# 05 A4 1.8T - Oil Sludge Question



## Sam091990 (Dec 19, 2011)

I'm looking into getting an 05 A4 1.8T (59k miles) in the next couple days. Going to look at the car on Wednesday. I'll be asking the seller what kind of oil was used in the car and how often it was changed, but have some concerns.

If I do end up buying it I would like to take the oil pan down and remove the valve cover to clean everything up a bit and see if there is any sludge building up. After that, oil changes will be done at 3k miles with VW synthetic oil (I work at a VW dealer so that's a plus) and a fuel system treatment.

What else should be done though? Inspection wise and future maintenance wise? I heard you can run Auto-RX in the car and use a little bit of it regularly.

But basically, what should I do to avoid any future problems with the engine?

Also, what VW oil filter and how many QTs of oil should be used? All of the 1.8T's that we work on have the larger 068 filter (the 078 one is the smaller one) and 4.5QTs of oil.


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## gmikel (Nov 10, 2010)

*use the larger filter*



Sam091990 said:


> I'm looking into getting an 05 A4 1.8T (59k miles) in the next couple days. Going to look at the car on Wednesday. I'll be asking the seller what kind of oil was used in the car and how often it was changed, but have some concerns.
> 
> If I do end up buying it I would like to take the oil pan down and remove the valve cover to clean everything up a bit and see if there is any sludge building up. After that, oil changes will be done at 3k miles with VW synthetic oil (I work at a VW dealer so that's a plus) and a fuel system treatment.
> 
> ...


there is a tsb on the 1.8t that upgrades the filter and tells you to use synthetic 502 oil. they hold about 4 qts with the large filter.

if the screen is clean on the oil pump pickup you should be good. my wifes passat has 140k miles with no problems. it uses about 1/4 quart in 4k. i've always used synthetic and the large filter and changed both at 4k.


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## Apexxx (Nov 10, 2011)

Get your hands on a jug of G-Oil and run that for a few 1000. It's pure Gruppe V esters, which should clean the heck out of you engine. Often G-Oil has freebates, either way, it's not expensive.

Forget about VW 502. It's irrelevant for anything other than extended full speed operation that drives up the oil temp.

In cold conditions or short trip driving, it's FAR thicker than ideal. 5w-30 synth is better in all respects, and may also bump your mpg. 

I'm not sure what people intend to gain with OE filters. Maybe one of the fanbois can explain beyond the usual "it's better" argument. STP S5369 is common and dirt cheap. PepBoys Proline is a nice Purolator filter, for peanuts.


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## gmikel (Nov 10, 2010)

*irrelavent*

audisquirt or whatever he calls himself today claims to know far more than the engineers at vag, bmw, mb and porche. pick your poison!


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## gmikel (Nov 10, 2010)

*use most any brand filter*

just make sure it is the upgraded one as it increases oil capacity to a full 4 qts.


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## Apexxx (Nov 10, 2011)

Apexxx said:


> In cold conditions or short trip driving, 5w-40 is FAR thicker than ideal. 5w-30 synth is better in all respects, and may also bump your mpg.
> 
> Forget about VW 502. It's irrelevant for anything other than extended full speed operation that drives up the oil temp.













Product Overview

Castrol SLX Professional has been co-engineered by Castrol and VW specifically for use in Audi / VW engines built after 2007. This is the latest oil specification from the VAG group. Meets Audi/VW 504.00 / 507.00 long drain specification. 1 liter bottle.

507.00 supersedes all previous Diesel engine oil specifications
 504.00 supersedes all previous Gasoline engine oil specifications.


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## Sam091990 (Dec 19, 2011)

Apexxx said:


> Get your hands on a jug of G-Oil and run that for a few 1000. It's pure Gruppe V esters, which should clean the heck out of you engine. Often G-Oil has freebates, either way, it's not expensive.
> 
> Forget about VW 502. It's irrelevant for anything other than extended full speed operation that drives up the oil temp.
> 
> ...



I guess you missed the part where I mentioned I work at a VW dealer. I get my "OE" filters and recommended oil for less than your auto part store prices. I save my MPG right there by not driving to an auto parts store.

By the way, I did end up purchasing the car and I love it. It has only had Synthetic oil changes so that's good. Just needed some brakes, tires, and 60k service.


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## Apexxx (Nov 10, 2011)

No, I saw the part where you wanted to desludge the engine....*from* the dealership oil.

Kind of confusing there.

My cuz bought a B6 1.8t from Jack Daniels and it died from sludge before the 30 days was up.










Good luck with the dealer oil.


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## Sam091990 (Dec 19, 2011)

Apexxx said:


> No, I saw the part where you wanted to desludge the engine....*from* the dealership oil.
> 
> Kind of confusing there.
> 
> ...


I never said anything about wanting to 'desludge' the engine from dealership oil. I said IF the seller didn't use synthetic oil I would like to run an engine cleaner and start using the specific Audi/VW synthetic oil.


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## Apexxx (Nov 10, 2011)

Apexxx said:


> Get your hands on a jug of G-Oil and run that for a few 1000. It's pure Gruppe V esters, which should clean the heck out of you engine. Often G-Oil has freebates, either way, it's not expensive.
> 
> Forget about VW 502. It's irrelevant for anything other than extended full speed operation that drives up the oil temp.
> 
> ...


I guess getting dealer filters free trumps anything technical.

Everything else stands.


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## gmikel (Nov 10, 2010)

*audisquirt*



Apexxx said:


> I guess getting dealer filters free trumps anything technical.
> 
> Everything else stands.


don't even dare think about disagreaing with him. he's been banned under 1/2 dozen names and now calls himself apexxx.


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## Sam091990 (Dec 19, 2011)

Apexxx said:


> I guess getting dealer filters free trumps anything technical.
> 
> Everything else stands.


Why are you quoting yourself? I haven't seen a single person say that using the dealer specified synthetic oil and filters is a bad idea.


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## Apexxx (Nov 10, 2011)

Best oil to use is what works best. More later. 


ACEA A5 oil, like auto parts 5w-30 synth, is the same *quality* as 
ACEA A3 oil (VW 502), just thinner. 










When it's cold out, when you are making mostly short trips, when you want max mpg, when you aren't overheating your oil from teh Autobahn or mountain climbing, thin oil is better. 









Shot at 2012-01-12


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## gmikel (Nov 10, 2010)

*anothernice chart*



Apexxx said:


> Best oil to use is what works best. More later.
> 
> 
> ACEA A5 oil, like auto parts 5w-30 synth, is the same *quality* as
> ...


 :thumbdown:


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## Apexxx (Nov 10, 2011)

Shot at 2012-01-12


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