[A4] Syn Oils

[Robert King]

On Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 12:34 PM, Bill Reburn <billreburn at shaw.ca> wrote:
> What's cheaper?
>
> Frequent oil changes for $25? or a new motor for $3000 (PLUS
> installation)?
>
> I change the oil in my A4 about every 4000 to 5000kms (3000-ish miles)
> along with the plugs and will continue to do so. 3 oil changes a year
> is less than $100 (less than half that if you DIY). CHEAP preventative
> maintenance IMHO.


I'm going to throw this out there JUST as a data point.  Take it
however ytou like it...

My '01 A4 1.8T has 238,000 miles on it.  The head was replaced at 75k
miles (over-rev siezed a camshaft and ben a bunch of valves.)  The oil
pump was replaced at 225k miles.

Everything else in the motor is original including the turbo and clutch.

I change my oil between 5k and 10k miles, depending on how busy I am.
Until about a year ago, I was using the smaller oil filter that Audi
no longer specs for this engine.  I now use the larger filter Audi
recomends because of the sludge issue.  I use OEM filters.

When I replaced my oil pump, I got a good look at the inside of my
engine.  NO sludge -- period.

The reason I never had a sludge problem is because I run quality
synthetic oils (Mobil 1 about 70% of the time an, though about 30% of
the time I run Royal Purple,) AND I always let my oil come up to full
operating temperature (about 220 degrees F.)  I rarely take drives
short enough to keep this from happening.

-- RK