What is this horrible gunk?

[moribundman]

A friend changed the oil in his Audi. He used M1 0W-40 and added LC. He drove 500 miles and noticed the oil was 2 whole quarts low (5.2 qt sump). See the below picture for the look of the oil filler cap.

- he sees no oil in the coolant
- he has not noticed any coolant loss (so far)
- he hasn't noticed any unusual amount of steam from the tailpipe

I doubt he has time to wait for a UOA to see if the oil shows elevated sodium levels.

What are the odds it is a headgasket leak? If not, could the gunk be simple condensation while the gunk on the filler cap is due to LC or due another issue altogether?

Click here for the picture:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v121/Jestnomen/DSCF1493.jpg

[ December 17, 2004, 10:04 PM: Message edited by: moribundman ]

 

[SteveD2]

That's definately water of some sort, from where I don't know. Looks like alot more than condensation to me.

 

[pscholte]

Haven't (fortunately) seen anything like it on my A6...maybe someone will have had a similar experience and can tell you what it turned out to be.

 

[moribundman]

Well, he took the valve cover off and found the same kind of gunk all over. Looks like it's a headgasket leak after all. Nice Christmas present.

Valve cover picture:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v121/Jestnomen/DSCF1500.jpg

 

[pscholte]

quote:

---

Originally posted by moribundman:
Well, he took the valve cover off and found the same kind of gunk all over. Looks like it's a headgasket leak after all. Nice Christmas present.

Valve cover picture:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v121/Jestnomen/DSCF1500.jpg

---

Bummer...

 

[Rob Taggs]

Water/Coolant.

 

[Audi Junkie]

I'm woozey.

 

[sub_zero]

I feel for your friend that's a real pain in the neck.

 

[ChrisW]

looks liek the 1.8T motor? isnt the filler cap on the left side looking at the engine? I've never seen stuff like that.

 

[moribundman]

Chris, that's an Audi 2.8 l V6 12 valve motor. The oil filler cap is on the right bank. And no, fortunately I haven't seen anything like this either.

 

[ekpolk]

Two thoughts:

1) Has he checked the PCV valve/breather/whole CC vent system in general?

2) Being optimistic, at least he caught this mess early. . .

 

[Jestnomen1]

Hi guys, I'm the owner of the car this post is about. Just wanted to thank you all for taking a look at my problem.

 

[Gary Allan]

Well

...come on ..$-hit us up here

. Tell us your typical driving habits ..little tid bits of info so we can "remote view" your problem to a greater depth.

 

[Jestnomen1]

Most of my driving is to and from work daily, which is a 5 minute drive. I've only had my car for the last 10k miles so I really don't know how it was treated before me. I change my oil every 4k miles with M1. After ~500 miles (1 week) of using Lube Control I had consumed 2 quarts of oil and some coolant. When adding more oil I noticed the frothy cap. I then removed the cam covers and they were coated in white slime.

I'm not sure if it is related but a week ago I was on my way out of the parking lot at work and the coolant temp light came on for 30 seconds. It went away and I ignored it as the temp gauage showed it was still ice cold. Other than that I can't think of anything else.

 

[Gary Allan]

Apparently you do a substantial amount of weekend driving since you commute 5 min away ..yet clocked 500 miles in one week

The coolant light episode with the loss of coolant (my thought is some air entrainment) would have me first looking for some external leak (loose hose clamps that would allow leakage only during a brief period where pressure is elevating, but coolant temp isn't high enough to swell hoses). I'd have a cold pressure check done (on of those hand pumps that fits on the rad cap).

Pull the plugs (a few anyway) and see if they show any signs of coolant.

Top up both (with something cheap until you get this locked down)

Is your coolant light, in reality, a temp light or a "low coolant light"?? On my old Pukout 504 the light and the temp read from different points on the block and the light tended to respond to level and was totally independant of the temp gauge.


You may in fact have a head gasket leak ..but lets not throw the towel in on it immediately. You may have had low coolant for a while and the two events may not be related. (visions of thought clouds forming "but the proponderence of the evidence suggest" ..counter thought cloud "but it's all merely circumstantial evidence ..this head gasket is innocent until proven faulty")

 

[Jestnomen1]

The 500 miles was accumulated when I visited family last weekend. So normally I do not rack up that much mileage in so little time. I researched the indicator light and supposibly it doubles as coolant temperature and level.

I will pull a few plugs tomorrow to check for indications. What should I be looking for?

 

[Gary Allan]

None carbonous deposits ...I guess the closest thing I could describe it as is salt cake.

Does this thing have a coolant heated intake?

 

[ChrisW]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Gary Allan:
None carbonous deposits ...I guess the closest thing I could describe it as is salt cake.

Does this thing have a coolant heated intake?

---

i believe the coolant passes through the throttle body.

 

[Gary Allan]

This is common in short trip (very short trip) engines. My son had this during his high school years where the school was only 1.6 miles away. Lots of moisture ..no temp to purge it. The stuff condenses and eventually emulsifies. I must admit that I haven't seen this in contemporary engines as much as I saw it in V8's. Never in an aluminum head/block engine due to their excellent heat transfer abiltiy.

If he hasn't had a rash of short trips over an extended time, then I'd look to the coolant. The fact that the sump was allowed to get 2 quarts low indicates that there was some extended time that the dipstick was never pulled.

 

[Jestnomen1]

No A4's don't have a heated intake, and no coolant in the throttle body. I will check the plugs today. Thanks Gary.