Oil Consumption Issues to the point of needing a Ring Job? Piston Ring Soak Thread

[Fresh.S4]

Couldn't you just leave the drain plug open so any solvent that goes down, just drains out?
Then just keep doing the 12hr swap...
Rinse and repeat

[Waffles_s4]

Couldn't you just leave the drain plug open so any solvent that goes down, just drains out?
Then just keep doing the 12hr swap...
Rinse and repeat

You want the oil in the pan to "catch" the carbon deposits, otherwise they will stay in the oil pan, which is no good. The oil is basically helping rinse everything dirty out...

Running the car with very cheap synthetic oil for 15-30 min, won't do any harm to the engine, and in my opinion, much better than running the engine with the carbon deposits. The oil filter does not catch everything, especially not right away (for 15 min)!

Another way to do it is dump your current oil if its new-ish (keep it aside), throw in some cheap synthetic oil, do the cleaning, dump it, put new cheap oil, run the car, dump it, and put back your old oil for the next 400-500 miles, then dump that, and do a clean oil change. You can put a new oil filter for each step, at $8 each, no biggie.

[Nillious]

It doesn't matter what method you want to use. I feel like leaving the plug out with no oil will leave a lot of carbon in the pan like waffle said essentially making you waste even more oil since your first drain would be on new oil vs the old. In the end as long as you get it flushed with new oil and filter a couple times you should be good. I used supertech 10-40 and O'Riley filters at 5.79 each for the flushing.

[Fresh.S4]

K makes sense. I'm taking the notes!

[FourRinger14]

I originally had seen the eurotrash videos on YouTube and honestly thought there's no way it's going to help. I figured at my extreme oil consumption it needed a rebuild anyway so I figured I'd try it. The amount of carbon in my oil afterwards was extreme. The B12 really did work and it's not be like I thought.

I have driven a thousand miles since and oil level is still on max. I would have seized my engine if I drove that far before the soak without adding oil. The mmi has about eight notches in the oil level if I remember correctly. At this rate it seems I should go at least 5k on a qt probably farther. From 400 miles a qt I'd say it certainly worked.

If you don't have oil consumption I wouldn't do it yet. Obviously solvents and free bits of carbon getting in your oil is not a good thing. I just keep your change interval short and that should keep you in good shape. If you want to do it for maintenance that's up to you.

I’m only burning 1-1.5 qts per 5k miles but @ wot see some moderate to heavy blue/black exhaust out rear view, just wondering if you notice any less visible oil burning in exhaust after the treatment? Everything I read on this subject seams positive, I’ve never done any carbon cleaning but I expect I have some issues from the ring muck and the valve carbon as well, considering doing the piston soak to see what it does but concerned if the valve carbon is heavy I’m not really addressing issue or maybe partially softening this stuff on/around valves which might break free causing unnecessary problems. I’m at 185k and can deal with the moderate oil consumption and dirty exhaust on wot if the risk is worse than the current status. Valve carbon clean is not out of question, just can’t do it myself so would have to pay a shop to do it. Looking for advice…

[Waffles_s4]

I’m only burning 1-1.5 qts per 5k miles but @ wot see some moderate to heavy blue/black exhaust out rear view, just wondering if you notice any less visible oil burning in exhaust after the treatment? Everything I read on this subject seams positive, I’ve never done any carbon cleaning but I expect I have some issues from the ring muck and the valve carbon as well, considering doing the piston soak to see what it does but concerned if the valve carbon is heavy I’m not really addressing issue or maybe partially softening this stuff on/around valves which might break free causing unnecessary problems. I’m at 185k and can deal with the moderate oil consumption and dirty exhaust on wot if the risk is worse than the current status. Valve carbon clean is not out of question, just can’t do it myself so would have to pay a shop to do it. Looking for advice…

I would suggest doing the Intake valves and piston rings seperately, because each will dump quite a bit of carbon into the engine. I would start with the intake valves first, run the car for 2000 miles or so, and then start with the piston soak after that.

One trick I did is to vaccum out the carbon deposits directly from the cylinders, through a vaccuum attached to a small hose that fits the spark plug. Then use compressed air to make sure everything is nice and clean, and you can spray a bit of rubbing alcohol inside while you vaccum and air dry the cylinders. Personally, I would not run the engine after either job with the same oil. Just dump that oil before starting, put some fresh cheap 5w40 synthetic oil in, and then start the car for 30sh minutes. That would minimize the B12 and carbon deposits from circulating around the engine.

Keep in mind that there is the oil pickup screen that can get clogged, and you dont want that thing ever clogged. The idea is to only run the engine with clean oil at all times, and change the oil and oil filter after 100sh miles after each cleaning process.

[Nillious]

If you do the intake you would do them only while closed. Shouldn't really get much if any carbon in the motor.

[Waffles_s4]

If you do the intake you would do them only while closed. Shouldn't really get much if any carbon in the motor.

You would still have quite a bit of valve cleaner that will make it through in the oil somehow. I closed the valves and my oil at the end clearly had solvents and dirt in it.

[Gunnarrrrr]

things like piston soaking and carbon cleaning are things you do well under the 100k mile mark every so often to prolong the life of your engine. You’re at 180k+ and burning oil with 180k miles of carbon buildup on your valves, you’re going to just end up wasting a ton of time to get minimal results. with the amount of time spent on doing a carbon clean with the engine in, and all these piston soaking products, you could’ve just pulled the block out, dropped the head off at the machinist to get thoroughly cleaned and have fresh valve seals with your valves freshly ground, and done a quick ball hone with a drill and some fresh rings. Then you’ll have an actually clean engine, a completely leak-free engine with all those new gaskets, without chunks of carbon floating around your oil lines, factory-new compression numbers, and all of the other maintenance that otherwise would’ve been skipped because it’s now easier to access.


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[f1torrents]

Quick aside on the ball hone, or any home for that matter.
These engines are Alusil coated. This coating is only ~.002 thick.
Honing even ~.001 (1 thou) cuts that in half. Once this chemically applied substance is worn through its just the soft aluminum of the block left.

I would stick on the side of caution and avoid the honing step.

[Nillious]

things like piston soaking and carbon cleaning are things you do well under the 100k mile mark every so often to prolong the life of your engine. You’re at 180k+ and burning oil with 180k miles of carbon buildup on your valves, you’re going to just end up wasting a ton of time to get minimal results. with the amount of time spent on doing a carbon clean with the engine in, and all these piston soaking products, you could’ve just pulled the block out, dropped the head off at the machinist to get thoroughly cleaned and have fresh valve seals with your valves freshly ground, and done a quick ball hone with a drill and some fresh rings. Then you’ll have an actually clean engine, a completely leak-free engine with all those new gaskets, without chunks of carbon floating around your oil lines, factory-new compression numbers, and all of the other maintenance that otherwise would’ve been skipped because it’s now easier to access.


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You should make sure you read the whole thread before you post. What you suggested doing is basically a ring job Which is exactly what the posters in this thread are hoping to avoid. We all know that a ring job is an option. We all know that that would be the optimal way to fix it.

Even if the soak doesn't work for some of us the work you mentioned is DRASTICALLY more difficult than a carbon clean and piston soak. This isn't an old mustang with a 302. You don't just simply "pull the block". It's a huge undertaking to remove and disassemble these engines down to the block. The amount of parts and pieces that need to be removed would probably be overwhelming to most.


You can do a carbon clean over a weekend. Then a piston soak over the next weekend.

[Waffles_s4]

You should make sure you read the whole thread before you post. What you suggested doing is basically a ring job Which is exactly what the posters in this thread are hoping to avoid. We all know that a ring job is an option. We all know that that would be the optimal way to fix it.

Even if the soak doesn't work for some of us the work you mentioned is DRASTICALLY more difficult than a carbon clean and piston soak. This isn't an old mustang with a 302. You don't just simply "pull the block". It's a huge undertaking to remove and disassemble these engines down to the block. The amount of parts and pieces that need to be removed would probably be overwhelming to most.


You can do a carbon clean over a weekend. Then a piston soak over the next weekend.

Agree 100%. Piston soaking vs rebuilding the engine are 2 different worlds. And unless you have been building engines before, I would not even throw it as a suggestion.

[mahhdd]

things like piston soaking and carbon cleaning are things you do well under the 100k mile mark every so often to prolong the life of your engine. You’re at 180k+ and burning oil with 180k miles of carbon buildup on your valves, you’re going to just end up wasting a ton of time to get minimal results. with the amount of time spent on doing a carbon clean with the engine in, and all these piston soaking products, you could’ve just pulled the block out, dropped the head off at the machinist to get thoroughly cleaned and have fresh valve seals with your valves freshly ground, and done a quick ball hone with a drill and some fresh rings. Then you’ll have an actually clean engine, a completely leak-free engine with all those new gaskets, without chunks of carbon floating around your oil lines, factory-new compression numbers, and all of the other maintenance that otherwise would’ve been skipped because it’s now easier to access.


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"Fix your engine with this easy $8,000 fix!"

[Gunnarrrrr]

more like [emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]] in parts and an [emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]] machinist bill but hey, also a good [emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]] weekends

if you’re going to keep the car for many more years it’s all you can do. otherwise find ways to cope with the burning oil and drive it into the ground. unsleeved aluminum blocks unfortunately weren’t designed to last long, just the way it goes.


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[Waffles_s4]

if you’re going to keep the car for many more years it’s all you can do. otherwise find ways to cope with the burning oil and drive it into the ground. unsleeved aluminum blocks unfortunately weren’t designed to last long, just the way it goes.

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We are talking about German cars which depreciate to more than 50% in less than 4 years. Sorry, but no B8 or B9 S4 is worth that kind of love, just the way it is. 180K miles is well over how long these cars were designed to last, so a piston soak and a valve intake clean is pretty much the limit of what I would do on these cars.

[Gunnarrrrr]

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Sorry, but no B[emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]]]]] or B[emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]]]]] S[emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]]] is worth that kind of love, just the way it is. [emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]K miles is well over how long these cars were designed to last, so a piston soak and a valve intake clean is pretty much the limit of what I would do on these cars.

this is an audi enthusiast forum not a financial advice forum, and most of us actually do like our cars enough to do these things. if you don’t think building engines is fun, then you should be leasing s[emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]]]’s not buying them.


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[Waffles_s4]

this is an audi enthusiast forum not a financial advice forum

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Wrong on so many levels.

[Waffles_s4]

If you throw "enthusiast" at every repair, maintenance and upgrade on these cars, I guarantee you will spend more than the value of the car itself pretty quickly. How much is a B8 or B8.5 S4 is worth today? Yeah not much at all.


Piston soak and intake valve cleaning would run you a max $200-$300 in parts for both jobs, which is within reason. Removing or taking the engine apart is when I seriously start thinking if it is worth keeping the car itself. Rust will kill these cars faster than anything else.

[Nillious]

Just thought I'd update here that my mmi broke off of max today. I am at 1279 miles. At that rate I should easily get 3k before topping up at the halfway mark. Im completely fine with that. I was on the verge of buying a motor and rebuilding it.

So at 157k this car is running better than it ever has. Knock retard is still gone and exhaust tips are staying clean. They used to be black in a few days. Now they just get a brown tint that cleans off very easily.

[Waffles_s4]

Just thought I'd update here that my mmi broke off of max today. I am at 1279 miles. At that rate I should easily get 3k before topping up at the halfway mark. Im completely fine with that. I was on the verge of buying a motor and rebuilding it.

So at 157k this car is running better than it ever has. Knock retard is still gone and exhaust tips are staying clean. They used to be black in a few days. Now they just get a brown tint that cleans off very easily.

Nice results dude. I would piston soak it again after 3000-4000 miles, put some of it in the fuel tank and in the crankcase, and I bet it will run even better.

Did you clean the intake valves yet?

[Nillious]

No. I have plans to do pcv, check valves, and clean valves this spring.

[Torsen]

The engine turns clockwise. When standing in front of the car you turn counter clockwise actually turning the engine clockwise. 99 percent of people are going to turn the engine when standing in front facing the car. Is this situation you turn counter clockwise. Just like like when you loosen a bolt when the threads are facing you you turn the bolt to the right to loosen it.

I'm a mechanic for a living and I have found when talking to people who may not be as familiar with things you need to clarify what you are saying.

Perhaps it would be better to just leave it at always turn the engine towards the passenger side.

You are clearly a very knowledgeable dude, but I must warn that this is incorrect. The crank rotates clockwise - referenced from the front of the car. Quick litmus test for this: the supercharger pulley visibly rotates clockwise with the engine running. From the belt routing diagram below, we can see that that crank pulley and the supercharger pulley rotate in the same direction.

So when manually rotating the engine via the crank pulley, always rotate clockwise when looking at the face of the pulley.

S4 Pulley Diagram.JPG

To the main topic of this thread - I had very similar symptoms of a rough idle and oddly high individual cylinder knock corrections on both factory and stage 1 tunes. It never actually logged misfires, but had this intermittent stumble or 'kick' at idle. Lots of people say the lumpy idle is totally normal for the 3.0T because its an inherently imbalanced 90 deg six, but I don't buy it because some days it was buttery smooth, and also balance shafts exist.

I was nearly positive the culprit was carbon buildup on the intake valves based on experience with 2.0T cars. Imagine my surprise when idle was effectively unchanged after PCV, full decarb AND rebuild of all 6 injectors. I had relatively low oil consumption - maybe 0.5 to 0.75 qt per 5,000 miles - but I began to suspect sticky low-tension piston rings might have something to do with it all.

I got shockingly good results running Valvoline Restore and Protect 5w30 over just a 3k OCI. Bold marketing claims and cringey nomenclature aside, word in the industry is that Valvoline has developed a proprietary detergent package that is really quite effective at busting internal carbon caking. No, its not VW 502 00 but it is API SP which is really bottom line for acceptable use in DI engines. I intentionally ran a very short OCI and had a sample analyzed with totally nominal results, so I believe its perfectly safe for these engines.

My idle has improved substantially, knock corrections are way down across the board, and I have yet to see any noticeable oil consumption after ~4k back on my go-to 0w40. I think I had a pretty mild case of ring buildup in the grand scheme of things, but its another data point and potentially a viable (passive) alternative to the piston soak.

[LowKeyLoki]

Good information and clarification. I’m curious what people’s opinions are on using LiquiMoly engine flush for caked rings, I’ve used it before and I assume it does basically the same job as Valvoline you described since it’s mainly just naphtha. Maybe running an engine flush through every 10-20,000 miles might help with the carbon build up. I’ll probably run a flush every 25k along with a can of Ceratec after the flush.

[raceshop147]

Also interested

[Torsen]

Good information and clarification. I’m curious what people’s opinions are on using LiquiMoly engine flush for caked rings, I’ve used it before and I assume it does basically the same job as Valvoline you described since it’s mainly just naphtha. Maybe running an engine flush through every 10-20,000 miles might help with the carbon build up. I’ll probably run a flush every 25k along with a can of Ceratec after the flush.

In theory yes, an engine flush should be able to accomplish the same thing. Oil additives like that have always made me slightly nervous because they rapidly thin the oil out of grade, which *could* cause some acute bearing wear. Most engine flush products sort of admit this by warning not to drive the car or exceed 2000 RPM with the flush in the oil. That's entirely anecdotal though, I have no evidence of adverse effects and I know many people use them without issue. If completed correctly as described in this thread, the piston soak also poses minimal risk because the engine is never really running with excessive contaminants or compromised oil.

Exposure time probably plays a big role in how effective a given treatment is too. An oil flush only gets 10-15 minutes to work whereas a piston soak is commonly 12-24 hrs of direct contact. The Valvoline is undoubtedly slower working but it gets dozens of hours and thousands of miles at operating temp to do its job. I like the approach of gradual carbon release over time because it’s less likely to fowl the combustion chamber or kill your cats.

I will say I’ve seen some examples from the Ford/Hyundai community of Valvoline R&P almost clogging oil filters with carbon over an OCI. I’d bet those are pretty extreme examples of really nasty engines but its worth checking on your oil filter every 1k miles or so if anyone wants to try it. Mine was darker than usual at 3k but not crazy.

Each approach has its benefits and use cases - good to have options at the end of the day

[Nillious]

I am running restore and protect 5-30 for the remainder of winter. Our temps are in the teens daily now an my oil temperature barely gets over 180 on the way to work. This oils viscosity at 212 is around mid tens. A 502 euro 5-30 is in mid 12s at same temperature. So the Valvoline is a little light for spec hut I figured with the consistent cool oil temps I'd take advantage of it's cleaning ability. I've changed it once more and had some minor carbon bits in the filter. As soon as temps are back up in the Forty's consistently I'll go back euro 0-40 that has a viscosity of mid to high 13s at 212. I wouldn't run the restore and protect in summer months when oil temps can climb over 220. I didn't even need to add oil during a 4k interval the Valvoline calls for so I've seen drastic improvement from a qt every 3-400 miles.

[LowKeyLoki]

After watching The Oil Guy on YouTube visit the Valvoline lab and talk about their formulation and results, gotta say that I am definitely gonna try Restore and Protect next oil change and run it for 3k miles. Seems pretty legit from the oil analysis they posted and side by side comparisons on build up and deposit removal rates. Sucks they don’t have a 5W-40 or 0-40 but running it in cold weather is probably fine. I plan on doing a pre and post Blackstone analysis on the oil.

Also Audi world covered this a good bit already and I’m def sold on the Valvoline RP
https://www.audiworld.com/forums/q7-...066201/page14/

[egebhardt]

Wondering if anyone has a suggestion or has experienced the same problem. After soaking all my pistons, I cannot turn the crank past a certain point. Pistons 1 and 6 are close to top dead centre, but I can not get them to go down. It took several weeks to have the Crank shaft tool shipped to my location so I soaked the pistons a couple times and I am soaking 1 and 6 again, hoping to break down what ever carbon is in the piston. Any information would be helpful. I cant imagine I am the only person to experience this. In the euro trash video he talks about it, but it seems to have been resolved fairly easily. What to do.
Thanks in advance.

Keep working it. Slowly but surely. You're on the right track. My A4 did the same thing. I put some solvent in there and let it sit. The engine got worse before it got better.

[egebhardt]

Hmmm... How to delete this post. I don't think I can.

[Nillious]

You can just edit with the word delete so people disregard it. You can't delete a post.

[A4Qwattro]

I'd rather deal with oil consumption and water pumps than cracked pistons (Mercedes...)