Date: Wed, 4 Oct 2006 07:30:39 EDT
Reply-To: RAlanen@AOL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Frank Condelli <RAlanen@AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: Oil Light flashing
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
In a message dated 03/10/2006 11:03:12 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
LISTSERV@GERRY.VANAGON.COM writes:
Hi Volks,
Dad called from tonight from near Salamanca NY, he's headed down rt
219 on the way to John Brown's Buses for the weekend.
Apparently his 85 Auto westy has started to exhibit a new
behaviour... the oil light is now flickering during 45MPH-ish down
hills.
Details: The oil level is good (perhaps an eight-inch high, actually,
and the oil clean enough to be almost invisible.,The oil light does
not come on at idle, and he is running 20W50 with the engine temp
right in the middle of the scale. Just a heart-stopping flicker on
trailing throttle at near-highway speed.
Our best guess at the moment is a wonky sensor. What sayeth the list???
If helpful emails could be cc'd to gord@pottsfamily.ca it would be
appreciated, as the motel they're in tonight does have internet access.
This is critical to diagnose immediately. It is possible that the high
pressure sensor is bad. It is however possible that the oil pressure is low for
the high pressure sender which is indicating worn rod bearings and if that's
the case the next thing that happens is the number three rod will come out of
the case right on top with a loud bang. The only true way to know what's
going on is to connect up a real oil pressure gauge to the port between the
push rod tubes and get a true oil pressure reading of the oil when hot at
running temperatures. PITA I know but unless you want to see that number three rod
in your engine compartment it's the only right way. This is why it is
highly recommended to have a "REAL" oil pressure gauge mounted on the dash board,
instead of a bobble head, to keep an eye on the "REAL" oil pressure of these
old high mileage waterboxer engines
Cheers,
Frank Condelli
Almonte, Ontario, Canada
'87 Westy, '90 Carat, '87 Wolfsburg (Forsale) & Lionel Trains
Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service in the Ottawa Valley
_Frank Condelli & Associates_ (http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/busindex.html)
_Vanagon Stainless Steel Exhaust Systems_
(http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/stebro.htm)
_BusFusion_ (http://members.aol.com/BusFusion/bfhome.htm) a VW Camper
camping event, Almonte, ON, June 07 ~ 10, 2007
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