Re: Sticking, clicking valve lifters

["Gary G. Erickson" <erickson@teleport.com>]

Alexei M Voloshin wrote:

> I asked about the noisy lifters and he said that what usually helps is
> putting a half-quart of ATF in your oil during the next oil change. I
> know this sounds crazy, but I know this has been done in Legends that
> also use hydrolic valve lifters and it does help. Until this conversation
> I didn't know that it also works on Audies, but it does make sense.
> Has anybody ever tried this on an Audi??

My mechanic had recommended this right after I bought my car.  But it
wasn't for the added lubrication.  He was saying to use it as a mild
sludge-remover/degumming agent.  Put a quart in the crankcase, drive the
car at highway speeds for 30-45 minutes, and change the oil
_immediately_.

His explanation was that ATF was a highly detergent oil, but it wasn't
nearly as powerful as the sludge removers you buy off of the shelf. 
Therefore, less likely to cause problems in the engine by breaking loose
great chunks of crap.

I did it for the first three oil changes before I moved over to
synthetic.  It didn't cure the problem completely, but it did diminish
the noise from the questionable lifters on cyl. 5.  It went away
entirely by the time I got to my third change of Mobil1.

All disclaimer apply, YMMV.

Gary

-----------------------------------------------------------
Gary G. Erickson            Member #82 NW Audi Quattro Club
Business Solution Integrators, Inc.
503-702-5789                  e-mail: erickson@teleport.com