UOA for VW Passat M1 0w40 - Need some opinions.

[izualangel]

So, any ideas about this wear? I'm thinking that the absence of lead, but the presence of other metals may indicate wear in the turbocharger, instead of the engine. Anyone else care to take a guess? I'm not going to have time to do pressure or compression tests until the weekend, so I'm just looking for ideas right now. I'm not losing any coolant that I can see. I did the timing belt during this OCI, but I don't see how that would affect anything in this regard. The turbo does whine a bit, but I haven't checked for shaft play. My oil consumption during this OCI was about 0.5 quarts.

 

[izualangel]

http://izualangel.freewebspace.com/cgi-bin/i/images/05passat_-_edited-001.jpg

 

[LeakySeals]

How many prior OCI's did you run with this oil?

 

[izualangel]

This is the first time I've run M1 0w40 in this. The car is a recent purchase, but was a good deal and was well maintained. The dealer used Castrol, which I'm not generally a fan of.

 

[webfors]

coolant leak?

 

[webfors]

Do you have a detailed record of the oil change history?

Trending with UOAs is the key here. If metals trend down on the next UOA you'll know you're on the right track.

 

[FowVay]

Start your investigation at the oil cooler. They're notorious for cracking and allowing coolant into the oil.

 

[chubbs1]

This is a troubling UOA for a 3k run. There does not appear to be a lot of Na/K in the oil, so though there is some coolant getting in, it does not appear to be much. You will have to do another UOA. I would sample as close to 3100mi. as possible. Maybe sample the run after this. I think FowVay is on the right track to check the oil cooler.

 

[LeakySeals]

Originally Posted By: izualangel
This is the first time I've run M1 0w40 in this. The car is a recent purchase, but was a good deal and was well maintained. The dealer used Castrol, which I'm not generally a fan of.

Performing a UOA on the first synthetic oil change may produce false positives as it cleans up deposits left behind by conventional oils. Stay with this oil, try another UOA at the end of OCI #3.

 

[Gabe]

Is there a possibility that a head or intake gasket was recently replaced?? We see high wear numbers from the abrasives used to clean the surfaces and left over coolant....

 

[Donald]

I would check the oil cooler as other have suggested. While the synthetic may be cleaning things up more than a dino would have, I do not think you would see potassium or sodium from switching oils.

I also like Polaris as they give oxidation and nitration, which will also point to coolant or other problems with the oil. Not sure why B/S give incomplete UOAs. Also good when you have two or more pointers to something.

 

[izualangel]

Thanks for the replies so far. I'll add some clarification here. VW spec'd the Passat to use synthetic oil only, sometime in 2004, I think. The dealer uses Castrol Edge, and before that they used Valvoline Synthetic. The head and intake gaskets have not been recently changed, the oil and dirt around those gasket surfaces have not been disturbed except when they cleaned the engine bay to make it look nice for the buyer. Thank you for the tip about the oil cooler. I hadn't been thinking about that one.

So, a follow up question: Where in this VW 1.8T would there be bronze/brass parts that would wear?

 

[LeakySeals]

Thx for clarification. Not all synthetics are the same. So there is still merit to what I said earlier, to a lesser degree. If OC #3 w/m1 0w40 comes back like this, worry then. think now is premature.

 

[izualangel]

LeakySeals - You're probably right. And since I don't seem to be able to edit posts, I should add that I did realise what parts (outside the turbo) should be bronze. I was having a bit of a brain [censored] at the time.

 

[zanzabar]

Change the oil cooler NOW! That's probably where the copper is coming from - the copper heat exchange surface inside the cooler deteriorates and then leaks. Run a very short interval or two using Rotella T6, or maybe T5 since you're in Utah and winter is here. Then back to M1 and another UOA to see if the wear metals are reduced.

Seriously, change the cooler right away.

 

[skyship]

I'm afraid this UOA does not look good, the Potassium looks like a coolant leak and the resulting wear metal figures look grim. Hard to say where the leak might be, but it does need fixing before it causes some real trouble.
Don't understand why Blackstones put a question mark for the AF.

 

[wolfc70]

Originally Posted By: izualangel


So, a follow up question: Where in this VW 1.8T would there be bronze/brass parts that would wear?


The turbo bearings are bronze IIRC. I would change the oil cooler as stated above, they usually seem to fail around the 5-7 year mark.

The 1.8T is a fairly stout engine. Just keep up with the PCV system, many of the plastic/rubber pieces crack/harden with age. Same goes for the thermostat housing, they crack and leak with age.

How many miles on the car? The K03 turbos are fairly long lived with proper maintenance. I have seen them fail as soon at 70k miles or still be fine with 220k miles on them. If you have a bearing in the turbo going out, that could be the higher wear metals. Just a thought.

 

[izualangel]

Yup. I'm on that cooler issue. There's a certain online vendor of VW parts that has them on sale right now. I know the turbo bearings are bronze. That was my first thought when I read that UOA. But a failing turbo wouldn't explain away the coolant :-/ I was thinking more of the engine itself when I asked that, but remembered later. Car has about 194,000 right now with the original turbo. PCV is in good shape, had to replace most of the little check valves this summer, but it has much better vacuum now.