[s-cars] Wife's A4 has oil consumption/white sludge. HG?

[The Gagnons]

It is the short trips.

Beat on it for 1 solid hour per week and the condensation will go away.

Oil consumption is a result of lack of beating.

Jack

> -----Original Message-----
> From: s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com
> [mailto:s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com]On Behalf Of Brian Powell
> Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2004 11:04 PM
> To: s-car-list at audifans.com
> Subject: [s-cars] Wife's A4 has oil consumption/white sludge. HG?
> 
> 
> Greetings, I am posting to this list as well as the a4 list because of 
> the experience of the s-car people.
> 
> I am trying to track down a problem on my wife's 96 A4 (12v V6).  
> First, let me give you a little history to give you a sense of my 
> reasoning:
> 
> Car has 83k miles, and has been absolutely trouble-free said for one 
> incident below.  The timing belt, pump, etc. were all changed at 60k 
> miles.  About 19 months ago, on a very hot day 100+F here in CO, my 
> wife called me to tell me that the overheat light had come on the car 
> and she pulled over and was parked.  She was about 3 blocks from home, 
> so, I walked down, opened the hood, let it cool for a few minutes, and 
> nursed it home.  I began inspecting, and found that somehow, the plug 
> of the thermoswitch had been sheared off.  I flushed/replaced the 
> coolant, built a new plug, and put it back into service.  Winter 
> quickly came and no problems.  The following summer, I noticed coolant 
> temps were quite warm about 2/3 of the way toward H, when that car was 
> always stable at 1/2.  Finally, I tracked it down to a failed fan 
> clutch.  I decided to change the thermostat, flush the coolant again, 
> and do some nagging work (replace the valve covers because of a slight 
> oil leak).  When I changed the valve cover, there was some white 
> pudding sludge where the oil feeds into the valve cover in the 
> right-hand bank (the bank with the oil cap).  This had me concerned 
> regarding the previous overheat incident that coolant was leaking into 
> the oil, but, there was a crack in the valve cover (this engine uses a 
> PLASTIC!?!? cover).  Also, the coolant level is always constant.  I 
> repaired everything, put it all back together, and sent her on her way. 
>   The coolant now would occasionally inch past 1/2 on hot 100+F days, 
> and according to VAG-COM, the temp would reach 104C.  I didn't worry 
> too much.  This winter, her temps hover around 90-92C in 30-40F ambient 
> weather.  I think the thermoswitch is busted as the electric fan now 
> runs on high when the temp hits 90C.  No worries there though.
> 
> The last two oil changes, she has required about a quart during the 3k 
> miles between the changes.  This car never used to burn oil.  Last 
> night, I went to check on the oil level, and it was getting low again, 
> so, I went to add oil (always use Mobil 1 10-30 for that car) and there 
> was some white sludge under the oil cap.  I checked the coolant level 
> and it is the same as when I filled it last summer.  I checked the 
> coolant itself and there does not appear to be any oil (the coolant is 
> a turquoise blue still).
> 
> Now, I am concerned that there may be a head gasket leak, or something 
> that is causing oil to burn and moisture to get in there.  The oil cap 
> doesn't seem to tighten down like it used to, but, it feels like it 
> seals.  The sludge wasn't on the left bank when I changed the valve 
> cover gaskets (no way to check now without removing the cover).  What 
> could be causing this?  Is it a concern?  Should I fear head gasket?
> 
> The other issue is that she drives about 5 miles to work, so, the 
> coolant gets up to temp; however, the oil doesn't usually get up to a 
> boiling temp.  Maybe it is simply because it can't burn off the 
> moisture (though, she usually ends up doing some highway driving for 20 
> miles or so once a week).
> 
> Any tips or suggestions for where to look are appreciated.
> 
> Cheers,
> Brian
> 
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