I bought my new Audi A4 1.8T 1998 Quattro with 138,000 miles on it 1 month ago. 1 week later I was driving in heavy stop and go traffic and my Oil Pressure Light came on. It flashed for about 10 seconds and went off. I pulled over and checked me oil level, all good, except that my dipstick (the plastic peice at the base of it) was broken. I could tell that it was not making a good seal to the stem because of the broken peice that was still on the stem. Later that day I went and bought a new tube to put on the end of it and haven't had the light come on since then.

Could that have really been the issue? Does it need to be vacuum tight so the oil pressure light doesn't come on? I also sea foamed the car and changed the oil just to help just in case it was worse than I thought.

Any information will help! Thanks!

 

Having a poor fitment of your dipstick should not impact your oil pressure. What can and often does happen, is sludge and particulates clog up the oil pickup screen and cause loss of oil pressure. If you aren't getting low oil pressure warnings any longer, your oil change/seafoam may have taken care of the issue. If you are still concerned, and don't mind getting dirty, you can drop your pan and clean out your oil pickup tube - or replace your oil pump. Here's a good writeup on the sludge/oil pickup issue: http://members.***.net/ambox/audi_sludge/ (not mine).

 

Thank you so much for the info. I will go ahead and do that just in case! By the way, I was wondering if the Fuel Pump I bought from you is going to come with the little yellow strainer at the base of it. It doesn't show in the picture though. Your part # is: ES#2091195 for $85.00.

 

To be on the safe side, I suspect the MTC fuel pump does not come with a replacement sock filter, although the photograph may just not show it. You can reuse your existing sock filter, just make sure it's clean before putting it on the new pump. Keep us updated on what you find when you drop your pan - sludge, etc.

 

Hi Pete,

I am going to take off my Valve Cover off first to see if there is any sludge there. If there is none, or not very much, should I still take off the pan and change the pick up tube? And is this problem covered by the Sludge TSB. I just bought the car September 24th, so I don't have the oil change documentation prior to that. Will they replace my Pick Up Tube for free, or do you know?

Thank you for your time!

 

Here is a link to the TSB covering this issue.

Did you buy the car from a dealer? I would start a dialog with them as soon as possible. Audi of America most likely will not be able to help you as the vehicle is older than their extended 8 year warranty and, as you state, you weren't given oil change documentation. As pulling the valve cover is easier than pulling the pan, it would be a good place to start on seeing what your sludge situation looks like.

If it looks clean, you may be safe with just switching to a high-mileage synthetic, as they contain a higher content of detergents than other oil. After changing your oil, drive 2500 miles, then change again. 4000 miles, then change again. Then you can return to your normal regiment.

 

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Hey Pete,

I see you are pretty knowledgeable on this whole oil pressure issue. I am unfortunately in a similar position. I purchased my 2006 A4 quattro about a month 1/2 ago and after initially having to replace the coil packs, this is my second issue. Now the car is towed to a mechanic who doesn't specialize in Audi (I'm in process of having it towed to a dealership) everyone is so quick to characterize this oil pressure issue as needing to repalce the oil pump issue.. After watching a video which basically explained that oil pressure is not created by the oil pump and therefore won't necessarily fix the issue I'm a little leary of just gambling another $1,500 to fix something that not make the car "right".

My issue started about a week and a half ago. I bought the car with about 83k miles on it. Since then I've put on about 5,000 miles and did not immeditely do an oil change to the car. I waited about 2 weeks (during this time we did not change the oil filter, because I wasn't made aware it needed to be swapped). Then about a week or so down the line this oil pressue issue began. I was on the highway and couldn't pull over so I asked his advice - he said just put 1/2 quart of oil to be safe.. As I was on my way home the issue returned so I filled it with a little more oil. At this point I had too much oil, so he said bring it to me I'll drain it ,REPLACE the oil filter and check out the issue. By this time the oil filter has disintegrated in certain spots and he said this was most likely the oil pressure culprit. He did another full oil change and everything was fine for about a week 1/2.

Then as I'm driving to my job on Thursday I notice the oil pressure issue had returned. I checked the oil level which is fine, and now I have it at the mechanic who doesn't specilaize in Audi - he's just a guy who works on my mother's cars (domestic only really). He basically said he put the oil pressure gauge to check the oil pressure and said these cars typically should run 48-52 psi and mine was at aroudn 18 psi

I really don't have the money to "gamble".. I guess I'd really like some guidance to know what my next move should be.. I thank you in advance for your response.Thank you so much,

Brandon

 

You need to STOP driving it and get the oil pan pulled asap. The oil pressure warning is always real on the 1.8T and continued driving will destroy it. Just because you dont see sludge up top means nothing. Silcone, and sludge like debris piles into the pickup tube and lowers oil pressure. I have seen plenty that look beautiful up top and are a complete mess down below. Dont waste money replacing the pump, just clean the pickup thoroughly so that when lights shined in its near perfect.

 

Wrong forum. Your car is very different. B7.

 

Strange enough, if its a 2006 A4 Convertable 2wd it will be a B6 with a 1.8T. But his is not so wrong forum. 2.0T cars shouldnt have the problem, but maybe its just too soon to know if they do. I wouldnt be surprised. They need to stop with the 10K oil changes and figure out how to make a crank breather system work.