| Author |
Message |
rfoubi
Samba Member
Joined: March 21, 2004
Posts: 224
Location: Rossland BC
|
 Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 10:56 pm Post subject: Oil Buzzer Mystery (Again) |
 |
|
Ok, so i thought i had figured it out, but once again, that pesky f-ing oil light and buzzer comes on. Its the high pressure oil switch, nothing at all at RPMS below 2500 (or whatever the cutoff is). As soon as i hit the magic RPMS, it starts going off. This has been happening over the past few months numerous times, one time it just mysteriously starting going off, i checked the oil, it was fine, had no choice but to keep driving, and then half an hour later it sorted itself out. The next time it happened, i took it into the shop, they replaced the circuit board (or whatever its called in behind the speedo), and it was fine from then on. A few months ago, same f-ing thing, lights and buzzer, so i tore apart the dash, and somehow in the process, jiggled some wires and fixed it. So since then its been fine, until tonight, same issue again! arg.
Anyway so in my troubleshooting, i pretty much ruled out the sensor, since the buzzer keeps going off when i pull the wire from the sensor at the engine. So does this mean the wire is shorting out? Or can it be the control circuit again? The only way i got it to stop was to pull the black wire leading into the instrument cluster in the centre of the group of wires. This is just some sort of keyed positive wire from the ignition, so when i pulled this it also killed the fuel and temp gauges. And so right now im running with no warning lights and gauges, which is sketchy. If anyone has any suggestions, i would much appreciate it, because this is driving me crazy!!!!!!
thanks! |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
crazyvwvanman
Samba Member
Joined: January 28, 2008
Posts: 9937
Location: Orbiting San Diego
|
| Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2008 6:24 am Post subject: Re: Oil Buzzer Mystery (Again) |
|
|
Put the black wire back immediately! Pull the green wire instead! This will stop the high rpm alarm but let everything else work except the tach if you have one.
Mark
| rfoubi wrote: |
............The only way i got it to stop was to pull the black wire leading into the instrument cluster in the centre of the group of wires. This is just some sort of keyed positive wire from the ignition, so when i pulled this it also killed the fuel and temp gauges. And so right now im running with no warning lights and gauges, which is sketchy. If anyone has any suggestions, i would much appreciate it, because this is driving me crazy!!!!!!
thanks! |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Dant
Samba Member
Joined: November 15, 2007
Posts: 126
Location: T County, Ohio
|
| Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2008 6:30 am Post subject: |
|
|
Here is a thread I sort of hijacked at the end, check the last posts.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3...mp;start=0
Both of my wires from the senders had no continuity from one end to the other. I bared one of the wires in the middle, from there to one end, nothing! I couldn't believe it. Scraped insulation halfway from there, nothing again. I walked to the trash can and dropped it in.
I have also had no continuity from the connecter to the wire, right at where the insulation starts. It looked like it really should be fine, but again nothing.
_________________
90 Carat
97 Jetta GLX
87 GL (nobody wanted it)
91 Syncro (Stripped,Plain Jane,fixed vent windows,no tach) also rusty. Hurray for me! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
rfoubi
Samba Member
Joined: March 21, 2004
Posts: 224
Location: Rossland BC
|
| Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2008 9:37 am Post subject: Re: Oil Buzzer Mystery (Again) |
|
|
| crazyvwvanman wrote: |
Put the black wire back immediately! Pull the green wire instead! This will stop the high rpm alarm but let everything else work except the tach if you have one.
Mark
| rfoubi wrote: |
............The only way i got it to stop was to pull the black wire leading into the instrument cluster in the centre of the group of wires. This is just some sort of keyed positive wire from the ignition, so when i pulled this it also killed the fuel and temp gauges. And so right now im running with no warning lights and gauges, which is sketchy. If anyone has any suggestions, i would much appreciate it, because this is driving me crazy!!!!!!
thanks! |
|
]
Ill try that, but i tried pulling each wire one at a time, and the only other one that stopped it (cant remember the colour) also killed the lights to the instrument cluster.
Last edited by rfoubi on Fri Dec 12, 2008 9:47 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
rfoubi
Samba Member
Joined: March 21, 2004
Posts: 224
Location: Rossland BC
|
| Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2008 9:45 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Dant wrote: |
Here is a thread I sort of hijacked at the end, check the last posts.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3...mp;start=0
Both of my wires from the senders had no continuity from one end to the other. I bared one of the wires in the middle, from there to one end, nothing! I couldn't believe it. Scraped insulation halfway from there, nothing again. I walked to the trash can and dropped it in.
I have also had no continuity from the connecter to the wire, right at where the insulation starts. It looked like it really should be fine, but again nothing. |
Ok so im gonna test all the wiring, now im just wondering which wire it is at the dash end? Are there separate low/high wires leading into the dash, or is it a single wire? Without pulling the entire wire, id like to just bypass it with a new wire to reconnect and just see if this solves things. Thanks for the replies |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
tencentlife
Samba Member
Joined: May 02, 2006
Posts: 10078
Location: Abiquiu, NM, USA
|
| Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2008 10:24 am Post subject: Re: Oil Buzzer Mystery (Again) |
|
|
| rfoubi wrote: |
The next time it happened, i took it into the shop, they replaced the circuit board (or whatever its called in behind the speedo), and it was fine from then on. |
So they went straight to the most expensive component, which happens to be the part least likely to fail. So far, so good....
| Quote: |
| Anyway so in my troubleshooting, i pretty much ruled out the sensor, since the buzzer keeps going off when i pull the wire from the sensor at the engine. |
Pure genius! So long as you're ignoring the fact that the hi-OP switch grounds its circuit when OP is above its setpoint, the opposite switching behavior of the low-OP standard idiot light switch.
So when you remove the wire from the hi-OP switch (the one under the water pump pulley), it guarantees that the buzzer will go off every time the revs go over 2k.
| Quote: |
| So does this mean the wire is shorting out? Or can it be the control circuit again? |
No, it doesn't mean squat. Back to square one.
| Quote: |
| The only way i got it to stop was to pull the black wire leading into the instrument cluster in the centre of the group of wires. This is just some sort of keyed positive wire from the ignition, so when i pulled this it also killed the fuel and temp gauges. And so right now im running with no warning lights and gauges, which is sketchy. If anyone has any suggestions, i would much appreciate it, because this is driving me crazy!!!!!! |
Yes, next step is to start yanking wires we don't know the function of. That's always worked for me!
Look, if you want to defeat the dynamic OP warning (the buzzer that sounds above 2k rpm), you want to ground the signal wire that goes to the hi-OP switch. You can ground it at the switch connector end, at the two-pin connector in the engine bay, or at the 14-pin connector to the instrument cluster.
But,you're always better off beginning by learning something about what you're dealing with. A little time searching and you might have turned up something like these:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=251094&highlight=dynamic+warning
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=222130&highlight=dynamic+warning
Also, obviously you are dealing with a post-'85 van, but in future you'll get more replies and more accurate advice, and fewer funny looks, if you include the year/model in your posts, or add a sig line with your vehicles listed. There are numerous model changes in the production run, so year/model is an essential starting point.
_________________
Shop for unique Vanagon accessories at the Vanistan shop:
https://intrepidoverland.com/vanistan/
Please don't PM here, I will not reply.
Experience is kryptonite to doctrine. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
rfoubi
Samba Member
Joined: March 21, 2004
Posts: 224
Location: Rossland BC
|
| Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2008 12:00 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Yeah sorry i wasnt more specific, 1987 vanagon, no tachometer if that makes a difference in the instrument panel. I realize i dont know what im talking about, and im glad that people like you, tencent that are really knowledgeable will pitch in their 2 cents, and i read your stuff in the other posts and it was super informative. I am trying to learn as i go along, and the only way is through experience, so just try and have some patience that i havent done 100 engines like you have, and i may ask stupid questions from time to time.
Ok anyway thanks for the replies regardless, now on to the troubleshooting. So if i take the high pressure wire at the engine, and ground it there, and the light/buzzer still go off, then it means the wire is shorting somewhere in between? Whereas if grounding it there solves the problem, then the problem is with the switch or the actual oil pressure. Im just trying to figure out how to test the system and figure out which component is the problem. Thanks |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
tencentlife
Samba Member
Joined: May 02, 2006
Posts: 10078
Location: Abiquiu, NM, USA
|
| Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2008 4:02 pm Post subject: |
|
|
No, if the wire was shorting somewhere in between then the circuit would be grounded and the buzzer would never sound. If you grounded the hi-OP switch wire and still get the buzzer, then you want to test for an open circuit between the controller board and the end of the wire. Check continuity from pin 12 on the 14-pin instrument connector and the 2-pin connector in the engine bay, yellow wire. If that checks out then test from pin 12 to the controller board in the speedo head. The wiring diagram says the board connector should be labelled "1.8" but I can't remember if they're so labelled; you can check it out.
_________________
Shop for unique Vanagon accessories at the Vanistan shop:
https://intrepidoverland.com/vanistan/
Please don't PM here, I will not reply.
Experience is kryptonite to doctrine. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
cannedveggiessuck
Samba Member
Joined: April 11, 2004
Posts: 233
Location: Ohio
|
| Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 3:00 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Not sure if this will fix your particular issue.
I had this happening in an 86 Westy. Turned out that the crappy oil filter I put on was causing my oil light indicator to trip. I use Mann oil filters and have never heard it buzz again. Until it blew a head gasket in the middle of nebraska of course.
_________________
Time Travel Enthusiast.. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
