AUDI A4 1.8T OIL COOLER FAILURE


A loss of oil into the cooling system makes a horrible mess doesn't it. The engine tried to overheat too.
It is not too bad of a job to clean out but it does take time to do it right. Thanks to the suggestion of Lost In Space I finally used Dawn Dish Washing Liquid and it did a fabulous job of getting that last oil residue out of the system. I had tried other chemicals and the flushing was still not coming out clean but this Dawn seemed to really do the trick. I had removed the thermostat to make sure that the flow was strong and going through the whole system.

The radiator, coolant bottle and the radiator hoses were so clogged with this sludge that nothing would flow through them. I had to use tools to rod out and then compressed air, at very low pressure, to get some of the sludge out to allow water through these components.

Sludge in Bottle & Hose              

This is a picture of the oil flowing out of the defective oil cooler with the engine running. I knew for sure what was causing the oil in the coolant system now. It is always better to know than to guess! lol

The Failed Oil Cooler              

This is the first container of flushed fluid. Still very nasty but did get better after a few of these. The first set of chemicals did not do the job as well as I thought they would. What I used was low sudsing laundry detergent. I had heard that this worked well.......it didn't.


Sludge coming out              

So for the last two flushes I used Dawn. That stuff really gets grease and oil out of the way! It really does clean like the commercial says! ;-)

To recycle this sludge I just scooped up the oil that floated to the top and put that in my used oil containers and put the water/coolant in the used coolant containers. I just let things settle a few days before scooping.