Got my oil sample back from black stone

[rs4 tony]

I've recently had to add coolant. Just a little but anyway they said they found traces of coolant in my oil and this was the oil change the dealer did when I got my carbon cleaning done. So maybe that coolant was some chemicals that were in the oil when they did the cleaning? Not sure.
Comments were:

"TONY: You mentioned a loss of coolant recently and we can see it in the potassium and sodium levels.
Fortunately, wear metals still look pretty good so the coolant hasn't done any serious damage yet. Universal
averages show typical wear levels for this type of engine after about 4,200 miles on the oil. If anything, iron
may be a little high for only 3,000 miles on the oil, but it's not high enough to call a problem at steel parts.
Your oil consumption doesn't seem too excessive, though keep an eye on it. Watch your coolant level as
well and check back in 2,000-3,000 miles."

[sharmut]

What brand and model oil are you running?

[rs4 tony]

The dealer did the oil change when doing the canon cleaning. I think it's castrol syntec 5w-40

[zachf88]

POS for antifreeze? As in positive? If so, take immediately to dealer and you'll be getting a new engine!

By the way, cut down on the salty fries!!! Haha, Na is high - anyone know what could cause this?

[rs4 tony]

Na? Sodium? They said sodium and potassium is anti freeze and yes POS is positive.

[RAudi Driver]

Why would you tell them that you had a loss of coolant? The best oil analysis is one where the lab tells you what is wrong with your car. I would have kept the coolant hush and waited to see what the oil analyst said.

I only say this because a reputable Audi shop here in California sent 2 samples from 2 different cars to the lab and they came back identical.

[rs4 tony]

I didn't. They called me and said they found some anti freeze and I told them "yea I recently just topped it off too"

[tsivas27]

Definitely take the car in asap Tony. The combination of the oil analysis, the sweet smell in your exhaust and the fact that your rear bumper is covered in that black stuff (which you say you never had before)- would make me wary. Maybe something due to the carbon clean is surfacing?

[dparm]

Ignoring the obvious coolant contamination, that oil did well. It did not fall out-of-grade but the iron content is a bit high. Then again it's just a single analysis so I wouldn't really worry. There are better oils I'd rather run in that car, but this still proves that even your basic OTS synthetics are excellent oils.

(your contamination is not very high, BTW...it's a slow leak)

[rs4 tony]

Exactly. I'll wait till I change my oil next. 2500 miles to go. It's a new oil brand too. Penzoi euro 5w-40

[rs4 tony]

Also remember this is the oil change the dealer did after the carbon cleaning so maybe the sodium and potassium they found was left over chemicals that fell into the combustion chamber when cleaning the carbon out.

[zachf88]

coolant in the engine oil is a very bad thing. It forms oil bubbles, or goblets, and is very corrosive and acidic. I would remove a quite a bit of coolant out of the tank, drive to the dealership, and say the coolant disappeared. If you wait, you'll just screw up your engine. Blackstone uses H20 levels and other factors to determine id there is coolant in the oil. Blackstone wouldn't say positive for coolant just on the basis of high levels of sodium (Na) and potassium (K).

When I had my whole ordeal with my cracked radiator, I didn't believe the dealer (1l of coolant gone and no fluid on floor). I thought it went straight in my egine so I did a bunch of research and when I got the car back, I sent Blackstone an OA, explaining my whole ordeal. The test came back neg for coolant in the oil.

[rs4 tony]

Interesting. I'll get back to you guys on this.

[rs4 tony]

But still don't think it can be some of the degreasers they use for carbon cleaning? Or fuel additive?

And what would the dealer do? New head gasket or new motor

[BenSti]

The dealer would diagnose the problem and fix it. Take the car to them and let them diagnose it, the problem started after they worked on it, so they need to fix it.

[rs4 tony]

Could that be why my tips get filthy black and my bumper is covered in black sut? In a week of driving

[BenSti]

YES, TAKE THE CAR TO THE DEALER. Or maybe you could have Mr.Griggs diagnose it. ;)

[rs4 tony]

Omg. Lmfao. U made my day. Haha

[Mr Hyde]

My coolant lines were disconnected during my carbon clean, so I had a flush performed at the same time. Some coolant could have found its way into your oil just from the cleaning depending on how careful they were with everything

Also, did the dealer collect this sample for you? Any chance they contaminated it during collection? Personally I would not have sent a sample from this oil change due to the variables thrown in from the carbon clean. Contamination from the cleaners could definitely throw off the wear metal numbers. If you only topped off a little bit of coolant once, you arent putting out alot of white smoke, and your oil isn't milky looking, I would just send another sample from a batch of oil that has nothing other than driving on it.

[rs4 tony]

I took the sample myself. It was not the first or last of the oil. It was the middle

[rs4 tony]

Here is my oil cap. It's all sludgy and gross. I was told this can be a sign of something leaking like coolant into the motor.

[NY07RS4]

You can literally see the milky white swirls towards the middle of the cap - that does indeed look like coolant has contaminated your oil. On top of that it looks thick and has particals all over the cap. Did you drop the cap on the driveway? If not, I'd want to know what those granular looking particals are too.

[dparm]

I would change that right now. Mobil 1 0w40 is $5.49/qt right now at O'Reillys, no rebate needed. For $55 + $20 for filter you can have fresh oil.

If anything, I would change it with the M1 or some other cheap 5w40 immediately, run it for a few hundred miles, then change it again to make sure everything is flushed out of there.

[rs4 tony]

I changed my oil 831 miles ago. No I didn't drop it. I wiped the crap off with bounty pAper towels

[BenSti]

Tony, please take your car to the dealer...

[Peter1.8t]

Here is my oil cap. It's all sludgy and gross. I was told this can be a sign of something leaking like coolant into the motor.

Don't change the oil just yet. Take it to the dealer like that so they can see what's wrong. Oil is not suppose to look milky at all. Thats a sign that the head gasket is going bad, if not worse things.

While you're at it could you take a picture of the coolant inside the expansion tank for us? I can bet if the oil looks like this, there's probably going to be traces of something gone wrong with the coolant as well.

Besides IIRC, you're only 18, correct? So take it to the dealer and have Daddy pick up the bill Not trying to be a dick thats just what I'd do if I was in your shoes.

[rs4 tony]

CPO WARRENTY. That bill would be like....6k. Dayumm

[BenSti]

You know, if you have a problem and continue to drive on it making it worse, they can deny the claim for the damage you caused. Take it in there ASAP.

[zachf88]

Tony, take your car to the dealer!!!!

[rs4 tony]

I just Emailed the SA again. Waiting for his response back

[04Moroblue]

Just gonna throw my 2 cents in,
From the picture of the oil cap i wouldn't worry about changing the oil until the next interval, I have seen far worse oil cap's that have scared me but the reality is many vehicles do this just by the way there valve cover is designed it traps heat(worst ones seem to be with a extended filler neck/cap) and then condensates when you shut the car down.
-Ex Tech with 7 years of exp
On the analysis issue, i would make sure you save your data and talk with your dealership ( seems you already are) that way they are aware of the issue and that the next interval analyse the oil again and see what the results are and go from there.

[B6JoeS4]

He already got the car fixed I think. It was a bad seal somewhere on the back of the motor. Coolant was leaking into the oil

[04Moroblue]

That's interesting i wasn't expecting to hear that! Glad the issue was resolved, curious on what seal?

[rs4 tony]

That's interesting i wasn't expecting to hear that! Glad the issue was resolved, curious on what seal?

They removed the timing change cover on both sides and replaced a o ring that coolant flows through.

[zachf88]

They should have replaced the block, since coolant was in the engine (causes all sorts of problems in the long run)..... Best of luck with the longevity of your motor, Tony.

[BenSti]

They really should have, the fact that you were getting burning oil out the exhaust means there is something else beyond coolant in the oil. I know it can thin the oil, but it shouldn't be that thin.

[rs4 tony]

Well I still have a little black on the tips. And the coolant level is now at a constant level which is good. But I still have blue smoke on start up and black sut on the rear end

[Mr. Corey]

They should have replaced the block, since coolant was in the engine (causes all sorts of problems in the long run)..... Best of luck with the longevity of your motor, Tony.

I think thats subjective. I had a vehicle with 100k that had a head gasket go bad and drove it for another 115k miles with no issues relating to the bad gasket or coolant getting mixed into the engine.

[Peter1.8t]

They removed the timing change cover on both sides and replaced a o ring that coolant flows through.

Is this a fairly common problem with rs4's?

[BenSti]

Well I still have a little black on the tips. And the coolant level is now at a constant level which is good. But I still have blue smoke on start up and black sut on the rear end

You should take it back and tell them to fix it this time.