No sludge from what I can see in my engine. 2010 w/ 45K on it. Explain the sea foam treatment. Is it like Marvels Mystery Oil?

 

Been dealing with this the past couple weeks. Used car just purchased 2 months ago, 70k miles. Got the supreme warranty with it. This is what I get to deal with, warranty not covering this. Oil just got changed about 3 weeks ago and has been rarely driven.



So I guess sludging is possible!!!?!?

 

I guess so. But since the car you bought has run diesel fuel through it and only had 1 qt of oil in the crank case, I'm going to chalk that up to operator error and not a flaw in the equipment.

 

That was due to Audi telling people to go 5-7500 miles between oil changes.
My wife's 99 a4 just missed getting a new motor.
It was a n/a 2.8 but, all the motors including the turbos were having sludge.
It had just past the 10 year mark of the in service date.
She had 110k on the odo, dealer almost went for it but corporate said no.

 

The diesel in the tank was local gas station problem. They have paid us back for those repairs.
I thought the 1 qt oil was due to oil consumption. We had just had the oil changed within the previous 2 weeks.
Could running car low on oil cause sludging?

 

72K no sludge. Do you just pour the seafoam into the gas tank?

 

Yeah, that'll do it.

 

BB, I had 85k miles on my 2004 VQ35DE, no sludge.

My 2010 VQ37 has 85k miles on it, no sludge. I have been running Amsoil signature series 100% synthetic 5W-30 and Amsoil oil filters (they filter at 98.7% efficiency at 20 microns) in all of my vehicles for the past 20 years. Amsoil also has very high initial TBN (additives) levels which protect the oil from the acids that form from combustion and it's byproducts.

AMSOIL SAE 5W-30 Signature Series 100% Synthetic Motor Oil

I also use Amsoil Engine flush every 3rd oil change before I change the oil just to keep things clean. As a result, my oil takes a long time before it gets to the point that it's black. I've had oil in the engine for 4-5k miles and it's still just a darker honey color, and not "sooty".

AMSOIL Engine and Transmission Flush

From the Amsoil engine flush page: "Installing new oil or transmission fluid into a dirty vehicle may not be enough to remove deposits and increase efficiency. The detergents and dispersants in some lubricants may not be able to handle leftover sludge and deposits, and the new lubricant soon becomes unfit for service, accelerating the formation of even more harmful deposits."

I've run OCI's as long as 19k miles, following Amsoil's drain intervals and changing the filters out at 10k miles and adding a quart of oil. They've got some case studies on Peterbilt diesel trucks that have had bypass filtration systems (98.7% efficient down to 2 microns, good for 60,000 miles) that have driven 1 million miles without an oil change. Obviously, the filters are changed at specified intervals and the oil is topped off, but for over the road truckers, there's no denying the maintenance cost savings. The studies have also included tear down of the diesel engines after 1 million miles of service and they look brand new, no varnish or sludge, and extremely low wear.

It is well known that the VQ37 runs very hot and punishes the oil. I've always used Amsoil because, historically it's always been among the best in the NOACK volatility test which measures the oil's resistance to evaporating through burn off. I keep a very close eye on the oil level and add 5.5 quarts at the oil change instead of 5.2 because the VQ37 runs so hot and even getting to the point where you're a quart low robs the engine of the oil's cooling effect, and can exacerbate the problem, and thus the potential for sludge to form.

This is also an interesting study here: http://www.amsoil.com/lit/g3115.pdf

From the paper: The NOACK Volatility Test determines the evaporation loss of lubricants in high-temperature service. Accord- ing to the ASTM, “Evaporation may contribute to oil consumption in an engine and can lead to a change in the properties of an oil.”1 As with the TEOST test, low values in the NOACK Volatility Test are of particular benefit in modern, hot-running engines.
In the NOACK test, a candidate oil is exposed to heat and circulating air. Following 60 minutes, the remaining oil volume is weighed and compared to the original weight, with the difference reported as the percentage of weight lost. Results must be limited to 15 percent or less to meet the API SN and ILSAC GF-5 specifications.

Thermo-Oxidation Engine Oil Simulation Test -->> Motor oils can form deposits when exposed to increased heat, reducing efficiency and contributing to poor overall performance. According to the ASTM, the TEOST test method “is designed to predict the high temper- ature deposit forming tendencies of an engine oil. This test method can be used to screen oil samples or as a quality assurance tool.”1 Given the number of vehicles now equipped with direct fuel injection, turbochargers and other performance-enhancing technologies that increase heat, deposit control has taken on increased importance. To meet the API SN Resource Conserving and ILSAC GF-5 motor oil specifications, a 5W-30 motor oil must limit total deposit formation to 30 mg or less.

 

BB, I saw your build list for the TT setup and you had an oil cooler spec'd on there. That will definitely help, especially in Texas. A good engine flush would probably help just to get any dirt out of there that's not coming out with the oil change.

Are you going to install the TT kit yourself or take it to a shop? If you're not going to do anything with tearing the engine down for the TT build, on your next drain, you may want to send a sample into Blackstone or one of the other oil analysis labs and have them do a little inductive coupled plasma spectrometry to analyze the wear metals and other contaminants in the oil. They're pretty good about giving insights into the condition of your engine based on the counts in the contaminants and wear metals.

Ex. High silicon content can mean the air filters are bad and needing replacement.

Spectrometry: The Marvel of the Lab!

 

Sorry you're having to go through that man. That sucks. Do you know anything about the previous owner? Sounds like maybe they weren't staying on top of things like regular oil changes and ensuring that the oil hasn't burned off by periodically adding oil.

In the older VQ35DE engines (2003-2007ish models depending if it was coupe or sedan), oil consumption was a major problem. Before I was apprised of that, I took my '04 into the dealer for an oil change and they told me it was 2 quarts low. I've since been religious about checking the oil level and making sure it's ALWAYS at full. Didn't do any harm since I then knew to stay on top of it, but if it had 1 qt of oil in the engine, it was basically cooking inside, with little to no cooling ability for the lower internals and reciprocating assembly and valve train. Prime candidate for sludge. Kind of like a frying pan on the stove with nothing to absorb the thermal load.

 

Heres one for you guys who like to delay your oil changes or know someone else who does... motor got pulled from a M37x with 56000 miles that was having timing issues and kept throwing codes.
YOU CAN SEE SLUDGE IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER OF THIS PICTURE

 

How many extra miles is delayed? One change in 56000 miles or changing oil at 7500 instead of 3750?

 

Silly question,

What is PU? would like an explanation please.

Thanks

 

PU = Penzoil Ultra motor oil. They no longer sell that exact same oil anymore unfortunately. It's been replaced by Penzoil Ultra Platimum. Similar name but completely different formulation.

 

Aha.

Thanks for clearing things up.

Would like your opinion regarding this oil: Fuchs Titan Supersyn D1 5W-30?
Guess it's not available in US but just check it up. I'm really confused as to what oil I should use that suits the G37s
you can check its MSDS & Data sheet

MSDS: Fuchs Lubricants (Australasia) Pty Ltd - Home

Thanks in advance,