Help! Oil Light on!

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Apr 29, 2001 | 06:52 PM

Asten Johnson

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Help! Oil Light on!

Recently, my oil light has begun to come on when I am driving in my fine 1992 Audi 80, equipped with the wonderful five cylinder 2.3L engine. It comes on dimly, and s l o w l y gets brighter as I drive, and once it reaches full intensity, a buzzer sounds. The oil is up the the full mark on the dipstick, and I am using an OEM Audi oil filter, with just under 1,000 miles on it. I am told that the oil pressure sensor is a common failure on the I5 engine with high miles. So, does anyone know where that sensor is located? I looked around my oil filter, but did not see anything.

First my A/C hose blows off the condensor and spews out all R12. No way I am fixing that. Then my radiator needs to be replaced due to a major leak. Now this. What's next? I am getting the feeling the Audi gods are not happy with me...

Thanks for any help,
Asten

Apr 29, 2001 | 07:18 PM

Evilclown

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What weight oil do you use, and how often do you use FI cleaner?

Most times with the VW/Audi engines, if the oil light comes on and it's full, the oil is usually too thin, even though the volume is there and the pressure is fine, the viscosity isn't thick enough to keep the sender from going off. 20W50 or a thick synthetic(depending on what you use already) should clear it up. Also, another cause could be frequent use of fuel injector cleaner. Residue from the cleaner gets into the oil, and thins it out, which can cause it to set the oil light and buzzer off. You should change the oil after 3 fuel treatments if you use that many before 3k miles. Or it could be an actual bad oil sender. I'd try changing the oil with the thick stuff before replacing senders, though.

Apr 29, 2001 | 07:18 PM

QCRAZY

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What's high milage??

Apr 29, 2001 | 09:37 PM

Asten Johnson

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149,000 miles...

I had been using the car in the winter, and had been running 10w-40 oil. I will try the 20w50, now that the temps have risen out of the freezing mark. I didn't give any thought to the weight of the oil. My bad!

Thanks for the idea, will change the oil soon!

Dustin

Apr 30, 2001 | 01:48 AM

MikTip

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Re: Help! Oil Light on!

There are two sensors on the I5 engine block, one white, one brown. They are located on the drivers side, just below the thermostat housing, on the engine block. Also there is an Oil pressure control relay which often go bad. Its located under your dash, above your left knee.

Its either the sensors, the relay, or associated wiring.

The sensors are fairly inexpensive, and can be replaced rather easily. The relay is expensive though. I had gone through 3 relays on my 86 CGT, and one set of sensors, in its life time.

Apr 30, 2001 | 07:56 AM

Evilclown

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I run 20-50 year round with no problems.

Oil weight isn't really something most people think about when the oil light comes on, a friend of mine who's been a VW/Audi mechanic since the Dasher was new clued me in to it.

Apr 30, 2001 | 01:32 PM

Dwight V.

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More common than you'd think

To really know, you need to check it with a gauge. But...it's often a sensor. Or, if can also be a clogged pickup screen or broken plastic baffle that snaps onto the pickup. These last two are common problems on VWs and the screen was 75% clogged on our 16v GLI in spite of doing 3k oil changes with Castrol. Mileage when this occurred was 165,000 (day after we sold it, so back it came). Another Golf in our fleet was having fits at around 150,000, turns out is was a faulty sensor. The sensor is cheap and easy; do that first. Then put a gauge on it if it persists. If the pressure is low, then pull the pan and have a look.