Aldenh055

The oil my usual places uses is liquimoly 5w-40, which is what the mr. Tire guys put in, but I'm not sure from which brand.

silver_tt

The aftermarket filter could be the cause of your CEL (did it start right after you switched to the aftermarket filter? if so just switch it back to OE) if it's restricting flow; it is a very bad idea to use aftermarket filters. In general it's not a good idea to let places like Mr. Tire work on your car. The OE filter is like $7-8 for this car, just order a bunch of keep them in your basement. I would also buy you own oil too. I can guarantee you Mr Tire is using cheap crap for oil......

What kind of oil were you (and your parents) using over the life of the car and what oil change intervals? Edit: Looks like liquimoly 5w-40, what oil change intervals? I'm assuming you did dealership oil changes up to some point?

Many of these engines with bad rings will blow no smoke.... some have sooty or even oily tailpipes

Aldenh055

It has been serviced at an authorized audi/vw bmw/mini repair shop since 2014 and they use liquimoly 5w-40. This is the first time it's been to a place like Mr. Tire, jiffy lube etc. It did not start happening immediately with the oil filter it currently has but after about 4-5k miles. I am Planning to get another oil change as soon as I can at the place it usually goes to since I know they use OEM filters and good oil, I will be interested to see if that helps. If not, do you have any recommendations for oil additives to thicken up the oil?

They put in liquimoly viscousplus last time it was in and that seemed to help for a little while. It's been probably around 5,000 miles since the last oil change and I checked the dip stick they gave me and the oil was pretty dark. I have never seen it that dark ever so I wonder if the filter has anything to do with that.

I just need it to last until I graduate this spring and can afford to either fix it properly or sell it to get something else, but hopefully another audi

silver_tt

I do not recommend oil additives IMHO. Oil has very complex chemistry so I buy it already formulated coming out of the bottle. For example, people have argued with me that they can make the same oil I am running themselves in their basement much cheaper by taking a cheaper oil and adding in additives like MoS2 and CeraTec -- this is laughable. You can lead a horse to water but..........

DFI engines produce very dark oil. I have never seen oil get so dirty so fast until I owned a direct injection engine. When I did my oil change 2K miles after my timing chain the oil came out pitch black -- looks like India ink. Some oils will naturally turn a darker color as they oxidize and live in your engine over the course of an oil change interval. However. as a general statement DFI engines make the oil much "dirtier" due to the soot. This is also what's clogging up piston rings.

Norskie

Regarding dark oil ... I don't think we can conclude there's anything "wrong" or "bad" by eyeballing oil color. A lab analysis would be needed to draw conclusions.
A change in color may indicate a change in something in the engine and maybe shorter OCI's could make you feel better, but without an analysis it's pure speculation whether something to be concerned about.
Oils contain detergents which hold particulates and solvents in suspension so they can be caught in the filter and removed. It's better for the oil to carry that crap out rather than leave it as deposits in the engine.

silver_tt

A marked change in color would be a concern or at least something to investigate if you are accustomed to seeing your oil look lighter and then out of nowhere it is darker -- all else held constant e.g. same oil, same OCI, etc. I can tell a lot about my oil and the health of my engine just from my oil when it comes out -- the smell and the texture...how it looks. I can smell high fuel dilution and feel it in the oil. I take brief notes and pictures after my oil changes. Some people on this forum like morris39 have mocked me for these very statements, "maybe Audi should hire you as their visual inspection oil engineer". I bet you people like this don't even change their own oil as this type of statement is laughable and shows a clear lack of understanding.

Norskie is absolutely correct that oils contain detergents which suspend and peptize particulates so they can be filtered out. This is why it's important to use OE filters and "good" oil with short OCIs.

Aldenh055

That all makes perfect sense and is the reason I was alarmed! I have never seen it that dark before. My mechanic gave me a physical dip stick to check the oil with and last time I checked it the oil was almost completely black. I checked the oil filter and looked up the numbers on it and it is a fram filter that I got from the last oil change from Mr. Tire since I couldn't get to my normal repair shop. I since then have read a lot of bad things about the fram filters since they seem to be the cheapy ones and can cause issues. What is the oem quality branded filter Audis use?

silver_tt

The OE filter doesn't have the brand on it so I don't know. This place is running $50 off each $500 now, I would just buy a bunch of filters and store them with the oil you buy.

https://www.audiusaparts.com/oem-par...ter-06j115403q

Norskie

Why not buy from FCP Euro and send back the used filters for a refund?

silver_tt

That works too