Bora - Oil Pressure Warning

[pursuit_ute]

Hi, just bought a 2001 V6 4Motion Bora and have had the STOP - Oil Pressure warning coming on every time we start the car. I know the previous owner quite well and he did tell me that this happened every few months but since getting the car home to Canberra, it has happened every time :? .

I drove the car for a week in Brisbane and it never happened, maybe atmospheric pressures being different in Canberra have something to do with it??

Drives us nuts, previous owner had had VW replace the Oil Pressure Sender replaced 3 times and the problem persists. I thought perhaps the dipstick was replaced at some stage so I added 1/2 a litre over full to check if it made a difference but to no avail.

Has anyone had this drama??

Thanks is advance, Scott.

[h100vw]

You need to have the oil pressure checked with a stand alone gauge to prove whether or not there is a problem.

Can we assume that the tappets dont rattle and the bottom end isn't knocking it's head off??

I would be surprised but the oil pump pick up may be partially blocked preventing the pump flowing adequately..


Maybe have a look at some UK forums or VWvortex.com

Gavin

[pursuit_ute]

Engine sounds and runs a sweet as you could hope. Not a rattle, vibration or any noise for that matter. Hopping out of the GT, I have to give the Bora a rev to see if it's running........ except when that damn warning start's up!!!

I'll try that forum, I have tried a few over there with little luck.

[h100vw]

Suspect an indication fault then I reckon, could be in the clocks.

Gavin

[pursuit_ute]

Forgive me..... "could be in the clocks"?

[syncro]

Forgive me..... "could be in the clocks"?

Daylight saving?

[syncro]

Is the warning at idle or around 2000 revs?

[h100vw]

The bit that senses the oil pressure for the warning is usually in the clocks in my experience.

Gavin

[gumbootracing]

Does it have a genuine oil filter we had a similar problem on our mk1 replaced the ryco filter with genuine vw and the problem went away

[pursuit_ute]

syncro - doesn't do it at idle, only when the rev's pick up;

h100vw - Sorry Gavin, I have no idea what "the clocks" means;

gumboot - Not sure on the oil filter, will check it out. My guess is original as I have the service history which is all at a VW dealer.

Thanks for your feedback guy's, the car is in for a pressure test in the morning to help settle my nerves. I spoke to a VW mechanic today who told me that pressure cold should be around 20psi and might drop to 8psi when hot. He also said that with a rev it should peak at around 50psi. He did say that he has sent several instrument clusters over to Premier Instruments for repairs to the connector at the back as the connectors are very fine and prone to damaging solder joints. Will cost about $150 for someone to remove the instrument cluster and go over the joints and re-solder any that look sus.

[syncro]

Your dynamic oil pressure switch is either defective or the wrong one.

Nine out of ten mechanics fit the wrong one.

[h100vw]

By clocks I meant the instrument cluster, which seems to be common on mk4s like it was on mk2s.....
Gavin

[pursuit_ute]

Ok, got it Gavin, that seems to run true with the chance of a poor contact on the back of the cluster then.

Syncro - I have been told there are two switches, when you said that installing the wrong switch was common, do you mean that the high or low is being installed in the wrong location or just plain wrong switches all together?

[h100vw]

There is a low pressure switch that turns the oil light off when you start the car. The other is a high pressure one which, if the pressure isn't high enough above 2000 revs, sets the buzzer off.

You could get the switches in the wrong place and never get a warning or get a constant warning.
Gavin

[Bug_racer]

Has this been solved yet ?

Ive had 1 problem like this before on a Bora .

make sure the engine block has a good earth .
Then you need to trace the wire from the switch back into the instrument cluster . If its the cluster itself it generally wont have 1 problem as the earth points are shared . The wire is a single wire , I think it changes colour at the junction point in the plenum chamber .

Good luck
Seb

[gtimk5]

I would always use German filters on a VW. We did a test on a kombi years back and found the Ryco ones dropped the pressure by 8 lbs!
Genuine, Hengst or Mann filters only. Leave the Rycos for the backyarders!!

[Golf Loon]

I reckon someone has fitted the wrong oil pressure switch. There are several different ones and mechanics always get the wrong ones.

Tell us the colours of the two that are on your car and we will try and confirm this.

[aprr32]

Only one oil pressure switch on a 24v vr6- black one- 1.4 bar.

[syncro]

Only one oil pressure switch on a 24v vr6- black one- 1.4 bar.

Must be the only modern VAG car that does.

[Golf Loon]

Yeah the earlier VR6 engines have 2.