Vanagon EuroVan
Previous messageNext messagePrevious in topicNext in topicPrevious by same authorNext by same authorPrevious page (June 2011, week 1)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Fri, 3 Jun 2011 18:23:37 -0700
Reply-To:     Karl Wolz <wolzphoto@Q.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Karl Wolz <wolzphoto@Q.COM>
Subject:      Re: Spooked!
Comments: To: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <4DE97C32.9060609@charter.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

If the OP came on aat speed (as opposed to having just gotten off the freeway), most likely a false alarm caused by either a sender glitch or a shorted sender wire - most likely the latter.

If your oil is a ighter, thinner grade, you'd notice the light flickering when the engine has been stressed by high load driving and then dropping to idle, as in getting off the freeway.

Karl Wolz

|-----Original Message----- |From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] |On Behalf Of John Rodgers |Sent: Friday, June 03, 2011 5:29 PM |To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM |Subject: Spooked! | | While driving my manual tranny 88GL home this afternoon the |oil pressure alarm sounded and the oil pressure light came on. |I killed the ignition immediately, noted all the gages seemed |normal, and being very close to my house just coasted on down |the street, around the corner, and halfway up my up-slope |driveway and stopped. All the while I'm thinking "Omigosh! |What now?" ( I have an important art show to participate in on |Sat. and have to set up by 6 am -- this is not good!) | |After getting stopped, I sat for a moment, the turned the ignition on. |All the lights did their normal thing. I hit the switch, the |engine started right up, oil pressure light went out. I noted |no strange sounds, and the oil pressure alarm did not sound. I |drove the remaining 100 feet up the hill to the house - all |was normal. | |Today was extraordinarily hot - 100 plus degrees, driving was |slow coming off the highway home, and even though the temp |gauge needle was in the middle, nothing seemed wrong. I did |note that at very slow speeds the fan kept coming on |frequently. I was poking along about 30 mph when the alarm |sounded and the oil pressure light came on. | |I opened the hatch, and noted the engine seemed really hot. |The heat just came boiling out. I looked for oil leaking, |coolant leaking, etc, but found nothing. Oil dip stick |measures halfway between the marks, and the coolant level is |up. I checked the rear oil pressure switch, and the wiring |connector, but it was tight. | |I let the van sit a while with the hatch open to cool the |engine, then started it up. After Idling a minute, I revved |the engine up to 3000. I ran perfect. No lights, no alarms. I |have tried several times now, but cannot reproduce the event. |Of course the circumstances have changed as the atmosphere is |cooling down. | |Anybody have any ideas? Can the engine oil get so hot under |normal driving conditions as to cause low oil pressure. Surely |that is not a good thing. But how can I avoid that in the |common daily summer weather here in the South. I'm afraid this |event might repeat itself at a tremendously inopportune time - |as such events usually do. | |Thanks, | |John | | |-- |John Rodgers |Clayartist and Moldmaker |88'GL VW Bus Driver |Chelsea, AL |Http://www.moldhaus.com | |----- |No virus found in this message. |Checked by AVG - www.avg.com |Version: 10.0.1382 / Virus Database: 1511/3678 - Release Date: |06/03/11


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.