IT'S THE OIL PUMP!!

99.999% of the times in reality it's internal sludge plugging the oilpump screen up and causing low oil pressure. Mostly likely the owner before you was "cheap" on oil changes or regular oil changes. MY suggestion, regular(3K) oil changes and use a hi-detergent oil such as Pennzoil to clean things out.

I'm betting the better grade of oil they put in there didn't hurt either. Before you rejoice I'd certainly see what happens when an oil change happens. AFter all, even a dead motor can have oil pressure if you run nothing but STP in the crank.....

Tim Wohlford '89 golf

Yep - I bought the car at 50K - found out later from the service dept at the dealer that the owner had changed the oil about every 7,000 miles...literally.....It's bad enough to do that w/ a regular engine

-- but it is a major no-no with a turbo.....

Anyway, that's the last time I will buy an off lease car....who knows if she even put premium gas in it....

I also had two separate parts -- that were related to oil flow and were 'clogged' -- replaced under warranty shortly after purchasing the car. On one occassion, the car literally shut down on me...of course, that was after taking like an 800 mile trip with the 'check engine' light on....that was my first lesson in maintenance on german cars vs the japanese cars I had been accustomed to

Oh, something else with the VW Certification program....sure, it covers a lot...but that's only IF you can get them to fix it and not just do a patch up job......

Hey Woodchuck,

What are your feelings on those engine oil flushes? Too hard on the seals? Thins the oil too much? I've run 10w30 dino juice until recently when the low oil pressure light started going off (both sensors are new). The pressure is fine with 20w50 (I haven't put a gauge on it yet) and I don't feel like dropping the oil pan.

Darryl.

If the engine is clean inside then it's a waste of money & time. If you got a lot of sludge inside the engine then the flush will just loosen it faster and plug up the oilpump screen... and we always know what happens next. It's best just to keep regular oil changes unless you purchased the car used, then use a hi-detergent oil to remove the crap slowly at 3k oil changes. I have used Pennzoil for years and all my engines are squeaky clean inside. Our dealer uses the same oil too.

My local car parts store's owner tells me that every time they sell a can of motor flush he figures that he's gonna get an order for a shortblock. If the motor's dirty then chances are it's got clumps of oily-charcoal inside of the motor, and when that breaks loose you're not gonna like the results.

Tim Wohlford '89 Golf

Yeah, that's what I figured but I've always used the stuff (once a year in the summer) without any apparent negative effect. Although no positives no that I think of it. It's my automotive placebo. ;-) I've performed the flush and fill regularly on my '89 Jetta and previously, every year that I owned my '85 Jetta. The strainer's always been clean but I suppose there's always a first.