Passat (B5) :: Got Red Oil Warning - Can It Be Sludge
Nov 4, 2006
When I drive my 1.8T from cold the red oil warning and stop light flashes for a 5 to ten seconds it then goes off and all appears fine.Whist it is flashing there are no tappity noises and the engine sounds sweet. If I let the engine run for 5 mins before pulling away I have no problem
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Once warm it seems to be ok uless I drive hard on the motorway - then it comes on as I decelerate. Once again, everything sounds normal.I've always had services and oil changes on time. I had the engine flushed this week, but it has made no improvement.
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I went to check my oil this morning even thought its only been roughly 2000 miles since the last change/filter(Napa Gold and Mobil One 0w40). I noticed that the dipstick had just a tad of yellowish snot stuff on it. I know it mean water in the oil but I cleaned it off and recheck, put a hair more in and it was all clean no more snotty yellow gunk.
My question is because it is cold and my dad moves it almost every morning before work could it be condensation? I know with my 1998 Chevrolet Tahoe with roughly 153,000 miles used to get the same yellow snot stuff in the oil fill neck but never on the dipstick. The passats oil filler cap/neck were both free of any snotty stuff.
If its still like this tomorrow I'm taking it to the dealer. Also there's still coolant and I couldn't be sure if there was any less as if it was a leaky head gasket but the rest of the oil is clean and not milkshake like.
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We bought my wife's wagon with about 24k miles on it. It runs like a champ still (3k later). She has a client who has the exact same car but with 60k miles and the engine needs to be replaced. Something about sludge in the engine.
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My 2003 passat 1.8T has been in and out of the shop for the past few months all for the same prob oil sludge was building up in the engine the first time around tried to avoid pulling the oil pan and just ran some flush to clean it out needless to say that didn't work so i had to have my mech pull the oil pan and clean up the mess...... even though this is a known issue that vw is well aware of the refuse to fix the prob unless u have all of your oil change receipts which I do not have because i have my stepfather change my oil I now know that I need to run full synthetic in it......
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i have a 2004 passat 1.8t just hit 110k miles on it and a warning light that said stop engine oil pressure service manual came on and shortly after the engine died. it like putted like i ran out of gas. the engine cranks but doesnt turn over. i had it towed to a place and they said its the timing belt. another mechanic said that the engine could be blown. i researched the warning light and found a class action law suit against vw for engine sludge problems.
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i have a 2007 gti and this is my first winter with the car and i live in a pretty cold climate and i've noticed quite a bit of white sludge under my oil cap from moisture and oil and i was wondering if there is anything i can do about this and i don't have a catch can and its not coolant i've noticed this happening since about 3 months now (since it went below zero) and my coolant level hasn't moved at all.
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My 2003 camry had black oil when I bought the car. I flushed the engine with motor flush two times. Very dark oil came out both times. But when I did third time oil was clear.
I do not have any oil pan or valve cover leak. Do I need to drop the oil pan to clean the gunk if there any?Do I have to clean the oil pick up also?
If the oil is dirty and black does it mean gunk built up in oil pan and oil pick up strainer?
I peeped through the valve cover but I did not see any gunk in the cylinder head.
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My wife has a 2003 Camry LE with the 3mz-fe V6. First, from what I have seen, these engines appeared in 2004 models, but that's what's in it. Anyway, she doesn't take care of her car and the other night the check engine and oil indicators came on. Having been through this with a VW Passat (known sludge engine) myself, I immediately suspected a sludge issue. The next day, I had a mechanic come over and check it. He pulled one of the valve covers and sure enough, there was sludge everywhere, some of the oil journals completely occluded.
So, the question is what to do? As I said, I've been through this myself. When it first happened, I had to have main bearings replaced and they flushed the motor well enough to get normal oil pressure. It wasn't 3 months before the same thing happened. They flushed it again enough to get the oil pressure back to normal and I got rid of it that weekend. I know flushing the Camry could solve the problem, but could just as easily push sludge into other parts of the engine and give me a nice deja-vu. The other options are to have the motor rebuilt or buy a used motor. The car has 80K on it so I'm thinking a remanufactured engine.
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I recently had a new engine and radiator installed in my 1993 toyota pickup. I checked the coolant and oil every day since the install, then drove it 250 miles or so without checking the coolant, and found that all the coolant was gone from the reserve tank, and there was a sludge at the bottom. I don't see any leaks, and the thermometer indicator was normal.
I don't understand where the coolant could have gone, given that it's a totally new motor and new radiator, new hoses. I'm worried about the competence of my mechanic, not noticing a dirty coolant reservoir and maybe messing something else up.
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I need to decide what to do with my transmission. I just acquired a 2007 F150 Supercrew 2WD 4.6L truck with 184k miles. While in Drive the automatic transmission (4R75E) runs ok thru 2nd gear and then; if O/D is on it will rev without engaging and if O/D is off it will just stay in 2nd gear.
I was hoping the problem was a broken retainer clip, as are so many others. So I removed the pan, and the valve body. All of the retainer clips seem to be fine, but, there is a lot of metal sludge on the magnet of the pan. See pic.
Should I buy a complete rebuild kit and take the tranny out of the truck? Is it just a problem with the valve body? I need to get the truck going so I can get to work. I am uneducated in the transmission department.
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While driving my recently purchased minivan (a 1999 Pontiac Montana) for about 40 miles, I noticed the temperature gauge was reading high when I wasn't moving very fast, though short of what appears to be the overheating zone. Opening up the radiator revealed no coolant that I could see, but plenty of brown sludge. Looking under the oil cap revealed more brown pudding-type stuff (that wasn't there when I did an oil change when I first got it).
The lack of coolant makes me nervous that the engine might have overheating without the temperature gauge reading it properly. Is that possible? The heater was working, which searches seem to suggest means there must have been some in there.
I figure that either the intake or head gasket must be bad, so I'm nervously setting out to replace both using a gasket set like this: [URL] .....
What I'm more worried about though, is clearing the cooling system out of all the gunk. It sounds like oxalic acid and washing soda and back flushing might work? But I'm anticipating a large quantity of sludge, oily, rusty coolant water. How am I going to dispose of it all?
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Recently replaced the transaxle fluid on my 2007 Prius with 47,000 miles. This was the first time the transaxle fluid has been changed in the vehicle. After removing the drain plug I noticed a substantial amount of a thick, grease type substance on the bottom of the plug. When they have change the transaxle fluid on their vehicles? I found minimal metal shavings on the plug, but was concerned on the thick sludge/grease substance on the bottom of the plug. The ATF fluid that I drained was very dark. Definitely not close to the red color of new ATF WS fluid.
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I have a sludge problem with this a 2008 infinity EX 35 . The car was initially stalling and had been in service at the dealership several times . Error codes were present and they didnt know what the cause was . They replace spark plugs and tried to find a bandied rather find the cause , Now they are claiming they cant do anything for the sludge issue and blaming it on poor maintenance .. the oil was changed ever 3000 . they have the records of this also. They talked about flushing the engine , but stated it doesn't work Is this vehicle prone to sludge . Its only running on 5 cylinders instead of 6 per dealer.
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I have a 2006 Kia Spectra with 74K miles. It was apparently neglected before I bought it (at 55K miles), and has a case of engine sludge. It's clogging my oil control valve, and a couple engine flushes (by Kia dealer) over the last year have failed to correct the problem thus far. The car runs ok, but cannot pass an emissions test due to the check engine light and corresponding codes. Can I perform the flushes myself? What product should I use? Can I safely remove and clean the OCV myself? What product should I use?
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It has 197k and change.It's not throwing any codes whatsoever. I can drive it all day and it wont overheat as long as I keep it under 2000 rpm.If I take it over 2000 rpm, it slowly heats up, but I can cool it down by slowing down. I can do like 50 mph max without it threatening to overheat. I've never let it get above 3/4 without pulling over and letting it cool off (I know how heads like to warp and crack).
Rubbery sludge in coolant reservoir (almost positive it's oil) but absolutely NO coolant in the oil, there never has been. I do all the oil changes myself and check it quite often. I've been keeping the reservoir full but it loses coolant daily (no leaks on ground anywhere, ever. I've already removed the reservoir and cleaned it out several times, but since it has more than one chamber it's almost impossible to fully clean without replacing. The hose that runs from the top chamber to the bottom blows off from time to time (I finally put hose clamps on it). I've flushed the cooling system several times but still the sludge comes back. I've removed and cleaned the thermostat (still good) and housing (had very little sludge). I flushed out the heater core but the heat is still weak.
Makes a loud whistling noise at idle, the noise literally stops every time I give it gas. (this is where I was thinking Intake Manifold Gasket, maybe vacuum leak) You gotta love these plastic manifolds. BUT it's idling low (650 rpm once fully warmed up) not bogging or sputtering whatsoever. Fans are working completely fine. It loses oil but again, no leaks on the ground whatsoever. I thought at first it was burning it (high mileage, worn piston rings) until I noticed the coolant reservoir was gunked (wasn't very long and I know I didn't mix different kinds. I check everything (more than regularly) and it loses quite a bit of oil.
Before everyone says head gasket, it isn't losing much power (if any at all), no white exhaust, and as mentioned before there's no coolant in the oil.Whatever it is, I can repair it myself but before I tear this thing a new one replacing gaskets and seals I'd like to be completely sure.
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I have a 2003 Kia Sedona EX with 103k miles on it. It is currently in the shop (KIA Dealership) and I'm being told that I have metal flakes in my oil and excessive sludge in my oil passages. This is causing my oil pressure to come in at 15 PSI instead of the specified 93 PSI. My mechanic has recommended a new engine.
I have only had the vehicle for 9 months and have done regular oil changes in that time.
Is there any hope of cleaning out the sludge? If yes, what do you recommend?Can I do successive short-mile oil changes?Can I use SeaFoam or some other product to clear it?Did I just happen to buy a car that hadn't been taken care of very well and now I really do need a new engine?
I've already replaced in the last 6 months of the 9 months I've had it:
Tires (Less than 10k miles on them)
Front & Rear brakes (whole thing)
Water Pump/Timing Belt/Serpentine/etc
Catalytic Converters - both fronts and the rear (just last week!!!)
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A friend of mine has a 2002 Century with a 3100 engine, 65,000 miles. The car has been well cared for, with all regular maintenance performed on time.
The car is losing coolant, the low coolant sensor comes on every few hundred miles. The local garage has added coolant, replaced the coolant sensor , and flushed the entire system. At this point my friend asked me to have a look.
1) Slimey "milkshake" on oil cap. Cleaned & dried it 4 days ago. 100 miles later, it's all slimey again.
2) Rad cap also has slimey gunk on it.
3) Coolant recovery tank is CRUDDY. The walls are all darkened with what I'd assume is oil residue.
Now, before anyone starts saying this is normal with Dexcool, I'll mention that I have a '98 and an '02 Grand Prix with Dexcool, they have 218,000 and 158,000 miles, respectively. My oil caps are bone dry. My coolant caps have only Dexcool on them. And my coolant recovery tanks are so clean they look new.
In seems to me that there is some kind of internal issue, e.g. intake manifold gasket, where the fluids are mixing. FWIW, I don't see any sign of external coolant leakage. Do the 3100s have any known issues in this area? I suggested my friend have the Buick dealer pressure test it (when it's cold), and go from there.
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We have a poorly maintained 2001 Dodge Intrepid 2.7L with 155,000 miles on it. Over the Christmas break, we left it untouched in the driveway for a month. After that it wouldn't start without being jumped off, and the oil light flickered when the car idled. We had the battery, alternator, and starter checked at a local shop; all of them checked out fine. Nevertheless, the car wouldn't start without being jumped off. It would click once, and then nothing. We also noticed it was overdue by 2,000 miles for an oil change, and thought this may be causing the oil light issue. Since the 2.7L Intrepids are notorious for engine sludge, we added a couple of ounces of Seafoam, drove about 15 miles, and then took it in for an oil change. Now it starts without a jump. So my question is Is there any way that oil sludge (and perhaps a weak starter?) is the issue?
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I've got an oddball '88 SWB with the M5OD transmission. Since I've had it (about a year now), its always required a lot of gas to get it rolling without it stalling after sitting overnight or during the day at work, especially putting it in reverse for the first time. The shifts have always been a little choppy/jerky/grabby/whatever you want to call it, too. Mostly going into first from a stop, but you can feel it other gears too, especially if you're not flooring it.
Anyway, it seems to have gotten worse and I'm getting to the point where I'm looking at a cause. One thought I had was oil contamination on the clutch discs, I know this will make a clutch feel "grabby". There is some sludge accumulation between the trans and engine, and it appears I may have a very slow leak there.
I have to change the trans fluid this weekend and am wondering if there's anything I should inspect while I'm at it -- I don't know a whole lot about the clutch system on this van and there's next to no information on it. Frankly, I don't even know if its hydraulic or cable.
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So yesterday I get a call from my wife that our Passat flashed the low oil warning and starting beeping. She was only 2 blocks from the house, so she made it home and she said the alarm stopped.
When I get home, I checked the oil and the dipstick was bone-dry! I needed to add 2.5qts of Mobil1 0w-40 (VW 502/505). I then checked underneath the car and I saw oil residue all over most of the components on the front passenger-side of the car. I started the car for a few minutes and checked for any obvious leaks or drips - didn't find any. This morning, I checked again for any leaks - nothing on the ground at least.
What it could be? Could it be as simple as the dealer not torquing the drain plug correctly? Probably can't be the filter housing since that's up front, right?
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2003 W8 70,000 miles. ABS ,ESP and EPC warning/indicator lights are on and i dont have any brake lights--what can be wrong and how much to fix?
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