Date:         Tue, 1 Oct 2002 10:00:00 -0500
Reply-To:     John Rodgers <j_rodgers@CHARTER.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Rodgers <j_rodgers@CHARTER.NET>
Subject:      Re: Oil pressure mystery, resolved???
Comments: To: Ben McCafferty <ben@KBMC.NET>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

You  may well have an incorrect oil pressure sensor installed. I can't
remember the details of this issue but there has been a good bit of
discussion on the list at times about this. Often people get the wrong
pressure sensor - one is rated higher than the other - and when this
happens there are light/busser issues.

A search of the archives shoud tell you more.

Hope this helps.

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver

Ben McCafferty wrote:
>
> Well, as you know I've been trying to chase down the oil light/buzzer issue
> for a while.  Mine occurs when exiting the highway, coasting in gear down to
> lower rpms; or when climbing hills at low rpms (i.e. approaching 2000 from
> above).
>
> I installed the VDO 80psi gauge from egauges.com, and got the dual terminal
> sending unit.  I used Bill Davidson's great article from vanagon.com, with a
> couple of minor modifications--wanted to be able to remove the engine tin
> without removing the sender, so I notched the tin instead of just making a
> hole, and used a 5" hose instead of 3.5".  It works great, and no leaks.
>
> Now then, just took a trip through western CO, and had lots of opportunities
> to pull mountain passes and load up the engine.  I am running Mobil 1 15W50
> synthetic (2.1L WBX).  I did get the light/buzzer to come on several times
> while climbing passes.  Every time it happened, the gauge read 20 PSI on the
> nose.  No fluctuation.  So I'm confused.  If there was a sudden drop in
> pressure (to activate the idiot light), wouldn't there be a corresponding
> drop in pressure on the gauge???  Is 20 PSI a threshold for the idiot light,
> i.e. the engine should never drop below that?  If that's the case, why can I
> idle at 8PSI with no idiot light?
>
> Anyway, I was glad to see that I did in fact have pressure, but I would be
> glad to hear theories about what's really going on.
>
> tx,
> bmc  :)
> "Faith will move mountains, but you'd better bring a shovel...."