help needed . oil light came on!

barney 20v

Hi all, my 00 golf gti has 79k on it and it is due a service which is booked in for sat 29th may.
It has a full service history from new and has never burned oil etc.
I check the oil every 2 weeks or 500 miles.
This evening while sitting in traffic the car sounded to be running rough so i checked the oil level and it is fine 3/4 full and still plenty of viscosity etc.
the car was not overheating or even near it, the fan is working and no lights etc appeared.
The car when restarted ran perfectly ,sounded normal as in quiet and no tapity or bottom end noises at all.
I headed on home" 6 mile" and drove very carefully under 1500 rpm. after 4 miles the oil light came on and beeped.
I pulled in straight away and switched her off.
oil level is still ok, still no overheating , coolant loss etc...
whats the story lads? i'm up to 190 here..
i've just started a new job after 14 mths on the dole and i need the car !
could it be the oil pickup in the sump blocked? any help greatly appreciated lads... thanks in advance,
Barney

johnayo

What colour was the light? If red dont drive until you get oil pressure checked. It may only be a faulty oil pressure sensor though.

barney 20v

It was the oil warning light... red and it beeped 3 or 4 times and i pulled in straight away.. the car is sounding a bit rough for the first 1-2 seconds after start up but then it sounds normal. i'm no mechanic but i know a fair bit about cars but this has me stumped..

Caliden

That happened my old golf once.
No idea what caused it and never happened again.
Oil level was fine and was recently serviced.

cian1500ww

Maybe the oil pumps acting up, not getting the pressure up quick enough when the engine starts possibly ??

Fishtits

It sounds like you've got an oil pressure problem, I'd get it checked with a gauge before going any further TBH.

Neilw

How often is the oil changed and do you use the correct oil in the car?
Could be a blocked oil pickup pipe, this could cause low oil pressure and set the warning off. It could also be a faulty sensor.

The only way to tell for sure is to get an oil pressure test done.

Blocked pickup.


New one.


Transverse 1.8t should have an oil pressure of 3.5-4.5 Bar @ 2000rpm.

barney 20v

Car was transported to my mechanics this evening. first thing tmw its getting an oil pressure test +the sump off and the oil pickup inspected.
My mech thinks that the pickup is prob fine and that a flush + new oil and filter will cure the problems..

Neilw

barney 20v wrote: »

Car was transported to my mechanics this evening. first thing tmw its getting an oil pressure test +the sump off and the oil pickup inspected.
My mech thinks that the pickup is prob fine and that a flush + new oil and filter will cure the problems..

Do yourself a favor and listen to what Geo says, take it as Gospel. He knows better then any "it will be grand" mechanic.

allthedoyles

Ring these guys tomorrow and tell them you are enquiring about an engine for your Golf etc .
Then explain to them what is going on with your car and they will tell you what the problem is - They have openend up many Golf engines and knows what goes on inside .

afaik its a common enough problem with Golf 1.4 petrol engines

http://www.murphyengines.ie/index.html

barney 20v

Neilw wrote: »

Do yourself a favor and listen to what Geo says, take it as Gospel. He knows better then any "it will be grand" mechanic.

I am following Geos advice to the word... i am no mechanic myself but i am 95% sure i'm right about the oil pickup being blocked..as far as my mech is concerned he is under strict instructions as to what i want done.

barney 20v

allthedoyles wrote: »

Ring these guys tomorrow and tell them you are enquiring about an engine for your Golf etc .
Then explain to them what is going on with your car and they will tell you what the problem is - They have openend up many Golf engines and knows what goes on inside .

afaik its a common enough problem with Golf 1.4 petrol engines

http://www.murphyengines.ie/index.html

Cheers for the advice , my car is a GTI with the 1.8 20 valve turbo. and i am a member of vagdrivers.net who have pointed me in the right direction

Neilw

barney 20v wrote: »

I am following Geos advice to the word... i am no mechanic myself but i am 95% sure i'm right about the oil pickup being blocked..as far as my mech is concerned he is under strict instructions as to what i want done.

In that case you will be 100%.

He is the only person I would let near any VAG car.

cgarrad

Drain oil and replace with diesel engine oil. I has cleaners in it that breakdown blockages caused by diesel particulates but also scrubs petrol engines.

I put it in a 220,000km colt and the idle went from 950 to 600.

You can hardly hear the engine now.

Tesco do it for €16 for 4 or 5 litres. Only run it for 1000km and go back to normal.

Gary ITR

Neilw wrote: »

In that case you will be 100%.

He is the only person I would let near any VAG car.

Somebody once told me that what he doesn't know about VAG cars you could write on the back of a postage stamp

I thought that was a good one

Neilw

cgarrad wrote: »

Drain oil and replace with diesel engine oil. I has cleaners in it that breakdown blockages caused by diesel particulates but also scrubs petrol engines.

I put it in a 220,000km colt and the idle went from 950 to 600.

You can hardly hear the engine now.

Tesco do it for €16 for 4 or 5 litres. Only run it for 1000km and go back to normal.

Don't do this. The crap from the top end of the engine will end up in the sump and block the pickup again.

cgarrad

Neilw wrote: »

Don't do this. The crap from the top end of the engine will end up in the sump and block the pickup again.

Ok, just leave all the crap in your engine then.

Oh wait that's what he did.....

Gary ITR

cgarrad wrote: »

Ok, just leave all the crap in your engine then.

Oh wait that's what he did.....

The crap is doing less damage where it is. The 1.8T engine in the mk4 is also very fussy about what oil it likes. While it was good for your car it probably wouldn't be good for Barney's

barney 20v

Onkle wrote: »

The crap is doing less damage where it is. The 1.8T engine in the mk4 is also very fussy about what oil it likes. While it was good for your car it probably wouldn't be good for Barney's

The car got a new oil pickup today + new oil and a VW filter. oil pressure test showed all is ok now.. cheers all for the advice !

johnayo

barney 20v wrote: »

The car got a new oil pickup today + new oil and a VW filter. oil pressure test showed all is ok now.. cheers all for the advice !

Glad to hear all is sorted. That was the only way to go.
And thanks for posting the fix.