Oil Warning Light & Alarm

[adam_christie 0]

Hiya,

Just briefly posted about my soon to be bought MK3 Golf VR6 in the welcome section, and mentioned a problem that occured as soon as I was about to drive off from the previous owner's house.....

Basically from standstill I accelerated fairly quickly, and the oil warning light and alarm started to sound....I'm fairly new to VR's, but know enought about the general mechanics of a car to kind of narrow the problem down to a few things. I'd guess at there being either a) a lack of oil in the engine causing the alarm to go off on acceleration due to the oil "sloshing" (technical term there!) to the back of the sump and tricking the engine into thinking there's a lack of oil, the impellor/pump is knackered and needs replacing, or c) there's something wrong with the sensor. The radiator's also got a leak, but I know I can get a new one from Euro Car Parts for £76, and they're a doddle to fit, and I wouldn't expect that to be linked to the oil sensor problem, unless of course the steam from the radiator is shorting out the oil level sensor? Anyway, Is there something I'm missing? How much are oil pumps these days? Are how hard are they to fit if it is indeed the pump?

All the help I can get would be majorly appreciated cos I really would like to own this car and not have to tell the chap I'm gonna have to walk and not buy it.....

Thanks!

Adam

[Earwig 89]

First thing to do would obviously be to check the oil and see what level and condition it is.

After you have found it to be good or bad you can go from there.

If it has no oil in it or the oil is THAT low then look for reasons why. Obvious leaks etc.... Check service history and maybe phone the last garage that did the service and ask their opinion. If you say you are about to buy it and want them to carry out any work they feel needs doing they are more likely to tell tales so to speak....

VR's do normally go through a bit of Oil so it may just be neglect on the part of the current owner.

Also what Mileage is the car ? The higher the miles the more Oil it ill go through.....

Mark.

[purple highline monster 0]

all vr`s seem to use about a litre of oil per 1000k so do most other dubs i have had, its not a good sign if the owners let oil level go un-checked, who knows what else they have done or havent as the case maybe???? if you really want it get the current owner to sort it out before you buy!

[adam_christie 0]

Yeah methinks I'm gonna get him to sort this problem out first. He took it to VW yesterday and they apparently said it was the high pressure oil sensor that may be at fault!

[57ORM 0]

Just make sure it is the sensor,

I have suffered from a lazy oil pump recently damaged bottom end.

Now looking at a full rebuild

[adam_christie 0]

Jeez.....yeah, don't wanna rebuild it in all honesty really! I'm an enthusiast but I'm not that capable!

I'll see what happens today, and I'll go have another look this weekend, if it's still the same then I think I'll have to walk.

@57ORM: Was your oil alarm going off at all? Before your pump packed in?

[57ORM 0]

By the alarm you mean that annoying beebing sound, yes

Ah well 5hit happens I plan to keep the car till I am old and grey so instead of just sorting the bottom end gonna get the hole thing rebuilt with a few treats, that way it should be good for another 10 years / 100'000

[adam_christie 0]

Okee-dokey..........my VR has just been delivered to me with no oil problems! The only problem is still the radiator leak. He drove it to me with the header tank cap slightly loose, so as to relieve any pressure build up in the system, however I know there's a reason for the pressure buildup, that being the pressure prevents the coolant from boiling, am I right? Got a sparkly new rad sitting here next to me which I'll be installing tomorrow, and judging by a previous thread I'll need either a) tiny elf-like hands to remove or to take off the front end including headlights. Either way, it shouldn't take me too long. The only other radiator I've replaced is one on a MK2 8V Golf, but I'm keeping fingers crossed that the cooling system isn't vastly different on a MK3 VR.......? Took the car for a "drive-it-like-you-stole-it" run a little while ago and it seems to be in perfect order. Another niggle I came accross though was the sunroof not retracting. It tilts, but doesn't go back. Anyone else had a problem like this? It slid back ONCE, and didn't do it again. New sunroof? Cheers everyone!

Ad.

[dubberVR6 0]

Oil buzzer? Radiator? Sunroof? I hope you got it at a really low price! You need to think about why all these things have happened, and not just how to fix them. These could be early warning signs of bigger problems.

Good luck!

[adam_christie 0]

Yeah I got it for a reasonably low price, and I'm fairly confident that the oil problem isn't related the sunroof problem, or the leak in the radiator. He may have just had some bad luck with a stone or bird or something similar hitting the rad at speed. He's a farmer so I can imagine he may have driven the car on something a little more gritty than an A-road. The high pressure oil sensor, if it was an original part, could have gone any time, I'm not too bothered as to why it's gone, as long as it's a) now fixed and it doesn't fail again in the near future. Finally, the sunroof...I've never owned a car with an electric sunroof before, so I was kinda fishing for clues as to what may be the problem. The motor seems fine, so could it be a rack gear or guides that need replacing? Or the motor? It sinks into the roof when the switch is pulled back, but then doesn't go any further, as if there's an obstruction or it's not locating onto the rails......I'll have another look in the dayight rather than with a lighter!