i have a 2001 a4 1.8t red-tag sport with about 102k and i was told by my mechanic that it needs a oil flush and pan/screen cleaning because of the mileage. is this very important for the awm engine code? he quoted us for 4 hours work. is this correct?

 

Has the red oil pressure light come on?

 

the light hasn't come on yet, but this guy works on a4s the most and said it should be done to prevent damage.

 

I don't think it would be a bad idea, if you want to spend the money. Some people may suggest trying a seafoam treatment.

Audi actually covered this service for me for free because I had the oil pressure light come on.

Also to avoid sludge are you using...
--The large updated oil filter?
--Synthetic Oil?

 

Synthetic oil is a must on the 1.8T engine. They have a history with sludge. Seafoam would be a good preventative measure, I do it every oil change. Open up your oil cap, if it looks gross in there (buildup, not very shiny) then you might want to follow his advice as a precaution.

 

Use AutoRX, not Seafoam. They recommend a dino oil for it. Use Castrol GTX 5w30 for two oil change intervals and change them each at 1500 to 2000 miles. DO NOT run it any longer than that. There are three sizes (length-wise) of oil filter that we can run. Run the biggest. You might still need to scrub some of the crap down, especially the oil pickup screen (which may need replacement). That screen is VERY important. Also, do NOT go above, say, 3500-4000 RPM until the problem is fixed. You WILL blow your turbo if not your entire engine if you don't get it fixed or if you stress it during the fix.

4 hours of work doesn't sound unreasonable as long as he's actually doing the work that he mentions e.g. the pickup screen. Really, AutoRX could do it for you, but indeed the oil pan and valve covers should be taken off and the parts under cleaned, cleaned and cleaned some more.

Whether or not you have it cleaned, run AutoRX. I would even recommend running it two or three times in a row. After an AutoRX treatment or two, you can run a Seafoam treatment if you want to try it, but if you run Seafoam now, it could dislodge big chunks of crusty oil and make things worse. I've recommended Seafoam before but I'm not as big into it for sludge now.


When this is taken care of, make sure to run one of these oils, using the medium or large size filter of the three available and an OCI of 5-6k:
-Mobil 1 0w40 (do NOT use 5w20, 5w30, 10w30, etc. ONLY 0w40, even if you have to drive to a different store to find it)
-Pennsoil Platinum 10w30
-German Castrol Syntec 0w30 European Formula (not sold at many stores, but Autozone carries it. It MUST say European Formula to be the good stuff.)
-Amsoil - 0w30, 5w30, 0w40, 5w40 should all be good as long as it's not a diesel oil

These oils are good for an OCI of 10-12k in many cars with a good filter. Half that for our engines.

And, honestly, I would consider rebuilding your turbo. The K03s don't last very long and it would be in pretty bad shape by now even without the sludge. At the very least, it should be inspected after the sludge is fixed.

 

What is this, Fox news? I think you're alright man, Dragon is going a little far.

 

****. I just reread the original post, and I thought it said his mechanic diagnosed engine sludge. But now I see that he wants to do it as a preventative measure. My bad. Skip the thorough cleaning crap. But I do recommend AutoRX and those oils.