Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2014 20:32:43 +0000
Reply-To: "greentabe-vanagon@yahoo.com" <greentabe-vanagon@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "greentabe-vanagon@yahoo.com" <greentabe-vanagon@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Oil Pressure Light Flickering
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
To echo Dennis' words:
I have personally experienced this situation with the oil level: After an oil change, the pressure was lower on the highway than I'd ever seen it. I drained half a litre, bringing the level to HALFWAY between the two marks on the dipstick, and instantly gained ~5 PSI while under load. I could only see the pressure difference when the oil was hot hot hot.
That said, the random flickering sounds like there might be a problem with the sensor or the wiring.
Good luck!
tabe_johnson/90MV
Date: Wed, 19 Feb 2014 23:56:00 -0500
From: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Oil Pressure Light Flickering
You need to determine if you have an oil pressure problem or a switch-wiring
problem. It is fairly common for the wire to get chafed from the engine tin
or to even come in contact with the exhaust. At this point I would replace
the switch and confirm the wiring has not shorts. Be sure to get the correct
switch.
Extended highway speeds will cause the oil to heat up and thin out causing
lower oil pressure. A healthy engine should be holding close to 8-10 psi per
1,000 rpm. The oil pressure switch activates around 3. An over filled
crankcase will make things even worse. Correct the oil level, check the
switch and wiring and try again. Also since you started having trouble in
traffic make sure the cooling system including the radiator fan and
thermostat fan. An incorrect t-stat can often cause this behavior.
Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Steven Shelton
Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2014 5:55 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Oil Pressure Light Flickering
We left today in our 1985 1.9L Westfalia for a one week camping trip when
about a hour from home in Interstate traffic the oil pressure lamp started
flickering. I pulled over and checked the oil. If anything it was over the
full mark. The engine sounded fine so i took back roads to get home.
The light stayed off at slow speeds or stop and go traffic, but at
sustained speeds above 45 or 50 it would flicker, sometimes quickly and
other times slowly on and off.
The Castrol 20W50 oil only has about 1,500 miles on it, but it's been 6
months since it was changed. I'm changing it now.
My question is, can there be a problem with low oil pressure if the light
stays off at low RPM? From what I've read, it seem like when oil pressure
is low the light is more likely to come on when the engine is idling, not
when it's running at 50-60 MPH. The engine is VW rebuilt 8 years ago with
54,000 miles on it.
Besides the oil change, the only other thing I can think of is to check the
wiring at the sending unit when the engine cools down. Is there anything
else I can do before we try to leave again?
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End of vanagon Digest - 19 Feb 2014 (#2014-102)
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