auditech79
09-03-2007, 12:57 PM
I know some of you have come accross or heard of oil sludge on the 1.8T A4.
The problem isn't as much sludge as it is a crappy design of the oil pick up tube. The tube is very small and the mesh screen is a little bit too fine.
The result is when using crappy dyno oil and not changing it frequently will clog up the pick up tube. Now if you think synthetic oil like amzoil or redline is gonna stop the 1.8T A4 engine from loosing sudden oil pressure you're absolutely wrong. You have to remember that it really isn't sludge that clogs the oil pick up tube, often its crap that breaks off from the PCV system and ends up in the oil sump. It doesn't take much, and i have seen people that have used royal purple every 3k or redline and they still have an oil light come on when going on a long trip. When this happens stop driving the car!!!
Have the oil pressure checked immediately and have someone take off a couple of cam caps to check for bearing wear, if its ok then procede to repair the oil pick up tube, if its not you need a new engine that will be covered by audi as long as you have kept oil change receipts up to the present odometer reading. It doesn't matter what year A4 you have or mileage, you could have 160,000 on the clock as long as you have your oil change reciepts you get a new engine free of charge from audi.
Those of you that change your own oil........well your screwed really.
I highly recommend performing a seafoam treatment in the oil every 20k to help keep the engine and PCV system clean of all the crap, drain the oil after putting in the seafoam from about a 50 mile drive.
Or you can perform a complete engine flush every 40k.
Always use a high quality synthetic oil and larger oil filter if you can find one to help reduce the chance of sludge build up and keep the engine clean.
Audi TT owners don't have to worry, the 1.8T engine in the TT has a different pick up tube design and never has any problems with oil pressure.
The problem isn't as much sludge as it is a crappy design of the oil pick up tube. The tube is very small and the mesh screen is a little bit too fine.
The result is when using crappy dyno oil and not changing it frequently will clog up the pick up tube. Now if you think synthetic oil like amzoil or redline is gonna stop the 1.8T A4 engine from loosing sudden oil pressure you're absolutely wrong. You have to remember that it really isn't sludge that clogs the oil pick up tube, often its crap that breaks off from the PCV system and ends up in the oil sump. It doesn't take much, and i have seen people that have used royal purple every 3k or redline and they still have an oil light come on when going on a long trip. When this happens stop driving the car!!!
Have the oil pressure checked immediately and have someone take off a couple of cam caps to check for bearing wear, if its ok then procede to repair the oil pick up tube, if its not you need a new engine that will be covered by audi as long as you have kept oil change receipts up to the present odometer reading. It doesn't matter what year A4 you have or mileage, you could have 160,000 on the clock as long as you have your oil change reciepts you get a new engine free of charge from audi.
Those of you that change your own oil........well your screwed really.
I highly recommend performing a seafoam treatment in the oil every 20k to help keep the engine and PCV system clean of all the crap, drain the oil after putting in the seafoam from about a 50 mile drive.
Or you can perform a complete engine flush every 40k.
Always use a high quality synthetic oil and larger oil filter if you can find one to help reduce the chance of sludge build up and keep the engine clean.
Audi TT owners don't have to worry, the 1.8T engine in the TT has a different pick up tube design and never has any problems with oil pressure.