Dash Warning: Oil Sensor! / Service Vehicle ???

[jadney]

2015 TDI Golf Sportwagon
2.0 L turbo diesel, DSG tranny
~37,000 miles
Certified Pre-Owned from VW after DieselGate mods
We're on a trip and this morning, after a few thousand miles of trouble-free driving, I got this warning when I first started the engine:
Oil Sensor!
Service Vehicle
Above those words there's an image of an oil can with a squiggley line under it. This message appears for about 2 seconds after starting the car. This message is all white and is in the center rectangular section of the dash instruments. It turns out that I don't actually have to start the car to get this brief message; it comes on if I turn the car "on" and wait a couple seconds.
After this message disappears, there's a yellow triangle with an exclamation point inside it. That stays there as long as the dash is energized.
I do NOT get the yellow or red oil warning light.
I have checked the oil. It's full.
I've driven a few hundred more miles to where we're stopped for the night. The oil is still full, and the engine seems to be running perfectly fine.
I have removed the plastic engine cover to see if there's anything obvious that's wrong. I've looked for damage that might have been caused by rodents chewing on wiring. I don't see anything, but I don't know where the oil "sensor" is.
Where is the oil "sensor"?
Is there something more than the usual oil pressure switch?
I have tools and I'm a competent mechanic, just not familiar with this modern car/engine. So how much trouble is it to get to this switch/sensor to replace it?
My guess at this point is that this is just the usual oil pressure switch, which has gone open, so it's not shorted as it should be before the engine starts. Or there's a wiring problem. I'll be able to know better once someone gives me a hint on where to look.
thanks in advance for your input,

 

[ProfBrown]

Did you get the CPO warranty?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Lightflyer1]

Where was the oil level and when was it changed last? Are you using any fuel with bio in it? These things from my reading seem sensitive to over filling as well as under filling. I would say the level needs to be on the low side of normal. Use of bio in the fuel can also cause the level to rise. What distance is the oil change frequency set to?

 

[Nuje]

I have checked the oil. It's full.

Yeah - this was going to be my question as well. Is it full? Or is it full-full?

If it's anywhere close to (or certainly, if the oil level is measuring above) the MAX marking on the dipstick, I'd suck some out of there and see what that gets you.

Sensor might be mucked up regardless, but if it it's overfilled, at least you'd have a probably / potential culprit on why the sensor threw the code.

 

[jadney]

Yes, it's still under the CPO warrantee, but that means taking it to a dealership that doesn't know me and there's that pesky $50 deductable.

Yes, it's full.

No, it's not overfull

No, no biodiesel recently.

I take it that none of you are able to answer any of my questions.

 

[Nuje]

VCDS and find out what exactly the error code is that's causing the light.

 

[RIP TDI]

Where is the oil "sensor"?
Is there something more than the usual oil pressure switch?

The oil level sensor is in the pan and the wiring harness is vulnerable to rodent damage. Mine had a chewed harness that caused an oil warning but I can't report the exact message because it was repaired before I bought it (new). The sensor and harness are easily accessible after removing the splash pan.

 

[jadney]

The oil level sensor is in the pan and the wiring harness is vulnerable to rodent damage. Mine had a chewed harness that caused an oil warning but I can't report the exact message because it was repaired before I bought it (new). The sensor and harness are easily accessible after removing the splash pan.

Okay, thanks, that's enough to tell me that I could do this at a friend's shop if I was home, but I'll be taking it to a dealer this morning, since I'm on the road now. I'll report back when this is fixed, to tell everyone the rest of the story.

 

[TDI73]

Found a similar (same) issue reported - disconnected wire at oil sensor :
https://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?8314593-Oil-sensor-warning-light

 

[jadney]

The jury is in, and the verdict is....


Rodent Damage!

The oil level sensor wires had been chewed. I didn't get to see the actual damage. They showed me a photo that showed sections of the corrugated black cover chewed away. I could not see what had happened to the wires underneath. If I can get them to email me that photo, I'll try to post it here later.

The tech at University VW, Albuquerque, NM replaced the wires and we were on our way in a couple of hours. I'm grateful to them for their quick service, but $286 seems like a lot for what they did. I don't know what their hourly rate is, but here's what I paid:

labor $208.88
2 x 000 979 019 E wiresets $20.27 $40.54
3 x 000 979 940 connector $6.26 $18.78
With tax, that comes to $289.32

Description of work:
Verified customer concern, found rodent damage on oil level sensor, Removed and repinned connector to sensor, rewrapped harness and reinstalled, verified operation of level sensor and is working correctly at this time.

So that's the rest of the story. Seems like a lot for what was done, but we are grateful for their quick service. Going to parts.vw.com, I found that the first part in the list above is a wire with pins crimped on each end, and there's no photo of the second part, but the service description mentions "3 butt connectors."

A bit of searching on the internet finds that these are very nice waterproof butt connectors for .5 mm wire that are heat shrunk in place after crimping. You can buy them on ebay for $2.69 each or 10 for $12. They look nice and I'll probably buy some to keep on hand. There appear to be other versions for larger wire.

My guess is that the VW tech cut each of the replacement wires in half and used 3 of the halves to replace the 3 oil level sensor ends of the OE harness, then used the 3 butt connectors to connect those replacement wire ends to the ends of the undamaged remains of the OE harness. I'm just guessing that there were 3 wires in that harness, but I think that's a good guess.

Thanks to everyone for your replies to my question.

 

[Nuje]

Those VW repair wires are nuts (price-wise) these days; I was quoted $30ea for a retrofit I'm working on (and I need 10 of them ). Got them from cascadegerman.com for $7ea shipped.
And those butt-connectors...yeah - $5ea seems to be the OEM price (comparable ones from 3M go for about $1).

But - when you're at their mercy, you pay what they ask. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In any event, glad to hear you got it figured out and solved.

 

[jadney]

And those butt-connectors...yeah - $5ea seems to be the OEM price (comparable ones from 3M go for about $1).

I found all 3 sizes of these very nice butt splices at:

http://www.4130-products.com

I checked out your source, but didn't see the wires or the butt splices. Thanks for the link.

 

[Nuje]

Oh yeah - serious OG TDIclub-er, penclnck! I forgot that he was selling those - definitely the place to buy from!

(Disregard the "Newbie" designation under his name; he's been here since there era of this being "Fred's TDI page"; he was dormant for a while and got reset, apparently.

 

[shortydog]

Those rodents get expensive. I had the same exact problem and same outcome.

 

[Sply_freedon]

I just recently had this same problem. One of the squirrels living in my yard this year seems especially out of control. My question is, is there a way to protect this wiring from further destruction? I hate to repair, or have this repaired, only to have it happen again. Also, it appears the squirrel damaged the insulation directly below the wiring, so that needs to be protected too. I am thinking of wrapping rewired and rewrapped wires with "hardware cloth" and maybe affixing some of that over the insulation with small wood screws or stainless steel nuts and bolts. Also, could I buy ten connectors - 000 979 940, and one set of wires - 000 979 019, and use those to "jump" the chewed ends? For that matter, could I just use some of the same gauge wire from the hardware store instead of buying from VW (this does sound risky but I am curious)? https://flic.kr/p/2jERS15

 

[Nuje]

Just FYI, your Flickr photo link gave me a "WARNING - ADULT CONTENT" warning (and wouldn't allow me to view it without sign-in).

 

[Mike in Anchorage]

Rodents in their naked state can be pretty ugly, IMHO. Wouldn't want to traumatize and kids.

 

[Sply_freedon]

Just FYI, your Flickr photo link gave me a "WARNING - ADULT CONTENT" warning (and wouldn't allow me to view it without sign-in).

Set to "Safe" viewing. Not sure about signing in. Thanks.