. Because of the hours, 'usually' highway driving with the last few miles a little stop and go.

Now, I picked up a 1.8t PASSAT (sludge monster), w/65K on the clock as my commuter. I'm hoping to avoid any sludge issues that may arise, but looking through the records, 5w30 SYNTEC seems to be what the prior owner used from the dealer, at least from the records I do have.

What I'm hoping to do here is clean out the motor a little bit since the cap is a bit sludgy and one of the prior service records mentioned sludge.

Should I continue on with synthetic oil changes at a shorter interval. I was thinking a higher detergent oil might move things along too.

The local Walmart had the 5w30 Mobil 1 Truck and SUV on clearance, along with the 0w-40 economy. Didn't know if those would decent for use, but at this point, saving on clearance oil is something I will pass on for the 'best for the job' type stuff.

Any ideas I would appreciate it. And I have searched the forums but searching '1.8t' is a problem!

 

[znode]

The best way to find out if there's sludge is to pop the valve cover. The best sludge cleaning is done by hand, brush, and kerosene.

Failing that, high-detergence oils at short intervals will help, but no real guarantees. In this case, you're lucky to have a euro 40W engine. What you probably should run are HDEOs at short intervals - those gallon jugs of 15w40 Chevron Delo, Shell Rotella, or Mobil Delvac, at short intervals of CJ and being chock full of detergent additives (far more so than passenger class starburst oils), it's also cheap to run.

Mobil 1 0W-40 is an extremely good oil, and should in fact be your first or second choice (along with GC aka Syntec 0W-30) if you weren't cleaning but simply maintaining its performance.

 

[znode]

Did the service records maintain a constant 5k oil change? If so, there's probably not too much to worry about.

Some more things to remember with the 1.8t:

Any turbochargered engine, especially a high-temp low-oil-capacity one like the 1.8t, must be spun down and cooled for 30 seconds before turning the car off.

Make sure you're running the correct (large 5" tall one not the 3" tall one, after the manufacturer update) oil filter for expanded sump capacity.

 

[kovert]

I'll look at popping the cover soon, brakes are on the agenda for today

With regards to the Rotella recommendation. Should I look at the 5w-40 Rotella T too? I have a jug left from my old passat (v6) which seemed to do well with it.

I'm sorry, regarding the Mobil 1 0w that was on clearance at Walmart, it was in fact 0w30 economy. Not sure why, but that's what they had on the endcap. $15

The service records I do have, I have to find them all, but it's close to the 5k. The woman who had it before had a short commute but painful stop and go. So 5K was a tough 5K regardless. It was a 99 w/65K when I picked it up.

And the warm-up thing, sure do. Always have. Definitely a good idea with turbo cars, and in fact I preached the same to a young girl in my office who picked up a brand new GTI.

The last filter I put on was the Mobil 1 monster. It's HUGE that's all I know. Mobil 1-301 I believe.

*** The main reason I'm concerned is my fathers 2001.5 VW 1.8t Passat recently fell victim. Luckily VW covered it, minus 500 for some other issues, but the oil sump clogged and the no pressure warning popped up.

So I'm trying to avoid this as best I can.

 

[JAG]

I have a 2003 transverse 1.8T in a GTI that I bought new and now has 129K miles on it. This version of 1.8T is less sludge-prone than your engine but I've still been fighting varnish and PCV system crud its whole life. I've always used synthetics and usually those meeting VW 502 spec. Most of my trips are 20 miles going about 50 MPH. My experience has been that I can't run the oils any longer than about 3500 miles before varnish forms in the valve cover. This probably will apply to your engine as well.

When cleaning a cruddy engine simply by driving it with oils that can remove a lot of deposits, there is the risk of the oil pick up screen clogging. That can be death to the engine so it is safest to do slow cleaning so deposits removed aren't big enough to clog the screen.

Rotella-T 5W-40 is a good oil to use in your engine. Use the jug you have and keep track of whether it starts to look cleaner through the oil fill hole. Don't run it longer than about 3500 miles though or new deposits may begin to form even if earlier in the OCI it was removing deposits. If no visible change occurs, then check back with us and we'll have to find an oil/additive combination to aid the cleaning process.

 

[38sho]

ha!

don't even worry about the oil first,

go and change the timing belt and tensioner!

 

[newpassatt]

Originally Posted By: 38sho
ha!

don't even worry about the oil first,

go and change the timing belt and tensioner!

^...what he said, and the roller, w/pump & t-stat, if the prior owner hasn't changed it yet. If the belt breaks for some reason, possible sludge in the engine will be a moot point, show's over.

 

[sangyup81]

The previous owner ran an oil that was not certified for that engine.

Look for the VW 502 spec. Mobil 1 0w40 meets is as well as Castrol Syntec 0w30 that's Made in Germany

 

[Dieseldoctor]

If u use the 504/507 oil recommended u wont have the sludge issue. I'd use a HDEO or PP / Ultra for couple thousand miles then get some ELF or Motul 504/507 stuff

 

[kovert]

T-BELT all done about 15K ago. I picked up the car with 65K on it, a ton of work was done around 60K hence when the "sludge" issue was noted on the Dealer paperwork.

Regarding the VW spec. I don't necessarily agree with that. 5w30 synthetic was used by both the dealer here in VW, and also the dealer back in NY my dad used. There is a reason they covered the damage because almost EVERY oil change he had done was at the dealer.

I don't want to use a 'get sludge gone' quick method. Just slowly over the next 10-20K which by the way I drive to/from work is less than a year

 

[Audi Junkie]

5w30 works fine in a stock car.

 

[mechtech2]

Marvel Mystery Oil and some thicker oil to compensate.

 

[kovert]

Stock Car for sure. I don't even drive it all that much outside going to work every day.

I've thought about the MMO just didn't want to get too aggressive

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: sangyup81
The previous owner ran an oil that was not certified for that engine.

Look for the VW 502 spec. Mobil 1 0w40 meets is as well as Castrol Syntec 0w30 that's Made in Germany

I have dealt with many VW 1.8T engines that get non-VW approved synthetic 5w30 oils, and they do fine.

It is only the ones that don't get synthetic that become problems.