Oil light, ad nauseum

Hi Everyone,

I have the very common oil light problem that so many others seem to have, but with a twist. Here's the scenario:

First, I have a 74 Ghia with the semi-automatic. It went in for a frame off resto that took 5 years and more money than God could afford.

That guy got it 90% done and bailed, so I brought it to a VW specialist to complete. He did a ton of engine work - at the end, he noticed that the engine oil had previously mixed with the ATF fluid. He pulled the engine again, repaired the seal between the enigine and trans and changed both oils. When I picked up the car, he told me there could have been damage to engine, he didn't know how extensive it was and advised me to drive the car and see how it ran.

I probably drove it about 200 miles or so (always local) and it ran like a champ until one night when the oil light started blinking.

Here's the twist - it goes on when I rev the engine and goes off at idle. I only had about a mile or so to go to get home, so I limped her there. The engine makes no noises and still runs great, starts up no problems. I haven't driven it since this happened.

There aren't a whole lot of VW shops here in the Northeast, so for me to get it to one, I would either have to flatbed it or rent a car dolly for an hour and a half trip. I'd rather not do that if I can do something here at home.

My ability range starts at "I can change the oil" and ends well before "I need to pull the engine and rebuild it". In other words, I'm not the most talented person, but I'm not the least talented, either.

Any input in appreciated!

Reply to
jackal624
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If you can change oil, you should be able to do this:

Unscrew the oil sender (left side, below the distrib).

Purchase a pressure gauge at Hdwr store, Big Box. Range of 60 psi.

Most of these come with 1/4" pipe thread. You need 1/8" thread.

Get a 1/4" elbow. And a 1/4 X 1/8 bushing. And a short 1/8" nipple.

Screw nipple into engine. Then bushing, then elbow. Screw gauge into top of elbow.

Use Teflon tape (which you got at the Hdwr) on all the threads sparingly.

Now you can run the engine and make an *actual* measurement of the oil pressure...no guesswork.

Post back./

Speedy Jim

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Reply to
Speedy Jim

Hi Jim,

Thanks for your suggestion.

No problem, I can do that - but just keep in mind that I don't have the pressure drop off until I actually put the car in gear and drive off. It's fine at idle.

Is getting an oil PSI at idle going to help me?

Reply to
jackal624

You can stand there and manually open the throttle to rev the engine and watch the gauge. \ Jim

Reply to
Speedy Jim

I'm ignorant about bugs, but couldn't he just buy an aftermarket gauge set? That would provide the actual pressure under acutal conditions. Prolly need a long tube though.......

MD

Reply to
Mark Dunning

You can get aftermarket gauges which are completely electrical, no cap tube needed.

But it's a fairly big expense and hassle, which is why the $6.95 mechanical gauge is sometimes an advantage.

Jim

Reply to
Speedy Jim

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