My oil pressure light comes on intermittently. Anyone know why?
Either your engine has low oil pressure (pricey to fix if not low oil level) or the electrical oil pressure sensor(s) are not working correctly.
Check your oil level otherwise take it to a mechanic and they should put a manual oil pressure guage on the system and see if its an electrical problem or mechanical issue.
Ignoring this can lead to very expensive engine work if mechanical related.
I agree. This engine may have more than one oil pressure sensor. Have a mechanic check the ACTUAL oil pressure ASAP.
I’m assuming the oil level in the engine is correct, but the original post does not specify.
I might add that I believe that car requires an oil meeting the VW 504. standards. Check your owner's manual. Neglecting that can be costly.Mr. Meehan is correct. While I hope that you merely have a bad oil pressure sensor, it is also possible that your oil pressure is low as a result of long-term use of motor oil that does not meet the VW specification.
This is an area where cutting corners is inevitably more expensive in the long run. Are you sure that the proper motor oil has been used consistently and that it has been changed according to the manufacturer’s time and mileage intervals?
Especially being a turboed car- it’s extra important to use the proper oil viscosity and change it regularly.
If you look at VWVortex web site you will find that the VW1.8T needs a synthetic oil VW spec 502.0 . Using a non synth oil leads to problems with carbonized oil chunks blocking the oil pump pickup screen . Drop the pan and clean things up and use the correct oil ! Mobil 1 0-40 meets the spec and is widely available .
JArnold here. As far as I know, the dealership has NOT used synthetic oil when I have had the oil changed. I am the second owner of the car and all the records indicate regular oil was used from the very start. Since my posting, I have had the oil pan dropped and the screen cleaned, had the cylinder head & gasket replaced and water pump replaced. The oil pressure light still came on (after paying $2500). Any suggestions. Should I assume that the problem is electrical and that it was checked?
If you have the Owners Manual that came with the car look up the oil spec . If they haven’t been using the right oil its their fault .
Given all your repairs assume nothing. They do not check oil pressure related to your prior maintenance and repairs.
Regular oil in your engine is not terrible or end of the world. Its the Passat/Audi A4 same engine(1.8T) but rotated 90 degrees has a smaller oil sump that turns out to make it hard on oil.
When the 2002 turbos came out, I don’t think VW was yet specifying that synthetic had to be used…but in the wake of rising complaints about sludge-ruined engines, they started (in a rather surreptitious manner) recommending synthetic, and eventually began requiring it (in 2004 I think) for the turbos and V6’s. Your dealer, or whoever changes the oil, should definitely be using synthetic now. If you google something like “VW, engine oil, turbo, sludge” you’ll find some very interesting reading.