Engine and oil light on In 2002, VW Golf 1.4

colincolin · 13-08-2008 2:30pm #1

I'd bought the car second hand and discovered the engine light came on after a week, after speaking to a garage they told me that the 2002, 1.4 model I drive has a tendency to get a build up of carbon and as I don't drive it much I should take it on the open road to blast the carbon out.
This worked for a time but the light came on again at the weekend I ignored it thinking it would go out again. On Monday I did a lot of mountain driving and after a day driving up and down the mountains the oil light came on so I pulled in and checked it to find the oil level had gone down low.
I can't find any oil leaks either. It took a litre to top it up to the highest oil level as it had dropped to the lowest level from midway.
The oil is topped up now but the oil light stays on and the engine light is still on too.
Please any advise on the matter would be much appreciated

Ferris · 13-08-2008 3:14pm

colincolin wrote: »

I'd bought the car second hand and discovered the engine light came on after a week, after speaking to a garage they told me that the 2002, 1.4 model I drive has a tendency to get a build up of carbon and as I don't drive it much I should take it on the open road to blast the carbon out.
This worked for a time but the light came on again at the weekend I ignored it thinking it would go out again. On Monday I did a lot of mountain driving and after a day driving up and down the mountains the oil light came on so I pulled in and checked it to find the oil level had gone down low.
I can't find any oil leaks either. It took a litre to top it up to the highest oil level as it had dropped to the lowest level from midway.
The oil is topped up now but the oil light stays on and the engine light is still on too.
Please any advise on the matter would be much appreciated

Don't want to scare you but the 1.4 16v golf engine has a reputation of using oil. Usually because of worn valve guides or past the piston rings. Its caused by the engine overheating at some point apparently. You'll need to check the oil every 500miles (you should do this regularly anyway) and record how much oil it is using. Also document the complaint that you made to the garage (time, date, person contacted etc.). The capacity is 1 litre between the max and min marks on the dipstick.

Is the car still in warranty?

craichoe · 13-08-2008 3:54pm

colincolin wrote: »

I'd bought the car second hand and discovered the engine light came on after a week, after speaking to a garage they told me that the 2002, 1.4 model I drive has a tendency to get a build up of carbon and as I don't drive it much I should take it on the open road to blast the carbon out.
This worked for a time but the light came on again at the weekend I ignored it thinking it would go out again. On Monday I did a lot of mountain driving and after a day driving up and down the mountains the oil light came on so I pulled in and checked it to find the oil level had gone down low.
I can't find any oil leaks either. It took a litre to top it up to the highest oil level as it had dropped to the lowest level from midway.
The oil is topped up now but the oil light stays on and the engine light is still on too.
Please any advise on the matter would be much appreciated

How about you stop driving it before it becomes more damaged ?

colincolin · 13-08-2008 3:58pm

Ferris wrote: »

Don't want to scare you but the 1.4 16v golf engine has a reputation of using oil. Usually because of worn valve guides or past the piston rings. Its caused by the engine overheating at some point apparently. You'll need to check the oil every 500miles (you should do this regularly anyway) and record how much oil it is using. Also document the complaint that you made to the garage (time, date, person contacted etc.). The capacity is 1 litre between the max and min marks on the dipstick.

Is the car still in warranty?

No its not I bought it in a private sale. I have it full of oil now but the oil light is still on and the engine light also? I put a litre of oil in which brought it from the very bottom of the dip stick to the top. Any ideas? It doesn't overheat at least going by the dash display, it goes up to the half way mark and then just sits there. I'm at a loss as to why the oil light doesn't go off I thought it would by the next day but its been since Monday.

Ferris · 13-08-2008 4:12pm

colincolin wrote: »

No its not I bought it in a private sale. I have it full of oil now but the oil light is still on and the engine light also? I put a litre of oil in which brought it from the very bottom of the dip stick to the top. Any ideas? It doesn't overheat at least going by the dash display, it goes up to the half way mark and then just sits there. I'm at a loss as to why the oil light doesn't go off I thought it would by the next day but its been since Monday.

If the oil light is on and the oil is at the max level (check the manual!) then there is something wrong with the level indicator. This could also be down to dirty oil in the engine in which case it needs a flushing oil put through the engine. Also make sure that the oil is extracted through the sump drain and not by suction through the dipstick pipe.

If the engine light is on then you need to bring it to a good mechanic to diagnose the problem. You'll have to make a call as to whether its safe to drive while this is on. I have a good mechanic that used to do my golf but he's on the northside of dublin. You could ask on boards for contact details of a good mechanic in your area.

Also, keep checking the level, as long as the engine has oil then you mitagate the chances of damaging it further.

alias no.9 · 13-08-2008 4:22pm

The oil light indicates low oil pressure, not low oil level. If your oil light is staying on, get it to a mechanic ASAP, you could have top end oil starvation which will be costly if not sorted.

E92 · 13-08-2008 9:07pm

If it's the red oil light then DON'T DRIVE THE CAR AT ALL.

I didn't write that in caps for the sake of it, even a few seconds with the red oil light on can be fatal, as in you'll be needing a new engine sort of fatal(not saying it will be).

Red oil light => low oil pressure(or alternatively low engine oil though that is usually only in cars without an orange oil light but since oil level is ok then that isn't an option here) => engine will probably go kaput if it's driven for too long in this condition => arm and a leg to get right.

Sometimes the oil light comes on when idling after an extended period of hard driving for a short time. There's nothing wrong with the light coming on like that, but you said it's still on long after it should have gone off.

It may be the orange oil light that the OP is describing, though that is highly unlikely because that one comes on when you don't have enough oil in the engine.

Or of course it could be a faulty sensor giving the car's computer the wrong information, and could be as simple as that, but let's not get our hopes up this soon;)!

The engine light may have come on because of this, I wouldn't get too worried about it for the moment, thought at worst it could mean the car needs a new catalytic converter, though OTOH it could be something as minor as the car's computer needing to be reset, and the carbon build up thing means that engine needs a good thrashing and that sorts out the problem, the main thing is don't drive the car(not even to the garage, get it towed or else call out a mechanic) until the red oil light is gone off.

Some VW engines do tend to burn a lot of oil though, perhaps the 1.4 16v is one of those engines?

L-M · 13-08-2008 9:19pm

OK this happened me recently(on a beach, car nearly got washed away, fastest run to the local shop EVER lol).
Now the head etc. was done and one mechanic says the carbon has to build back up and that's why it's currently drinking oil. A mechanic in work says it's the valve oil seals, which i will probably do (involves removing head, therefore needs a new gasket, plus all the oil seals.)... Great fun i know.

When the oil light came on for me it beeped three times. I didn't drive the car and read the manual which basically gave out and said not to drive. I topped it up and drove home.

Mr.Diagnostic · 13-08-2008 9:59pm

As I see it you have two issues, the oil light and the engine light. They are probably not connected.

The oil light could be a level light or an oil pressure light. If the engine was suffering loss of oli pressure it would have damage to itself in the time that you have been driving it so I would suspect that the light is either a level light or the pressure light is faulty.
I have seen two passats with a problem where the level light came on due to low level and did not go out when the level was corrected. In both cases the problem was that the system is designed not to put the level off unless it sees the bonnet has been opened. The passats bonnet switches were faulty. Not sure if the Golf has this system and switch but it’s a possibility.

The engine light really needs to be diagnosed. It is often a false economy to ignore this warning light. Driving it hard is not a great suggestion to fix the problem.

I would suggest you look into the cause of the oil usage. Keep on eye on the level and the mileage you cover to check if you have a problem.

Bobo78 · 13-08-2008 11:12pm

Just one question for everyone who knows about Volkswagen cars, since i heard a lot of horror stories about Volkswagen engines, although i had a similar experience with one 2 years ago...
Does Volkswagen Bora 1.4 and 1.6 engine suffer from the same problem as mentioned here such as burning oil because of the vorn valve seals and piston rings???
And if they do what would be the best way to find that out??
I m asking that because i was thinking about buying one.

dingding · 13-08-2008 11:23pm

Had the same problem with a 1.4 golf 1999. Used about a litre of oil every 1,500 miles.

When I red the user manual it said that it was normal for the car to use some oil between services.

L-M · 14-08-2008 12:40am

Bobo78 wrote: »

Just one question for everyone who knows about Volkswagen cars, since i heard a lot of horror stories about Volkswagen engines, although i had a similar experience with one 2 years ago...
Does Volkswagen Bora 1.4 and 1.6 engine suffer from the same problem as mentioned here such as burning oil because of the vorn valve seals and piston rings???
And if they do what would be the best way to find that out??
I m asking that because i was thinking about buying one.

Bora and Golf have the same engines. I think they ruled out the problem in the later years

Frankie Lee · 14-08-2008 12:48am

The 98-01 1.4 gave trouble alright mopping up oil and pressure trouble and it was very hard to get new engines for them due to them being coded.
The 1.6 was always a good engine though probably the last truly reliable VW engine.

colincolin · 14-08-2008 11:29am

No it's not a red light, both the engine and oil light are orange. I haven't noticed any difference with the driving of the car either. The oil is full it's just the oil light never went off after filling it and the engine light has also stayed on. Anyone know of a good reasonable mechanic in the Kildare area I'm near Newbridge, that can do a diagnostic on the car? Also how much should I expect to pay for the diagnostic?

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and help.

Nonoperational · 14-08-2008 2:35pm

That stuff they were telling you about carbon build up causing the engine light to come on and to drive it hard to fix it sounds a load of rubish. Get them to sort the problem and get a definite answer as to why the light is on.

colincolin · 15-08-2008 2:44pm

It was the deactivation sensor under the bonnet that wasn't cutting the light out after I filled it up with oil. The engine light was coming on and staying on because another sensor was faulty. I had to get a diagnostic to find the problem and it now been sorted in a mechanic.

daveharnett · 15-08-2008 3:26pm

colincolin wrote: »

It was the deactivation sensor under the bonnet that wasn't cutting the light out after I filled it up with oil. The engine light was coming on and staying on because another sensor was faulty. I had to get a diagnostic to find the problem and it now been sorted in a mechanic.

Sweet! That's about the best possible outcome (unless of course it was an expensive sensor).

Darragh29 · 15-08-2008 3:47pm

colincolin wrote: »

No its not I bought it in a private sale.

Sorry to hear that...

colincolin wrote: »

I have it full of oil now but the oil light is still on and the engine light also? I put a litre of oil in which brought it from the very bottom of the dip stick to the top. Any ideas? It doesn't overheat at least going by the dash display, it goes up to the half way mark and then just sits there. I'm at a loss as to why the oil light doesn't go off I thought it would by the next day but its been since Monday.

Maybe the oil pressure switch is not operating correctly or you have a connection problem. What type of oil did you put in, was it 10W40 or a different specification of oil??? The engine fault light could be the EGR valve. Is the engine running ok, or is there a problem with engine performance???

colincolin · 15-08-2008 3:47pm

Well the mechanic told me it was €230 from VW but he had brought some in from the UK and would let me have it for €150 so all in for work diagnostic and tax €250. Its €250 more than I wanted spend but lets’ face it, it could have been a lot worse.

daveharnett · 15-08-2008 4:14pm

colincolin wrote: »

Well the mechanic told me it was €230 from VW but he had brought some in from the UK and would let me have it for €150 so all in for work diagnostic and tax €250. Its €250 more than I wanted spend but lets’ face it, it could have been a lot worse.

TBH it seems to be 100 quid minimum just to plug in the diagnostic unit in most places, so that's not a bad result at all.

Still, can't believe the oil warning light is linked to a bonnet sensor. What a completely unnecessary point of failure.

Mr.Diagnostic · 15-08-2008 8:11pm

daveharnett wrote: »

TBH it seems to be 100 quid minimum just to plug in the diagnostic unit in most places, so that's not a bad result at all.

Still, can't believe the oil warning light is linked to a bonnet sensor. What a completely unnecessary point of failure.

The bonnet sensor is just a bonnet switch. I too have wondered why this is this way. I must look into it some more. The only thing that comes to mind is that if the service reminder was reset but the bonnet was not opened then the oil could not have been changed. VW’s way of checking up maybe?

groupb · 18-08-2008 9:21pm

Darragh29 wrote: »

Sorry to hear that...

Maybe the oil pressure switch is not operating correctly or you have a connection problem. What type of oil did you put in, was it 10W40 or a different specification of oil??? The engine fault light could be the EGR valve. Is the engine running ok, or is there a problem with engine performance???

10W40 in a golf?

god knows · 26-08-2008 6:13pm

My 37000 mile Golf 1.4 has a disinct knock on start up when cold. It gets a lot quieter when warm. I first got told to put a proper vw oil filter on but that never helped. I was then told it was piston slap but not to worry about it as it was very common for this engine. Anybody else had this problem?

god knows · 28-08-2008 1:31pm

Bump.

Mr.David · 28-08-2008 1:40pm

god knows wrote: »

My 37000 mile Golf 1.4 has a disinct knock on start up when cold. It gets a lot quieter when warm. I first got told to put a proper vw oil filter on but that never helped. I was then told it was piston slap but not to worry about it as it was very common for this engine. Anybody else had this problem?

Ya I had a 1.4 Golf too with the same thing. Awful sound for a petrol engine. Its a ****e engine unfortunately I wouldnt touch it again.

billbond4 · 28-08-2008 2:18pm

Sensors in the VW Golf are a load of w**k
Got a mechanic to change timing belt on MKIV golf, engine light came on, brought back to the mechanic, he plugged in diagnostic tool, it said faulty o2 sensor. ( In fairness he said he probably tipped the sensor doing fan belt)
Mechanic replaced o2 sensor, light came on again, it turned out that the o2 sensor was faulty so he replaced it.
Light came on again.
This time camshaft sensor, mechanic replaced the sensor,
Light came on again.
He went to VW garage and eventually they diagnosed fault as a faulty camshaft sensor, so there was two faulty new sensors.

And when you leave the lights on and open the drivers door, the chime doesnt make a noise, as the microswitch inside the door latch doesnt work,and to get the chime to work will involve getting whole new latch, so looking at 300e.
If it was any other car, new sensor it would cost 3.00e as it would be attached to body of car.

Wont be getting a VW again

Richard13b · 28-12-2008 12:09pm

Just a quick "Thanks" to Mr Diagnostic. My girlfriend has a 2003 Golf 1.4 which tends to drink the oil a bit (but not 1 litre per 1000km as per the service book!). She let it go a bit low - the yellow level warning light and the dash text message all pointed to low oil - which was correct. She topped it up and the message / warning light remained - for about a month till I saw your post. Yes, the Golf has a dodgy bonnet switch, and yes it had fallen off, and yes, pressing the micro-switch cleared the fault! Thank you! (A pity the garage which charged her £120 for a new & unnecessary sensor hadn't seen your post too!)

Darragh29 · 28-12-2008 1:09pm

Ferris wrote: »

If the oil light is on and the oil is at the max level (check the manual!) then there is something wrong with the level indicator. This could also be down to dirty oil in the engine in which case it needs a flushing oil put through the engine. Also make sure that the oil is extracted through the sump drain and not by suction through the dipstick pipe.

If the engine light is on then you need to bring it to a good mechanic to diagnose the problem. You'll have to make a call as to whether its safe to drive while this is on. I have a good mechanic that used to do my golf but he's on the northside of dublin. You could ask on boards for contact details of a good mechanic in your area.

Also, keep checking the level, as long as the engine has oil then you mitagate the chances of damaging it further.

(1) Firstly drain out the engine oil, change the oil filter and oil, in case the oil filter is overdue a change and is causing an obstruction. This will cause a low oil pressure problem and cause your light to come on.

(2) If this doesn't resolve the issue, change the oil pressure switch in the engine...

You don't need to go "cleaning" the engine or flushing it or anything like that...

Both these tasks are extremely easy and should not take more than 20 minutes...

As for the engine fault light being on, probably the EGR valve, but you'll have to get it hooked up to a diagnostics system to know for sure...

Mr.Diagnostic · 28-12-2008 5:34pm

Richard13b wrote: »

Just a quick "Thanks" to Mr Diagnostic. My girlfriend has a 2003 Golf 1.4 which tends to drink the oil a bit (but not 1 litre per 1000km as per the service book!). She let it go a bit low - the yellow level warning light and the dash text message all pointed to low oil - which was correct. She topped it up and the message / warning light remained - for about a month till I saw your post. Yes, the Golf has a dodgy bonnet switch, and yes it had fallen off, and yes, pressing the micro-switch cleared the fault! Thank you! (A pity the garage which charged her £120 for a new & unnecessary sensor hadn't seen your post too!)

Glad to be of service and thanks for the thanks.

Tech3 · 28-12-2008 6:17pm

Mr.David wrote: »

Ya I had a 1.4 Golf too with the same thing. Awful sound for a petrol engine. Its a ****e engine unfortunately I wouldnt touch it again.

My old golf 1.4 petrol used to sound like a tractor!!

Darragh29 · 28-12-2008 6:22pm

Mr.Diagnostic wrote: »

Glad to be of service and thanks for the thanks.

I've some recollection of this thread before. Is it actually the case where VW have designed the engine light to only go off when the microswitch is operated by wiring it into the ECU??? What's the logic behind this, to prevent you from draining the oil and accidently forgetting to put new oil in???

Mr.Diagnostic · 28-12-2008 6:34pm

Darragh29 wrote: »

Is it actually the case where VW have designed the engine light to only go off when the microswitch is operated by wiring it into the ECU???

No, nothing to do with the engine light or the engine ecu at all. The one in question is the amber oil level light.

Dr Bolouswki · 31-07-2011 9:58am

Resurrecting... I have the same problem (oil light being on despite engine being full of oil). It may be the bonnet switch/sensor, but I have closed the bonnet repeatedly and it is not triggering it. The oil light came on when I was driving and I was actually well above the minimum point on the dipstick.

So my question - am I safe to drive? I am going to bring it to my mechanic for a faulty sensor check, but I would assume that full oil in the car means that I won't do any damage and that the light is just faulty?

Thanks for any advice.

Lucifer · 31-07-2011 11:02am

Dr Bolouswki wrote: »

Resurrecting... I have the same problem (oil light being on despite engine being full of oil). It may be the bonnet switch/sensor, but I have closed the bonnet repeatedly and it is not triggering it. The oil light came on when I was driving and I was actually well above the minimum point on the dipstick.

So my question - am I safe to drive? I am going to bring it to my mechanic for a faulty sensor check, but I would assume that full oil in the car means that I won't do any damage and that the light is just faulty?

Thanks for any advice.

Disconnect and reconnect your battery and it should go away.

Dr Bolouswki · 31-07-2011 9:34pm

Thanks I'll give that a try and report back with any results!

billy few mates · 23-07-2012 2:38pm

Sorry for dragging up an old thread, but I found this when I was Googling a problem on my son's 1.4 Golf.
He told me the "oil light" came on when he was driving it yesterday :eek:, I looked at the dipstick and it was right at the bottom :rolleyes:
He also told me that he was convinced the light came on orange but when I looked at the dashboard the light he said came on was red

.

I Googled it and found this thread and then I looked in the handbook and sure enough, the light will come on orange for low quantity and red for low pressure, I've never seen that before on any car I've ever had.

The handbook also said that the light extinguishes when you open the bonnet but will come back on again in 100km if you don't add oil, I presume its this bonnet switch which can play up and cause the issues mentioned here six years ago....:rolleyes:

The car does use rather a lot of oil but I don't know where it goes, theres absolutely no smoke out of the exhaust and the figures from the emissions test on the NCT are well within limits....

billbond4 · 23-07-2012 8:04pm

The manual also says it needs oil every 1000km so buy some cheap oil and keep it topped up, I generally do it once a month
Engine is terrible its way underpowered and drinks oil,it should have been 1.6

billy few mates · 23-07-2012 9:11pm

I topped it up for him today, he had it serviced a couple of months ago when the oil was last changed and since then he's done approx 1400 miles so I reckon a litre of oil every 1000 miles would be about right (I think I read somewhere that it takes one litre to bring the level up from the bottom to the top of the dipstick).
Theres only 87000 miles on it, it runs really smooth and quiet with no rattles and not a trace of smoke out the back, I guess we'll just have to accept it and remember to check the level every few weeks.

Many years ago I owned a VW Scirocco 1.6 and that thing used to burn oil but with quite a visible puff of smoke on start up or if I took my foot off the accelerator briefly and then floored it. I was a bit more 'hands on' back then so I took the head off and replaced the valve stem oil seals and the piston rings, it drove well afterwards and although the smoke decreased considerably, it still continued to burn oil at a similar rate to my son's Golf.

Incidentally, what oil should we use? The mechanic that services it said semi synthetic but which spec (5/30, 10/40 etc) or does it really make a difference....?

billy few mates · 26-07-2012 1:18pm

5/30 it is then.....

27-07-2012 7:25am

billy few mates wrote: »

5/30 it is then.....

its 10/40 for these

billbond4 · 27-07-2012 9:57am

Yeah its 10w40 got it cheap in lidl a while ago

Alanstrainor · 27-07-2012 10:43am

Jaysis lads this thread is ancient, its about time it died at this stage. Start a new one if yee want.

Engine and oil light on In 2002, VW Golf 1.4

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