A flush doesn't do much to remove sludge off the cap....but if they did see sludge on the cap, then it is pretty much guaranteed that there's sludge inside the engine if there's been sludge there for a while. Sludge commonly develops under the cap first, as it is often the highest point and one of the coolest under the hood. This is especially true for a vehicle that is used for a lot of short trips where the engine doesn't reach full operating temperature. You get a yellowish gummy mixture of oil and condensate that doesn't burn off. After a while, it all turns to sludge if the oil change maintenance is ignored.

BTW, he said he's had maybe 4 oil changes in total, so I don't see how he'll prove that the oil has been changed in proper intervals.

 

That's the point I'm trying to make...

A lot of readers on the forum automatically go to a longer interval after seeing UOAs, but without using a similar quality oil.

I'm hoping that the dealer is giving him the run-around rather than having actual engine issues...

 

What is "CEL", he used the term flickering 3x in the conversation so I assume he was differentiating it from a solid light.

I believe he said when he removed the cap he saw sludge, dint know what proof they would need. He also said, "Well I see you did not get your oil changed when you were here last, or the other infinit dealership you took your car into the time before that. I see it has the factory filter on."
I think this was the basis of his diagnosis.

I have had the oil changed, no idea why he says its the original filter unless they never changed the filter. I am in the suburbs but dont recall which shop changed my oil last, hopefully Ill be able to find it via my CC.

Fwiw, the car was running perfectly till Monday when the "fail-safe" kicked in.

Mostly highway driving btw, also the car comes off lease next month if that means anything.

 

Maybe you should go down there and let him show you exactly what's wrong with the car. Tell them you want to see the sludge.

BTW, where are you located?

 

Yes I know especially with budget cuts they have less people working but in most cases top techs arent doing oil changes.

I took a car in once to a major dealer in this area for one of the lifetime oil changes and got a call saying my plugs were terrible looking, trans fluid was black and burnt and I needed a complete tune up and trans fluid change (car had 40K on it). total cost he said would be $700 plus. I said id be right down to discuss knowing full well I was going to make the tech and service manager look like fools. Took my ratchet and plug socket with me as well.
Got there and said lets go look at the car. They said I cant walk in the bay so I said bring the car out here then. They said plugs are out cant start it, so I said push it out here or let me in to see it.
They let me in the garage bay.
Okay where are the plugs well what do you know they are still in the car! Oh we put them back in...ok ill pull them out gimme 3 minutes. There they are looking perfectly fine and gaps still where they should be. Strike 1. They didnt say a word.
Lets pull the trans stick out...wow what do you know bright red fluid...strike 2. Still silent
I then asked what they think is a complete tune up on this car. He said change the plugs and wires...yup thats it...Strike 3. I said gimme my car back.

Wow $700 to change the plugs/wires, trans oil/filter. Yea your insane. Less than $100 in parts and $600 labor for 2 hours max work?

I left with my free oil change and car running fine. I wrote a letter to the general manager of the place and never heard anything from him. I never took the car back either.

DO NOT TRUST A DEALERS SERVICE DEPARTMENT ON ANYTHING THEY TELL YOU. You have to know whats going on with your own car so if they call you, you know if they are BS'ing you or not.

Sludge on the underside of cap...BS I bet but certainly if there is some is not necessarily an indication of sludge in the pan. If they told me that id be down their with my video bore-scope sticking it in the oil drain hole looking what is in the empty pan and a quick inspection of bottom end visible.

 

Im in mi. I was going to go down there, he said that the tech may not have time this afternoon, but first thing in the morning, so I fig'd Id wait till tomorrow.

I was under the assumption, perhaps falsely, that dealerships departments though expensive, are the trustworthy.

WHat doesnt make sense to me, is why did he initially tell me that "the timing cap is off a few degrees causing the fail-safe, and it will take 5 or 6 hours to fix", then tell me its sludge today? When I questioned him about this, he said " when you told me what was happening, opur tech did not look at it, so it was my initial diagnosis, but we did not look at the car until today"DOes this seem a bit odd?

 

Odd? Well, I guess that depends upon the dealership and the tech. But in general, they shouldn't be telling the customer a diagnosis without looking at the vehicle. That's just a bad practice.

Not all dealership techs are dishonest, despite what you may read on this forum.

 

For real, I had an 11am appointment with them on Saturday, he calls me back at 1pm to tell me its the timing cap, and that it will take several hours to fix and he is not sure if I can pick it up until today, I said fine. Then he calls me today to tell me its not the timing cap, but sludge. Doesnt even make sense.

 

maybe you guys can help answer a noob oil question for me.

i change my oil once a year or even once every year and a half but only drive my cars about 5-7k miles a year.

I own two cars and the wife has a car, so I just spread out my already small amount of driving between 3 vehicles. I use the cars frequently (daily or weekly) so they never sit around long.

I usually just wait for 6k and change the oil, regardless of time. on my 2006 jetta I changed the oil 3 times in 4 years (car has 18k miles on it.)

my 2009 g37 has 2300 mi on it still haven't changed the oil after 8 mos

2010 g coupe has 550mi on it over 2 mos.

please give me some expert opinions. I'm planning on selling either the jetta or g sedan, whichever sells first, because I have no need for 3 cars.

only use synthetic and premium gas.

 

The important thing in determining how often to change your oil, is how it is driven when you do drive it, not how often you drive it.
When I drive my car, it is hardly ever in grid lock/stop and go traffic. I also drive it a minimum of 30 miles, at least 95% of the time.
My oil changes fall under the 7,500 mile interval.
If you primarily drive short trips, where your engine doesn't get up to full operating temperatures and or you are constantly in stop and go traffic, you should change your oil twice as often using the severe driving schedule.
This is all stated in the owner's manual. The key word in the manual is if you "primarily" use your car under certain severe conditions.

 

are you saying if i do all city driving i need to change it every 3k miles???

also i have an automatic and generally it switches gears at 2500-3000 rpm using light footed driving. I know u stick guys switch at 6-7k rpms.

define full operating temperatures? even in a 5 mile drive it the temp guage is at ~190.

eta: i live in hot climate, so cold temperatures are never a problem and warming up the engine to the "middle" of the gauge takes 5 minutes. . it's usually 80-90 year round.