1983 Rabbit oil pressure light problem

Are you sure the one on the on the filter is the pressure and not the oil temp sender? I thought 83 only had one oil pressure switch? I'm on my way out the door right now so I don't have time to check for you so I maybe wrong. But here is a write up I did on VWVortex for this problem on a newer engine if you have two pressure switches it should be the same for you.

HTH Steve

I had this on a (US built) 83 Rabbit GTI way back in 1985. One of the pressure switches was bad, but I don' remember which one--the Bentley manual should say which one is the "high rpm" oil pressure switch, and that will tell you which one is bad.

What you really need to do (if you are planning on driving this car a while more, at least) is get an oil pressure gauge. I wound up with a mechanical VDO gauge that went in the head fitting. I can't recall if it was for the mechanical oil pressure gauge, but I believe there was also a VDO "sender unit" that replaced one of the pressure "switches" where this unit had the factory-like presure switch and an analog sender built into it. That way you connect the switch to the car's factory harness and you can also have a pressure gauge.

Frank

In my '84 GTI there is a 2.1 to 6.4 psi on the cyl. head (normally closed, with zero pressure). There is a 26 psi switch on the oil filter (normally open, with zero pressure).

1. The switch on the head is 056 919 081C
2. The switch on the oil filter is 056 919 081E

When the car is running if switch 1 is disconnected nothing will happen. If switch 2 is disconnected the oil light should come one, since this switch is closed when oil pressure is present.

There is also a temperature sensor mounted near the oil filter it is actually the same part as the water temperature sensor mounted in the aluminum cooling tube coming out of the head. P/N 175 919 501, 12V, 120 DEGREES C.

--Vic

Jim B.