Oil Light Coming on

[jamessheep69]

Hi there guys, i've had a bit of a nightmare recently with my A4 1.8T. I was driving home one night on a long drive and the oil light started flashing. I didn't think much of it and put in a 1ltr oil at the next petrol station. I continued my journey and after about 20miles the oil light started flashing again so i ignored it. Not long after tho, i pulled out to overtake someone and i lost all power. I decided not to risk it so had the car towed to a garage.

Over £1000 later with a new turbo, gaskets, oil filter, coolant sensor, oil change & oil sensor later when i was taking the car out for a spin the oil light came on again. It now only seems to come on when i put my foot down hard as when i drive normally it is fine. Does anyone have any ideas what it could be?? I'm Baffled!

Cheers

[burkey1]

was the oil light for level or pressure??

Orange = level
Red = pressure

[glen poole]

if it's the red oil light you need to get the sump off, de-sludge it & get a new oil strainer, buy top quality oil & change it every 5000 miles. dont drive the car, you might kill it.

[bez101]

as above get it checked asap or it will be another 1000+

[yaman]

Agree 100% with Glen and Bez above, just to add, i
would run a flush thru the engine after replacing
the strainer, but that's just me.

Regards
Jim

[jamessheep69]

Cheers guys, i will ask my mechanic to do that, he thought it might be an electrical problem as the oil pressure and that was good. How much to you think it'll cost to get it de-sludged & for a new oil strainer ? Also any thoughts on whether re-mapping is worth the money?

p.s. it is the red oil light

[burkey1]

p.s. it is the red oil light[/QUOTE]
I wouldn't even drive the car tomorrow with an oil pressure light, however intermittent it is...

Get that sump off and get the oil pick up cleaned. As the guys above suggested, flush the engine and then flush it again. make sure you also wash any burnt oil off the inside of the sump and rocker cover. these cars are notorious for this issue.

What did you mechanic diagnose as the cause for the original fault??
Did he just replace destroyed parts or did he determine the real issue.

Make sure you bring it to someone in the know!!!

[jamessheep69]

He thought it was the pressure sensor that was faulty, so replaced it, but when i spoke to him over the phone again because the light came on, he wondered whether it was a fault with a connection in the dash. He told me to turn the ignition off and restart the car and see if it went off and it did. He's a really sound knowledgeable guy that i have trusted with my cars for 4years and he's always done a great job. I just think this one has him baffled.

The car drives perfectly, there is no shake or noise from the engine when driving, and it has plenty of power again since getting the new turbo. Is there any easy way of checking that it's sludge that's setting of the warning light?

[burkey1]

listen to the engine when started, is there a tappity noise??

sometimes also when warm, sounds a little like an old fiesta...

This is oil not getting to the top of the engine..

Tell him to pull off the rocker cover and check for burnt oil/sludge, espically around the inside of the cover...

Any signs and do exactly as all have stated above.

[jamessheep69]

Right guys there is no noise from the engine, it sounds like it did before the oil light came on. Spoke to my mechanic again and he said he checked the oil last time it was in and said it was coming out clean so he didn't think it was sludge. Could it still come out clean and be sludge?

[yaman]

The strainer gets blocked on these engines,
that's what happened to your turbo.... oil
starvation.

Regards
Jim

[burkey1]

What’s the longest service interval you have gone without a change? anything over 10k on 0-30 or 5-30 oil and you could be in trouble. Most change the oil on this engine every 5k for this issue alone

Clean oil coming out is not an indication of a blockage caused from before.

It’s you decision but I would take off the rocker cover at a very minimum to inspect and ultimately the sump and clean pick up. Oil pressure is a very serious issue and I suspect that is was the cause of your original fault too.

There’s loads on forums and the net abt this issue!!!