2000 Beetle lights, alarms, oil!

[bluebeetle]

Hi,

(Long post from a newbie sorry!)

I bought a 2000 V-reg 2.0l beetle in November 07, love the car but frustrated at niggling probs. From reading these boards I guess others have experienced similar. Any advice/similar tales appreciated!

(Also I dont know alot about cars and this is my first VW so apologise in advance if some of this sounds stupid!)

From the start the alarm bleeped intermittently.

In January the oil light came on orange on the dash. Checked the dipstick but couldnt see where level was (my fault in a hurry no glasses!), and noticed the filler cap had yellow gunk around it. Took it to local garage who said the gunk was caused by condensation and the car was low on oil. I waited and they topped it up but came back and told me the oil light was still and would need to book it in.

At the end of Jan took it in and the garage phoned me to say the oil light "bulb" needed changing so they did that and the light went out. The MOT was due and it sailed through.

So far so good.... for a month.

The alarm continued to bleep when driving and at the start of March the oil light came back on. I had it booked in for some body repair work at another local place- lets say Garage B. They did the paint repair but said "Your oil light's on, we've got someone here who can look at it."

I phoned Garage A who didnt want to know and said it was probably an electrical fault and to take it to a dealer. Garage B told me the car had no oil in it which i didnt understand as apparently Garage A had topped it up the month before, but i had done alot of miles so I went along with it. Anyway Garage B put a litre in and despite me explaining the "bulb" situation they phoned me back to say it hadnt made a difference and the light was still on. They also changed a tyre they said had a nail in it and told me the car needed a service.

According to the service history the car had been serviced in September 07 so I decided to hold off on that and concentrate on getting the oil light prob sorted. They said they could get someone in to do a diagnostics test so I booked it in.

So it went back on Friday and the diagnostics guy concluded that the problem was with one of the oil sensors. The receptionist told me that if the oil level is too low the sensor switch can trip and I would need to book it in to get the sensors changed and it desperately needed an oil change.

I picked the car up on Friday and as I was driving home the alarm started going off ten-to-the-dozen and the oil light was flashing red. I phoned Garage B and the receptionist said that while testing the diagnostics the guy discovered a disconnected wire and had reconnected it.

My own alarm bells were ringing now!

So over the weekend I got someone I trust who knows a bit about cars to look at it. The oil filter cap was gunked up again which he said was not good. He took a quick look at the actual filter underneath and thought it looked newish so basically said that while an oil change and new sensor would sort the problem temporarily it wouldnt address the root problem. He thought Garage A had probably done this initially which was why the light when out for a month.

So basically I took his advice and have booked it in to a VW dealer who will hopefully be able to sort it once and for all. In the meantime Ive got a week of of driving round with the alarm going off every time the oil light goes from orange to flashing red which seems to be every time I go below or above third gear!

The actual oil level is fine, ive become obsessive about checking it!

Thanks!

[turbobugger]

does your alarm remote work?

you can turn the alarm off and on with the remote correct?

If you can not I would definitely look for a ROSS-TECH vagcom guy in your area to come over and program the remote key so you can turn the alarm off. That way when you drive your car the alarm does not go off!

[turbobugger]

There is some stuff you can put in your oil to clean the sludge out. I can not remember the name but I see lots of them at the auto parts store. I think its called ENGINE RESTORE, DURALUBE 2000. You add it to the oil and run it for 50 miles or so and then do an oil change. The engine will be clean after that!

[bluebeetle]

Thanks for your advice.

Sorry, by "alarm" I meant the internal 'bleep bleep bleep' ?

Just to let anyone know with similar probs, went to VW and they replaced the bonnet switch (which was causing the flashing red light) and the oil pressure switch and dodgy wiring (which casued it to glow orange in the first place) and hey presto no flashing lights or constant bleeping.



However the 'bleep' still goes off occasionally when driving which it has always done.