Just checked my oil the other day and it was PITCH BLACK!! I mean much more black than it usually is. I am due for an oil change and have never seafoamed...I am at 136 km and will be seafoaming the night before my early morning oil change. But damn! is this an indication of something bigger?? or just how dirty it is in there? What effects might this have on the cars functioning?

 

These motors are known for their sludge problems, doesn't suprise me. Make sure you check your oil often after the seafoam.

 

I always thought it was the 1.8T that had a sludge problem, not the 2.8 v6. My friend had a 2.8 12v and never had a sludge problem and I think his was pretty high mileage before he sold it and got a '99 (new body) Silverado.

 

All engines suffer from sludge. The 1.8T just has a BS oil pick up screen that gets sludged up more easily. It's less expensive for Audi to call it a sludge problem instead of a design mistake. The turbo's abuse the oil more, but full synthetic is a wonderful thing when it comes to sludge or lack of it.

 

I have a 12v and its not tooooo bad, but the little old lady who had it before me didn't use full syn (i don't think) because i think its worse than it should be. I've been doing full syn changes every couple thousand miles tryin to clean the little guy out.

 

its always suprised me at how dark my oil is when i change it compared to other cars i have/had. I religiously change my oil too... I used to get oil and filters for free so i did it like every 1000 miles and it was still always darker than expected. Id seafoam it properly and see if it helps.

 

What exactly should I be looking for when I check? I plan on doing when the oil is very very low and the fuel is too so, then I will get the oil change and top up, so hopefully it should still effect things much. I read a lot about seafoam on here, both good and bad....

 

for about 10k miles after i first bought my car i cleaned it heavily with frequent oil changes and seafoam. the first few times the oil was very black when it came out. now after i change my oil its pretty much the same color for the first 1000 miles then it starts to darken up. it never gets "pitch" black any more just a dark burnt color. oil is supposed to blacken up after use though, it takes all the carbon build up and suspends it in the oil. carbon is black, hence the coloring. if the oil was clear it wouldnt be doing its job very well.

 

Jason,

I wouldn't worry too much, I've just heard that sometimes after you seafoam and change your oil, there's still gunk left over -especially if your motor is as gunky as you make it sound- so you're supposed to keep a close(r) eye on the oil and if it looks bad even after you change it, change it agian to keep all that crap from recirculating back through the internals.

I was going to seafoam my car over the summer, but i decided that a few oil changes at shorter intervals was a better idea. GL!

EDIT: And yes, "Gunk" is a technical term lol

 

Yeah, you shouldn't have to fear seafoam - the stuff is great. Do the full treatment on your car (oil, vacuum, and fuel) and you'll probably see and notice some differences in its driveability.