Low Oil Pressure Light

Hi everyone, I'm on vacation down in the Shenandoah forest here in Virginia, on the way up to the skyline drive, the car was going uphill for at least 1 mile, then I had to wait in line while on an incline. Soon after getting through the ranger station/ toll booth, the Low Oil Pressure light came on and a 3 alarm notification also sounded, then immediately went off and stayed off. I pulled right over and checked out ***. Anyway, there is the correct amount of oil in the car, so I eliminated low or no oil as a cause. In the manual it tells me to stop and have it serviced. I am in the middle of nowhere, so I restarted the car, and everything seems fine. So I left, and the car ran great for the rest of the day.

If the oil pressure was indeed low, wouldn't the big red light stay on and blinking just like other lights such as the check engine and tire pressure lights?

Also I read that the light came on above 1500 rpms for other people, why for me, it came one while almost idling.

I have 185K on the clock, and I'm wondering if I should drive it home and change something, or take it in to a shop somewhere around deliverance land and hope Darrel can fix it with his other brother Darrel.

Anyone had this happen to them?

It comes on at 1500 RPM or above.
At idle the oil pressure light is delayed by 30-40 seconds. (although my current CR-TDI doesn't have any warning at idle at all, I've disconnected the sensor and idled for good 5 minutes and mothing!)

As soon as it catches the pressure, the oil light turns off.

It is just a simple switch with minimal logic.

Have your oil pressure checked ASAP.

Is this something they can check at the Autozone with their plug in computer?, or do I need to visit a real VW shop somewhere. Like I said, I'm on vacation, and I'm gonna give it another shake down run in about an hour to go for dinner. I just think that if the light came on in the first place, and it is obviously an important thing, that it would stay on or blink continuously. Other lights come on and stay or even blink on for other less important things.

Any workshop is okay as long as they know what they are doing and have the tools (adapter and a gauge).
This is purely mechanical thing, no computers needed

No computer can read oil pressure on these engines as it's a simple sensor as said above.
I would avoid driving it until you've had it checked.
Simple fix may be to replace the pickup pipe in the sump and clean. This was a common issue on the TFSI VW and 1.8T.

Someone here (just in another section) reported oil pickup strain clogged at 80k miles on 1.6 TDI...

Sorry that I did not see your post last evening, you might have slept better.

From your description, car age, venue, & description, my guess is:

Erratic low oil pressure light activations, when the oil level & oil pressure is fine, is one of the most common early indicators of "harness chafe", chaffing of the insulation of the ECU to engine harness, conductors. See http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=239987 It is a common, and well known problem in the BRM.

However, do not eliminate the possibility that is valid oil pressure alarm.

I doubt that a generic code reader can read what needs to be read for you to know. VCDS will instantly confirm. You might be able to confirm by a giggle test; but that just might make things worse internally, something you do not want to do when on the road. If you are continuing to drive, as you do so, pay attention to when the alarm goes off. Does it activate at bumps &/or shift points? That is a diagnosis confirmation indicator.

If you need assistance & given you are in the Shenandoah area, Mountain Valley Motors, up in the Harrisonburg area, is not too far from you. http://www.mountain-valleymotors.com They know TDI's & the BRM.

If it is harness chafe, it is hard to project the time before the car becomes underivable. Some give way early warning & continue to run for a long time, others manifest other chafe symptoms quickly.

Good luck with it.

On edit, Harness chafe repair is a relatively easy & not too expensive repair. Much less involved than dealing with engine internals.

Bob S. said:

Sorry that I did not see your post last evening, you might have slept better.

From your description, car age, venue, & description, my guess is:

Erratic low oil pressure light activations, when the oil level & oil pressure is fine, is one of the most common early indicators of "harness chafe", chaffing of the insulation of the ECU to engine harness, conductors. See http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=239987 It is a common, and well known problem in the BRM.

However, do not eliminate the possibility that is valid oil pressure alarm.

I doubt that a generic code reader can read what needs to be read for you to know. VCDS will instantly confirm. You might be able to confirm by a giggle test; but that just might make things worse internally, something you do not want to do when on the road. If you are continuing to drive, as you do so, pay attention to when the alarm goes off. Does it activate at bumps &/or shift points? That is a diagnosis confirmation indicator.

If you need assistance & given you are in the Shenandoah area, Mountain Valley Motors, up in the Harrisonburg area, is not too far from you. http://www.mountain-valleymotors.com They know TDI's & the BRM.

If it is harness chafe, it is hard to project the time before the car becomes underivable. Some give way early warning & continue to run for a long time, others manifest other chafe symptoms quickly.

Good luck with it.

On edit, Harness chafe repair is a relatively easy & not too expensive repair. Much less involved than dealing with engine internals.

Click to expand...

^ This.

What I would do is start with the low hanging fruit first.

Pick up a new sending unit and install it. Pretty inexpensive and easy.

If the car does it again I would then put a mechanical gauge on it and verify the pressure is ok at least at that moment.

If it is I would then check the harness out real closely under the battery where it goes in front of the transaxle yet behind the radiator. Once your air box / battery tray is out you can see the loom i'm talking about.

You have to actually remove the jacket and inspect VERY CLOSELY the wires. Feel them, look at them one at a time.

Mine had several that were rubbed almost all the way through and one that was totally broken. My symptoms in this case were persistent ASV codes. Initially the code would clear for an hour, a day but would come back then eventually just stayed all the time.

Guys, his car is not BRM. And VCDS (or anything else) is useless here.
The OP needs to have oil pressure tested first.

I had a Volvo that would show disappearing oil pressure (all the way to 0) as it warmed up. It was caused by a faulty pressure sensor.

Henrick said:

Guys, his car is not BRM. And VCDS (or anything else) is useless here.
The OP needs to have oil pressure tested first.

Click to expand...

Naw, all my suggestions still apply sans the harness issue.

Thanks to everyone who posted up.

I just got out of the woods after almost a week of hiking around in the forest totally off the grid. Kind of makes you appreciate all of the technology that we commonly use in the world today, like chemicals you can put on your body that keeps the bugs from annoying you to the point of insanity.

After walking around for a week, I got back to the krautwagen and went for it, just drove it home with no issues at all. 4 hours of highway 80 mph+ driving getting around 52 mpg all the way and getting hole shots while entering the highway. I really think this car enjoys being driven a little rough. I have noticed that when I baby it too much, something breaks. It is kind of like a dysfunctional martal relationship, the more I beat it the more it tries to please me.

So now that I am home, I parked it and made an appointment with the local guru down the street to have these things checked out. Of course he is booked up like a discount prostitute near the naval ship yard during a 4th of July weekend extravaganza so I won't get any answers until next Friday. Anyway, I will post the resolution to this matter when it is diagnosed. Thanks again, and now at least I have a starting point.

Henrick said:

Guys, his car is not BRM. And VCDS (or anything else) is useless here.
The OP needs to have oil pressure tested first.

Click to expand...

What? I suppose you are going to tell me I can't do an adaption with VCDS on my wheel bearing either.

What does not being a BRM have to do with anything?

Most likely the sender has drifted out of range. Checking the oil pressure with a gauge is a VG idea just for piece of mind.

Get the oil pressure checked HOT with a mechanical gauge.

100% will confirm if you have an actual oil pressure issue or not.

As above, any competent shop with a proper gauge and adapters will be able to do this for you for a minimal charge. The port to test is easily accessible on the filter housing on the front of the engine.

Well its been about a month, so to update anyone who is still reading this dribble, I took the krautwagen down to the local guru who took a look at it and discovered that oil was getting through the sending unit and lubricating the electrical connection thus causing a loss of continuity. So the sensor is basically leaking tiny amounts of oil in a very bad spot.

Of course for me just replacing the sending unit is too easy. I need to have absolute assurance of engine operational parameters being adhered to. The oil pressure sending unit is right on the oil filter housing, but it is obfuscated by a few large hoses that run in front of it. Although it isn't that bad, I purchased a VW/ Audi oil pressure relocation kit from 42 draft designs. Here is the link http://www.42draftdesigns.com/vw-audi-oil-pressure-relocation-kit/.

The unit is nice, it comes with an M10x1 thread adaptor that adapts to a 1/8NPT female thread so that a hose can be attached which is attached to a machined manifold with labeled 1/8NPT and M10x1 threads. These two threads are so close to one another that you can jam one into the other if your not careful or not paying attention. Anyway, this unit allowed be to hook up a glow shift oil pressure gauge.https://www.glowshiftdirect.com/oil-pressure-gauges/

Anyway, they have an optional extended wire harness that is long enough to reach where you need it.

So now I have a sending unit back to the cars computer, and one for me to actually look at the oil pressure being generated.

I can tell you to start with the car produces around 60 - 70 psi of pressure while warming up, then when you start driving, the pressure is rpm dependent as you might expect with the chain system. Eventually the pressure while idling comes in at around 20 psi, and 65-75 psi during heavy acceleration. During cruising on the highway at a constant 80mph, it will generate around 35-45 psi. I don't know if these are the correct numbers that are supposed to happen, but I'm just letting you know what my 200,000 mile on the clock car is generating as of today.

Since changing the sensors, I haven't had any surprising low oil pressure lights, and I picked up a new gauge to look at. Now all I have to do is research how to remove the center consul so I can attach the oil pressure sensor in the area where the power port is located. I looked at some of the gauge cluster add ons, and I pretty much hate them all. I'm not looking to have my oil pressure sensor right up on top of the dash so that I am almost forced to look at it all the time, or perhaps get a 3 pack of oil pressure / temperature, turbo boost, and coolant temp right up on the dash as well. I prefer the car to look as stock as possible, so the gauge will go down by where the power outlet is. I feel this may be a giant pain, but that is where it needs to go for me.