Date:         Fri, 21 Mar 1997 23:35:41 -0500
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Leavitt <mleavitt@tiac.net>
Subject:      Re: oil light help???

Brian Ratliff wrote:
> 
> HELP again.....
> 
> My oil light is not working on 86 vanagon....I have check the sending
> unit...ok....took apart the dash and changed the bulb attached to that
> strange circuit board with known working bulb???  STILL no oil light???
> 
> what do i check next????
>                                         Thanks Brian
> 
>                                         86 gl  and 82 diesel

 I believe that on an '86 the oil pressure light on the dash is actually
an LED(light emitting diode) and they last virtually forever. So it's
probably something else amiss in the circuit. The system is pretty
simple, when oil pressure drops too low an electrical connection is made
in the sending unit which lights the LED on the dash. How did you check
the sender? A multi-meter is ideal, but you can use a regular 12v bulb
with two leads coming off of it. With the engine off but with the
ignition in the 'ON' position, the bulb should light up when you touch
one lead to a positive voltage and the other to the brass contact on the
end of the sender. With the engine running (plenty of oil pressure) the
bulb shouldn't light when you repeat the test. If the sender appears to
test out okay and the lead that goes on the end of it is making a good
connection then you might have a break in the wiring leading to the LED.
You can test for this simply by touching that lead to any ground such as
the engine block (also with the ignition 'on' and the engine not
running). You will have to stick something metallic into the end of the
lead to ground it because of it's plastic cover. If the LED on the dash
lights up then the wiring is okay. If it doesn't then I would make sure
that the plusg to the dash are well connected. There isn't much more to
check in the circuit. HTH

Noel
                               VOLKSWAGEN
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       '81 Vanagon Westy  | | \  \ \/ /  / | | '68 Sunbug Autostick
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