# Using too much oil / sludge



## SAKZN1.8T (Oct 18, 2009)

I posted this in the 1.8T forum and have received no response. Maybe the oil guys know better!
Ask 3 mechanics the same question and you get 4 different answers right?
Transverse mounted 1.8T (Stock) in a sharan bus with 217,000km on the clock.
Before the last oil change, the dip stick came up clean (No oil) but no oil check light came on so I decided to monitor things closer.
After 10,000km (5,000 before next service) I decided to check the oil situation... added 2 litres castrol Magnatec (it takes about 5 in total) to get it up to the high mark. (Same oil as used last service)
1st mechanic (the guy who's done the last 3 services): You haven't got a problem. Just add oil until the next service. I can't see a leak or smoke. Your engine block's just sweating a little - that's normal.
2nd Mechanic: Your engine's sludged. You'll be lucky to get to 250,000km. we need to strip and clean everything. Using Liqui Moly engine flush is a little late as you'll end up blocking the pump or dislodging muck that might do further damage. That's what happens when you mix oils or use additives (I don't but the previous owner might have)
3rd Mechanic: 2nd mechanic is a little over-zealous when it comes to stripping engines. He's thourough but is using scare tactics on you. We can try a good flush, run 2 oil changes and in future think about oil changes every 10,000km instead of 15,000km.
In one case, we did a flush using Diesel instead of oil to really clean the engine out.
I'd be lying if I said that I didn't have a preferred course of action so Here's what I think I need to do:
1. Use Liqui Moly engine flush with the oil that's in the engine at the moment according to the prescribed 10-20 mins at high Idle.
2. Drain everything, including stripping the pan, Inspect screen
3. Re-fill with Magnatec, drive 100km and repeat Liqui Moly application.
4. Repeat 2, Change oil Filter
5. Re-fill with Magnatec

The other course of action I'm thinking of is using the flush just once but repeating it every oil change for the next 2 changes.
My thinking is that Liqui Moly is going to be gentle enough not to dislodge too much muck at once (at least it is according to their write-up) but 1 application might not be enough. I'm not sure I want to subject my engine to diesel or even diesel oil in the sump and I want to stick to 1 oil that's readily available from now on.
I am curious as to where 2L-3L of oil are ending up between changes but not being a mechanic, I'd need a little prodding in the right direction to look in the right places.
Anyhow, if you can help me out here I'd greatly appreciate it.
ta.
cb


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## saaber2 (Jul 15, 2008)

*Re: Using too much oil / sludge (SAKZN1.8T)*

I would not use a flush. I am not familiar with the liqui-moly product you mention but if it is a solvent flush like most others it works by "shocking" deposits. this can make them spall off in chunks or globules that could potentially clog oil passages, etc.
The safest and best method IMO is to use auto-rx. Got to auto-rx.com It uses esters and lanolin to slowly dissolve sludge and deposits. It works and removes sludge, carbon, etc. slowly. i have used it on 2 cars and on my Volvo it reduced oil burning form 1.5 quarts in 5000 miles to zero. I am now running it on a third car, a BMW V8, that has deposits due to running conventional oil. It seems to have improved power already but haven't run it that long yet. There are lots of examples where auto-rx has cleaned up the rings and before and after compression measurements have showed a huge improvement.
Using an oil with high % of ester basestock would also be an option. Their polar chemistry really cleans. These oils are the best but are expensive. Redline and the most expensive Motul oils such as 300V are examples.


_Modified by saaber2 at 11:04 AM 10-19-2009_


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