Cgajarski

Hi, I'm new here. I've had my Audi for a few years but recently it's started a problem we haven't been able to fix. The oil pressure sensor came on a couple weeks ago while my husband was driving it, he said the engine started ticking, so he added oil and the ticking stopped. The car has been parked ever since. We changed out the oil pressure sensor, did an oil change, replaced the dipstick, then test drove it and the oil pressure light keeps coming back on. The coolant warning light came on as well. So I called the Audi dealership they suggested not to do an engine flush but to pull apart the oil pan and clean everything including the screen and the pickup tube and that it could most likely be sludge. My husband drained the oil pan today after we just put new oil in it and the oil was black and thick. He felt the bottom of the pan and said it felt like a fine sand texture. So we haven't been able to pull the pan off because one of the bolts is stripped from whoever pulled the pan off before. My question is, he's just thinking of just doing an engine flush since this has been such a hassle to begin with. He used to work for jiffy lube so he knows how to do an engine flush but I've read on other forums a lot of people advise against it. I'm wondering if we should just spend the money to get the tool that will get the stripped bolt out or if an engine flush will really help. If it is sludge or it could be something else throwing the sensors off. The car doesn't make any loud noises when it's running but I want to keep it that way, no ticking or buzzing or clanking. Any suggestions help!

Prospeeder

The engine flush will not help. The entire oil pan must be removed. The pickup tube for the oil pump will pack full of rock hard carbon, and no amount of chemical touches it, you have to chisel it out of the screen! You can remove the oil pan by supporting the engine with a lift, and lowering the entire subframe down, then there is room to remove the pan.

After you have fixed the oil starvation issue and cleaned out the pan and pickup tube for the oil pump, use only 5w40 Synthetic oil, and change it every 5,000 miles.

Cgajarski

Yeah my only issue is the bolts are so tight they stripped all of our fittings that can take them out, and some of the threads are opposite on the pan. We did do an engine flush and you can see the oil came out clean and the camshaft looks better. But the mechanic wanted to charge us 600$ Just to take the pan out and clean the screen and the pickup tube and unfortunately we are in an area where we don't have much options and can't afford that. We will just have to buy more tools. This whole process is a money pit. We actually found we didn't replace the right sensor, so I'm not sure if that was an issue either.

Prospeeder

The bolts holding the pan are 5mm allens, dig all the crap out of the middle of them, and hammer the bit in to be sure its in all the way. They will not strip. For the stripped ones find a 12 point socket that almost fits over the head and hammer it on and break them loose.

Cgajarski

Yeah my husband did that already, hammered one on and stripped three because they were so tight and broke another in half. The Allen head had stripped one of the bolts before we tried the sockets. It's been a mess. When we hammered one of the sockets into a bolt that was when we discovered the thread on the bolt was opposite from the other ten we had pulled out. Then there were a few others that were opposite. But now we can't afford any more sockets for a few more days.