[BradAusrotas]

Hey y'all. I'm driving a 2000 1.8T, and over the course of the last four days, while driving, have had the oil pressure light come on red with the buzzer. It lasts about 5 - 10 seconds and then goes away.

This happened to me once last year, also while driving, and then went away and never happened again, so I considered it a fluke. Now that it's happened twice in a short span, I'm obviously more worried.

I've been putting dino 5W30 in it. It's been, at most, 3000 miles since the last oil change.

At this point, I'm not really sure where to go. I know if I take it into a mechanic, I'm gonna get hosed, so I'd rather try and deal with it myself, but it's delicate given that my engine could be grenading without me knowing.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[jfoj]

Stop driving the car and sort the problem NOW

It is actually pretty easy DIY.

Purchase a new oil pick up and a new orange dipstick tube and a tube of Permatex Ultra Black gasket sealer.

Drop the oil pan and replace the pickup.

Once the car is in the air less than 2 hours depending on how much cleaning you want to do in the oil pan.

The hardest part are the 4 rear oil pan bolts that are up near the rear of the crank inside the bell housing. You can get to them with either a hex driver (7mm???) or a 10 mm socket as I recall?? I think I used a hex driver as it was easier to get at a slight angle.

JUST BE VERY CAREFUL, not to drop any of the 4 rear bolts in the bell housing. I had a problem with one bolt, but I have an automatic and I was able to use a magnet to get the bolt.

You might try a can of SeaFoam in the crankcase and run it for a bit, but the oil pickup has carbon build up on it.

DO NOT change your oil at this point, the new oil will be thicker and your oil light will come on far more often.

Check your thermostat, but your engine is running too cold!!!

Needs to run a 205F or slighty higher.

 

[Oh Randi]

^What he said.

These cars NEED full synthetic oil, 502.00 spec. Stop using dino oil. I never use anything but 5w40 Liqui Moly or Motul. If you're a wal mart kind of person, Rotella t6 is nice for our cars.

Synthetic oil is more thermally stable. Our turbo cars run extremely hot, you need an oil that can tolerate it. I'm serious.

 

[Smileybug]

Castrol Edge 5w40 or Mobil1 0w40 are good oils for these engines. I've been running the Castrol in my GTI since I got it and it runs like a top. Just as an FYI - The Rotella T6 is a diesel rated oil (its what we run in our TDI).

 

[Oh Randi]

Castrol Edge 5w40 or Mobil1 0w40 are good oils for these engines. I've been running the Castrol in my GTI since I got it and it runs like a top. Just as an FYI - The Rotella T6 is a diesel rated oil (its what we run in our TDI).

Works well for 1.8's too. I used it once in a pinch. It seemed to run a lot quieter.

 

[esse10]

oil

Not to throw a kink on this thread but I've been using dino oil since day one and now have 190k miles(no sludge problems). I think a lot depands on what part of the country you live in and the ambient temperature outside. If you live in a part of the country where it stays below freezing temperatures for several consecutive days then yea you would need better thinner oil. especially if you just make small trips. I use Valvoline 5w30 ALL THE WAY BABY! LOL

 

[AlexFraley]

Stop driving the car and sort the problem NOW

It is actually pretty easy DIY.

Purchase a new oil pick up and a new orange dipstick tube and a tube of Permatex Ultra Black gasket sealer.

Drop the oil pan and replace the pickup.

Once the car is in the air less than 2 hours depending on how much cleaning you want to do in the oil pan.

The hardest part are the 4 rear oil pan bolts that are up near the rear of the crank inside the bell housing. You can get to them with either a hex driver (7mm???) or a 10 mm socket as I recall?? I think I used a hex driver as it was easier to get at a slight angle.

JUST BE VERY CAREFUL, not to drop any of the 4 rear bolts in the bell housing. I had a problem with one bolt, but I have an automatic and I was able to use a magnet to get the bolt.

You might try a can of SeaFoam in the crankcase and run it for a bit, but the oil pickup has carbon build up on it.

DO NOT change your oil at this point, the new oil will be thicker and your oil light will come on far more often.

Check your thermostat, but your engine is running too cold!!!

Needs to run a 205F or slighty higher.

^What he said.

These cars NEED full synthetic oil, 502.00 spec. Stop using dino oil. I never use anything but 5w40 Liqui Moly or Motul. If you're a wal mart kind of person, Rotella t6 is nice for our cars.

Synthetic oil is more thermally stable. Our turbo cars run extremely hot, you need an oil that can tolerate it. I'm serious.

So what exactly is the cause of the oil light flashing randomly? Mine's been doing that too.

Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

 

[billymade]

I would also confirm the problem and diagnose:

1. check with a oil pressure gauge at the oil pressure switch port (remove the switch).

2. check the oil pressure switch and wiring are all in working order.

The results of the diagnosis of the above; next step would be changing pick up tube and cleaning parts as mentioned above.

I had a oil pressure light come on; actually was a wiring problem. So, diagnose the problem step by step; use a process of elimination. All the diagnosis steps and specs are in the bentley manual.

 

[jfoj]

Problem could be wiring or the sender, however, these engines are known to have problems with the oil pickups clogging up. Even if the problem was with wiring or the sender, it cannot hurt to pull the oil pan and replace the pickup. The dipstick tubes break and also clog the pickup as well.

This is really a PM issue on these engines as far as I am concerned. Also soft thermostat and cold running engine cause issue with the oil as well.

Pull the pan, if you do not do it, can lead to timing belt/engine failure.

 

[BradAusrotas]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I live in Canada, so I guess a switch to synthetic is necessary.

Perhaps not coincidentally, I've been having overheating problems lately that seem to coincide with this oil pressure business over the last two weeks. Shortly after startup, I'll be travelling not yet at full speed and the engine temperature light will begin flashing red.

Obviously I pull over and, just like the oil pressure light, it's gone again just like that. The light will go back to blue and then eventually off altogether, as it normally does, and I carry on. It's happened twice in rapid succession, though. I topped up the coolant, but that didn't seem to help any.

Does this change the diagnosis at all?

 

[jfoj]

Doubt your flashing coolant light is due to temperature, especially if you can pull over, shut the engine off and then the coolant light goes back to blue! You likely need to replace both the coolant sensor and the thermostat. Bad thermostats are also a major reason these cars have clogged oil pickups as well. You are located in Canada, so you have some pretty harsh cold conditions as compared to someone in Southern California.

Coolant light goes from blue to off at about 130F and usually withing the first 1 to 1.5 miles even in the dead of Winter.

Switching your oil to synthetic will not soft your oil light/pressure issue. You need to pull the oil pan and replace the oil pickup.

You will also find parts of the oil brittle orange dipstick tube in the pickup as well. Ask me how I know!!!

You can view the engine temperature with a scan tool that can read real time data.

http://newbeetle.org/forums/questio...le/60391-obd-scan-tools-software-options.html

If you fail to address the oil pickup issue quickly, you will likely need a replacement engine soon!

 

[Smileybug]

I'd change your coolant temp sensor. There should be no connection, but I have seen a number of times where people have both the temp light and oil pressure light be problems and a new coolant temp sensor solves it. Its cheap and easy to do, so I'd start there.

 

[BradAusrotas]

That makes sense. This is where I'll start.

 

[esse10]

budget

Unless you're really short strung on the budget I wouldn't take any chances and just do both cause it's gonna need that work done real soon anyhow, do the temperature sensor and the oil pan/pickup tube cleaning/replacement, change to synthetic especially if you live in CANADA, BURRRR just saying the word makes me feel cold...LOL Good luck to ya

 

[billymade]

My situation with the oil pressure light in the speedo; was directly related to the temperature sensor circuit. In my case; the wiring plug to the sensor, had one wire that had broken off from the Coolant Temp Sensor Connector. I was getting a failed temp sensor code; replacing the sensor didn't fix the problem, I tested the temp sensor (two of them to be able to compare) and they both worked correctly. I tested my oil pressure and the oil pressure switch; both were within spec. Then I found the wiring problem; I replaced the sensor, repaired the wiring to the connector and I have not had the oil pressure light come on since. Research that I did online; one vw tech said that the temp sensor problems can cause signal "noise" that can cause the oil pressure light to come on. When I went to the dealer for a repair wire (yellow); the parts dept. said the service dept. has run into issues with the wiring on the temp sensor frequently. The issue seemed to be with the connection of the contacts not being good (intermittent), faulty; they said they replace the sensor connector and all the contacts, by splicing in the yellow repair wires.
Keep in mind; that I was getting trouble codes for the sensor and the blue light for the temps blinked and then later would not go off. Have you scanned the car and what codes have you gotten; this can help point you in a possible direction for more diagnosing.

Parts:

Repair Wire Set (yellow): VW part #: 000-979-019-E $12.90 (each wire comes with (2) connectors; if you wanted to replace all the contacts you would need (2) wires for a complete set of (4) contacts.

Coolant Temp Sensor Connector (housing): VW part #: 4B0973712 $11.12

When I tested the oil pressure; the oil pressure tester didn't have the right adapter to connect to the oil pressure port, so I got this kit from autozone (special order).

sunpro metric adapter kit part #: cp7573 (it comes with a number of adapters; the one for the 1.8T is: M10 X 1.0 to 1/8" NPT,)

 

[jfoj]

Not sure where I would start with this, however, you have a lot of different issues at hand here.

1. How many miles are the car?
2. Has the timing belt, water pump or thermostat ever been replaced?

I would worry more about the oil light/pressure issue.

Although some folks may have had wiring issues, this seems to be the exception and not the rule. VW bought a bunch of engines due to the oil pickups clogging up and this is a fact. The oil pickups getting clogged is a BIG issue on these engines, if you have been running Dino oil and if your engine has been running cold (likely it has been) you need to get the pan off the car before I would get too excited about the temp light.

If the temp light starts flashing and the engine is not warm, usually this is an indicator of low coolant in the reservoir. If all you do is turn the engine off and restart it to clear the problem vs. waiting 30 plus minutes for a cool down, you are likely getting a false indicator.

If you do not have OBD scan tool of some sort, buy one NOW.

If you do not want to buy a scan tool, sell the car. Seriously, your car is 13 years old and if you have made it this far without a scan tool of some sort, you likely will need it 4-5 times a year starting now.

The scan tool will save you the money invested the first time you use it.

My money is your car needs a thermostat, timing belt & tensioner, water pump, coolant sensor, likely a coolant reservoir, oil pick up, dipstick tube and likely the small black & white check valves under the engine cover are gone or going as well.

The above is all PM even the oil pickup.

You do not want to think your oil pressure problem is a wiring issue and continue to drive the car. If you pull the pan and the pickup is not blocked, then at least you know the bottom end of the engine is clean. But I really doubt this is what you will find.

 

[AlexFraley]

I believe I found my problem. The oil sending unit/oil pressure switch on mine was leaking oil. I picked up a new one and I'll install it and let you know if the light goes away.

Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

 

[jfoj]

A mechanical oil pressure gauge is the real test, put one on temporarily to verify what the oil pressure is running.

Oil pressure switches are notoriously low thresholds, just because you replace the switch if your oil pressure light goes out then does not mean you have solved your problem.

If your oil pressure light comes on only off idle when the RPM's to to increase then goes off after you let the engine come back to idle, then you have a clogged oil pick up.

You never replied to the question on the engine mileage either.

Unfortunately TOO many people here drink the Koolaid that says if you have temp codes you replace the temp sender when in all likelihood you need to replace the thermostat. If the thermostat is over 3 years old, it is questionable, trust me. The only way to confirm the thermostat is to check the engine operation temp with a scan tool that read real time data at ambient temps below 70F or while driving on the highway. Engine temp should be at a minimum 205F.

Again how many miles are on your car?
Has the timing belt, tensioner and water pump ever been changed?
How many dipstick tubes have been replaced?
Does your oil pressure light come on at idle or when accelerating off idle?

 

[AlexFraley]

A mechanical oil pressure gauge is the real test, put one on temporarily to verify what the oil pressure is running.

Oil pressure switches are notoriously low thresholds, just because you replace the switch if your oil pressure light goes out then does not mean you have solved your problem.

If your oil pressure light comes on only off idle when the RPM's to to increase then goes off after you let the engine come back to idle, then you have a clogged oil pick up.

You never replied to the question on the engine mileage either.

Unfortunately TOO many people here drink the Koolaid that says if you have temp codes you replace the temp sender when in all likelihood you need to replace the thermostat. If the thermostat is over 3 years old, it is questionable, trust me. The only way to confirm the thermostat is to check the engine operation temp with a scan tool that read real time data at ambient temps below 70F or while driving on the highway. Engine temp should be at a minimum 205F.

Again how many miles are on your car?
Has the timing belt, tensioner and water pump ever been changed?
How many dipstick tubes have been replaced?
Does your oil pressure light come on at idle or when accelerating off idle?

150000 miles on the car. Timing belt, thermo, and all that in the last 2000 miles. Including the oil pickup.

Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

 

[jfoj]

Those details would have been helpful to know before time and energy was wasted on trying to help and give guidance.

So you likely have a problem with your oil pressure switch or wiring, assuming you oil pickup was replaced!

One sentence reply knowing the current info!