TheSamba.com :: View topic - 1.9td oil pressure problem (1997 Transporter)

Wed Nov 03, 2004 12:40 am

Hello.

posted for a friend:

I have a 1997 VW Transporter 1.9td. It has done approx 145,000mls with a reasonable history,its running synthetic oil at present, recently the oil pressure warning has started to come on when the engine has done approx 10 to 12 miles from cold at the oddest of times such as slowing down form 60mph for a corner, no noises from engine, moted 200mls ago,bit sluggish on pulling away but nothing too slow, could it be a faulty low pressure oil switch as a slight jab on the throttle seems to cure it, any help from the experts most welcome. I do like my VW van.

Wed Nov 03, 2004 5:44 am

Make sure your idle speed is set according to spec and the oil you are using is adequate. Can you put a gauge on the oil pressure sending port to see if you are really pumping much and if it is adequate at higher revs?

Maybe you will get lucky and changing to a heavier weight oil, a higher idle speed, or new sending unit will cure your ills.

Maybe your oil pump is getting tired. You need to know.

Thu Nov 04, 2004 12:45 am

many thanks for your promnt reply,I have noticed that the low
pressure switch on the oil filter housing has been changed but not the high
pressure one in the cylinder head and it makes no difference disconnecting
the one in the head but when you disconnect the switch on the filter the
buzzer wont go out it also looks like its had the cylinder head off
recently, my local parts supplier can supply oil pressure switch's that
range from .15 bar to 1.8 bar,might try to move the low pressure one to .15
bar and keep the standard high pressure one to .9 bar ,its also sluggish on take off untill turbo kicks in then off at a resonable pace, does this model have an air flow meter?,my only previous experience with the vw diesel was a drive in a gti tdi 150 6 speed so please tell me if im looking for too much from the old transporter as i feel she just isnt getting anwhere at a suitable pace, any comments/ help
would be help ful,

Thu Dec 23, 2004 5:14 am

hello, had all pressures tested by local engine specialists, all ok, changed both oil pressure senders, still flashing and buzzzing, disconectted both oil senders, still buzzing, pulled out all relays, stilll buzzing, only when you disconnect the plug from back of dash does it stop buzzing,but then you have no speedo etc, any one have a wireing diagram for t4 800 turbo special? FB

Thu Dec 23, 2004 10:14 am

I just went through something similar on a friend's '87.
A brief explanation: The switch near the oil filter is normally open(no pressure) and closes when it has pressure above 2200 RPM. The switch in the case works the same as in an old Bug- it's normally closed (no pressure) until it is opened by the oil pressure.
They call this setup the "Dynamic Oil Pressure Warning System".
I call it a "Big Pain In The Ass" system.
The signals from both switches are fed to the solid state circuit board attatched to the speedo, which brings on the blinky light and buzzer when something is amiss. The problem is that there are so many things that can bring on the annoying signals.
If your oil pressure is OK, both at idle and (important) above 2200, and the buzzer sounds, it can be symptomatic of a faulty switch, circuit board, or a bad connection, anywhere between.
The range on the switch denotes what pressure is necessary to close the circuit, but both switches operate backwards from each other.
Grounding the wire going to the filter switch should put out the light and buzzer, but only above 2200. Disconnecting it will bring it on above 2200.
Grounding the wire leading to the case switch will bring it on, regardless of engine speed.
Changing the filter-mounted switch with one of a higher value will often eleviate the buzzer/light, because it is less sensitive.
In the case of my friend's '87, it was an intermittent connection at the plug, left side of engine, where the transition from yellow to brown is. We ended up replacing the connectors, both male and female.

Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:13 pm

Vdubs wrote: Hello.

posted for a friend:

I have a 1997 VW Transporter 1.9td. It has done approx 145,000mls with a reasonable history,its running synthetic oil at present, recently the oil pressure warning has started to come on when the engine has done approx 10 to 12 miles from cold at the oddest of times such as slowing down form 60mph for a corner, no noises from engine, moted 200mls ago,bit sluggish on pulling away but nothing too slow, could it be a faulty low pressure oil switch as a slight jab on the throttle seems to cure it, any help from the experts most welcome. I do like my VW van.

Hi,

Did you manage to fix the oil presure light and buzzer problem on your 1997 VW transporter?

Any help would be great.

Thanks,loz

Sat Aug 12, 2006 10:28 am

years ago the factory updated the switchs, replace yours with only the dealer switchs, use only 20/50 and proper oil filter, the n if still problem ck oil press's, could be an L circut in the dash, not sure how the 97 instrument cluster is fashioned, some had l circuts some relays.

Sat Aug 12, 2006 3:15 pm

Cat and Walter wrote: years ago the factory updated the switchs, replace yours with only the dealer switchs, use only 20/50 and proper oil filter, the n if still problem ck oil press's, could be an L circut in the dash, not sure how the 97 instrument cluster is fashioned, some had l circuts some relays.

hi,

Thanks for the help will try it.

Regards,loz

Sat Aug 12, 2006 6:25 pm

Why would you say to only use 20W-50? I've almost never run 20W-50 in any of my VW TD engines unless it was extremely hot out or there was some other oil pressure problem that I was specifically addressing.

Andrew

Sat Aug 12, 2006 10:53 pm

I don't think I ever did a better thing for Winston's engine than switching to Castrol 20W/50.

Engine temperature went down.

The oil light stopped flickering.

He had more power.

Mileage went up.

He ran better.

Al-Zarqawi got hit by two 500 lb. bombs.

Post hoc, propter hoc? At least the last one... But when a fellow who's been working on Vanagons since the first year of production says to switch to that oil, you listen, and I'm so terribly glad that I did.

Best!

Sun Aug 13, 2006 7:39 am

I can see that recommendation for a waterboxer, but I just can't for an inline-4 or turbo diesel VW. This fellow is running a VW engine that was never offered in a vanagon (or any other volkswagen) in the US (I didn't even think it was offered stock in Europe for the transporter, but I'm not up on what they got over there), so whether or not someone has worked on vanagons since day one really has no bearing on whether or not they know anything about the ins and outs of the inline-4 or turbo diesel engines. I have done quite a bit of work on both inline-4's and turbo diesels and a tremendous amount of reading (obsessive) and have not come across such a recommendation before regarding those engines and so would like some clarity as to why the recommendation. Again, if there is an oil pressure problem then 20w-50 can tide you over with the I4 or TD until you can have it overhaused, but it is too thick IMO for most running situations of those engines.

Andrew