Petrol engines low oil pressure

Low oil pressure warning (and Dynamic Oil Pressure Warning System)

NB. Read this description of the DOPWS first:-

More Info on DOPWS

If the oil light comes on whilst you are driving stop immediately it is safe to do so. There is a buzzer which may go off and give you a heart attack as well, sometimes the buzzer is disconnected by a previous owner as they can be unreliable and annoying if pressure system checks out OK.

To test oil pressure you need an oil pressure tester that screws into the hole that your oil presure low oil switch fits, between the pushrods on 3 and 4 (thats the low rpm/low pressure sender on petrols)

(Its usual to check the oil pressure at the high rpm/low pressure sender beneath the water-pump - HM)

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HarryMann: There are two (sensors), that are called high rpm/low pressure and low rpm/low pressure, the normal higher speed one (~ .9 bar) is in a really awkward spot somewhere down between the water pump and pulley area. The low one (~ .3 bar) is under the left hand cylinder head, measuring the supply pressure to the top end oilways... they work in harmony connected in series ... one is open circuit and one closed circuit by default and the circuit continuity checked against an approx. 2000 rpm break-point. The way its wired, one is being tested above that speed and the other below it.

The wires come in from the front nearside corner of engine bay... your problem may well simply be bad contacts at the instrument cluster, the multi-ribbon connector may have corroded a bit - careful around there, take out ribbon, clean and refit, test etc.

See this on DOPWS (Benplace)

... VW DOPWS - more info from the Wiki:-

More Info on DOPWS

All engine faults/repairs/maintenance Dashboard oil pressure warnings and causes

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Q: Can you remove the high pressure in situ without removing water pump? I had a look once and though, Hope I never have to get to that!

GHOST123 Yep, When I first looked at it I thought it was going to be a s0d and that at least the water pump would have to come off.

But it is atcually not at all hard.

I fitted an old oil switch off god knows what, just to plug the hole until the proper replacement arrived from GSF. I did not wire this temp switch up, just earthed the brown wire to stop the buzzer. ( mine was not a buzzer problem, it was a leak from a crack in the plastic bit of the switch). So I did it twice in a week.

The trick is to get underneath with your legs to the front and head a bit to the nearside, with a decent torch. You can then get a spanner on it without too much trouble.

Do not forget the torch, it really helps