oil pressure, temp and grade

[brianmohr]

I know this subject has been covered extensively, and I've read most of the posts and have a good idea whats up with my eradic blinking oil pressure light at idle after highway speeds. All was fine before I changed my oil to a lighter weight 10w 30 Castrol for colder winter temps(yes I changed it later in the season:( Anyhoo, after all the bouncing back and forth from the oil wars i'm still not clear what is the best oil recommendation for a cold/warm climate that I have in the east(Maryland). More specifically, is it okay to run the lighter weight oil in the winter time and disregard the sometimes eradic blinking light, or do I need to go the other rout and use the heavier oil to stop the blinking, and subjecting my engine to increased wear in the winter. TIA

1983.5 wasserboxer - 140k 15 on rebuild (so i was told).

[morymob]

Hook a press guage up and check actual press at time blinky shows up, and u could try replacing press sw 1st as sometimes they do go bad. Thicker oil just a band aid to cover up other problems,what is mileage? Press test will answer Q about bearings etc. As for the oil,if bottom end ok u shoul be ok with that weight,as i have done the 10/30 winter thing for yrs on all my vehicles also depends how cold it gets where u are.

[brianmohr]

will do. I intend to check the pressure soon. But the van has run fine since summer, no lights. So since it only occured after the oil change i figured that was a likely cultprit. Thanks for the advice! I'll check into the switch too.

[vanagonforever]

I live in Baltimore and use 20W/50 for most of the year. I have 20W/50 in mine right now but I'm thinking I might switch to 10W/30 or 15W/40 for the next couple of months. I have not ever had any oil blinking warning light or buzzer... now that you mention it though I've never checked to see if the PO disconnected the sensor either. Last winter (my first winter of Vanagon ownership) I didn't drive my Vanagon much but I had 10W/30 in it. I honestly don't know the right answer but I the more I read the less I want to keep running 20W/50 in the relative cold of Maryland.

One thing that I have heard will cause that oil buzzer to go off is to use a non-Mann or Mahle oil filter. I have always bought my oil filters from one of the VW parts sites and avoid the standard Fram filters that you find in the local shops.

Hope that helps
_________________
1986 2WD 2.1L WBX Vanagon Weekender
1983.5 1.9L WBX Vanagon Westfalia

[brianmohr]

dude..you stole my VAN!! Is that a pic of your vanagon? I have the cream colored 83.5. Thanks for the reply. Yes, i use the mahle filters. On the drive home nothing happened. I'm going to test the OP just to establish a baseline metric and if it's good I'll probably get the OP gauge kit from vancafe. Next up is a new set of injectors...mine look OLD and tired:)