Oil light blinking intermittently....

I have a 2002 Jetta TDI, not sure if that is an A3 or not, I've read some of the stuff on here. Regardless, my oil light and beeper sound intermittently lately. The beeper sounds 4 times and the oil light blinkes for about 30 secs and goes off. This is not predictable. I have just over 100k kms on it now, owned it since new. I have had the oil pan replaced due to a mountain road incident.....ouch! and I've just changed the oil pressure sensor, but the problem still exists. I've had it in for it's 96k service and they didn't find anything. The oil level remains good although there is a small leak around the crank seal. I'll replace that when I do the timing belt at 128K.
Any ideas?
Thanks

what kind of oil are you using? Is the oil level low when you check it? How are you checking the level?

I just had my 96K km service at the dealership, so I assume they put in synthetic as required by VW. I'm checking the oil as you would any vehicle, with the dipstick. The issue first started when I would slow down from highway cruising, now it occurs whenever the engine has warmed up.

Welcome to the TDI-Club !!!

First of all, you've got an A4 with an ALH engine... for future reference...

It's possible that there's some damage as a result of that Mountain Road incident... You may need to have someone with an oil pressure guage check the true oil pressure under various conditions.

When DD asked how you're checking the oil level, he was asking about whether you check it first thing in the morning, or after just shutting down the engine and waiting... how long would you be waiting ??

Chances are the dealership used an approved oil... but... please tell us what part number is on your receipt, if you would be so kind... (ZVW352540S is fine, as is G052167A2)

All the best,

Yuri.

Does the light come on after its warmed up or cold? The reason i ask is
oil pressure drops a bit when oil heats up. You may want to put a direct
reading oil pressure gauge on it to see what the pressure really is. Your oil
pump may be weak. I say this cause you mentioned that your oil pan was
damaged and i assume the engine was starved of oil til engine shut off.
Or it could be as simple as the wrong type oil-or clogged filter.

First off, thanks for everyones help so far. I've looked at my receipt and the Part number for oil is the ZVW352540SDDSP. 5 litres. It appears that there is a leak from the Crankshaft seal.
Would that cause the oil light to come on intermittently? It only comes on after the engine is warm, and I generally check my oil both, warm and cold.
I'm also looking for a reliable mechanic in my area ...Calgary, AB Canada.

Low oil pressure is a natural occurence when the oil is warm. It it's happening at idle, when the pressure is the lowest, I would suspect that whatever damaged the pan also interfered with the pump. It's not a big deal if intermmitent, but it would be worth checking the oil pressure on the hot motor at idle to see if it is too low.

The oil pickup tube on the oil pump might have been damaged when the oil pan got damaged. It's possible that your engine isn't getting proper lubrication. You should have the actual pressure checked soon!

The accident with oil pan happened last August...this oil light blinking is a recen phenomenon. I would be more suspect of the Crank seal if that is plausible...thoughts?

The only way I can figure the crank seal would affect the oil pressure light would be if it caused low oil level.

I suppose it could be that the damaged pan also resulted in marginal damage to the oil pump itself, such that it ran fine for a while, but slowly went bad on you, perhaps chewing itself up as a result of a little misalignment issue.

I'd get the actual hot-engine oil pressure checked asap. If you've replaced the sensor, and that hasn't eliminated the blinking, you need to assume that for some reason as yet unexplained, your oil pressure isn't what it should be, and that will ruin the rest of the engine if not corrected quickly.

Pay attention to the warning, there have been some problems with oil pumps in both the gas and tdi's. Get the oil pressure checked, do not drive it if the warning light is on....

Well if the dealer did the oil pan change they might have over gooped the silicone that got into the pump too.

I'm not quite convinced yet of anything. I still don't think the accident of oil pan replacement is the culprit. The time between that incident and this is too long, 8 months and over 20K kms, and I think they would have noticed internal damage when replacing the pan. I failed to mention that my engine has started to sound different lately, it's been more...mm throaty for lack of a different word....louder with a punchier sound. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it at all. It does have over 100k Kms on it.
Why does this indicator only come on sometimes, and only after the engine is warm?

Found the answer

Sooo...it turns out that the oil intake on the oil pump was also damaged in my mountain escapade. Of course the dealership in Cranbrook BC where I got the new oil pan missed this and whenever I complained about the "throaty" sound my engine was maked the dealership where I lived waved it off. The louder sound of my engine was because the main bearing was being damaged by the oil starving from bits of metal in the oil pump intake. I had to get new bearings, the crankshaft machined and the seals replaced. Thankfully, I found a mechanic that knew what was wrong immediately after just listening to the engine while driving it. I'll never take my Jetta back to a dealership for service again!!

Why does this indicator only come on sometimes, and only after the engine is warm?

Click to expand...

Because when the engine is cold, the oil is thick and the partially damaged pump can push it along. When the engine is warm (hot), the oil thins and the pump cannot push it as well. Hence not sufficient pressure at idle or there abouts. Engineers compensate for this by designing the intake to the pump to get enough oil in at low pressure and put a regulator in to keep too much pressure from happening when cold or at higher speeds.

I had a similar issue with a different car when the pressure regulator broke. The motor sounds funny when the mains aren't getting any oil.

glad you got it fixed.