I.8 T Oil Pressure Light

[a8 tech]

P1010088.jpg oill3.JPGAttachment 4951 Hello all you 1.8t oil warning light people.Today i took some photos of the oil pump strainer blockage,as you can see the new strainer is clear and the old one has the sludge deposits that block the oil feed and create the pressure problems and the noise from start up.This A4 also needed the sump steam cleaning out and the breather pipes de coking and i fitted the modified oil filter and jobs a good un.
Technical solution

1.8 l turbo in-.ine - sludging


Problem description

A4, A4 Cabriolet, A6 1.8 l Turbo: oil pressure warning light on, black sludging in the oil sump and in front of the oil intake strainer.

Cause

Exceeded maintenance intervals, the use of engine oils which do not meet the VW standard and pronounced low load operation.

Production solution

Bigger oil filter since November 2001.

Service solution

Check whether the engine has mechanical damage, for example through significant rattling noises. In this case repair accordingly.
If there are no signs of mechanical damage, only replace the oil intake strainer . A replacement of the complete oil pump is not necessary. An ****ysis of oil pumps has shown that sludging does not affect the oil pump operation.

Fit a bigger oil filter to increase the oil quantity (see ETKA) at the oil change service.

Problem description

A4, A4 Cabriolet, A6 1.8 l Turbo: oil pressure warning light on, black sludging in the oil sump and in front of the oil intake strainer.

Cause

Exceeded maintenance intervals, the use of engine oils which do not meet the VW standard and pronounced low load operation.

Production solution
Technical solution

1.8 T oil warning light on / engine rattles


Problem description

Oil pressure warning light sporadically on, engine rattles

Cause

Engine oil pressure sporadically too low.

Production solution

Service solution

Check the oil pressure and compare it with the required values in the workshop manual. If there is pressure at idle speed, but it collapses at higher revs, remove the oil sump and check it for coking residues. If oil mesh and snorkel are coked-up, clean or replace them. Also take off and clean the valve cover.
After these measures change the oil. Repeat the oil change after 1000 km at the latest.

Bigger oil filter since November 2001.

[a8 tech]

Sorry if the first photo wasnt clear so hopefully you can see this one.The mileage on this A4 was below 40,000 and the lucky bugger was in his last week of warranty,so he is a happy man.I also regased his air con as part of the repair as the pipe runs accross the bottom of the sump and needs to be moved out the way but doesnt realy need to come off to remove the sump,but a free regas is always a winner.Who says main dealers dont care

[T-sport]

Great info A8 tech !!

Im sure this will come on very handy to anyone that is experiencing 1.8 T oil pressure problems ...

Keep up the good work your technical advice here on the forum is much appreciated

Cheers T-sport

[syboit]

Originally Posted by a8 tech

Attachment 4952Attachment 4951 Hello all you 1.8t oil warning light people.Today i took some photos of the oil pump strainer blockage,as you can see the new strainer is clear and the old one has the sludge deposits that block the oil feed and create the pressure problems and the noise from start up.This A4 also needed the sump steam cleaning out and the breather pipes de coking and i fitted the modified oil filter and jobs a good un.

Great info, and I've seen a lot of your replies to people giving helpful advise on this subjet aswell. I had this job done on my 02 A4 1.8T today, but now I wondering,

- Does this effect all these type 1.8T engines and just certain years of manufacture ? VW, Seat, Skoda and Audi ?
- Whats the main cause of this sludging ? I had changed the oil in my car with a duckhams synthic oil (which a seat garage told me they use for their 1.8T toledo's) was this wrong ?
- and basically how to avoid this in the future ? I'd like to upgrade my 02 car to a newer model soon but also a 1.8T, so wondering if there is anyway to know (apart from a noise on starup, if this issue could be developing)

thanks...

[a8 tech]

There are a lot of 1.8 T on the road in all v.a.g vehicles and only a small % fail and it doesnt seem to mater what oil they were using.Fuel grade may be the answer as the americans have a lot of issues with sludging and they tryed legal action against V.A.G.You can check the oil pressure in dash insert via vag com in measured value 1 or 3 i cant recall but i will have a look.If the red warning can comes on then stop the engine and recover to workshop.I clean mine out every year and there is always a bit of munk in there so i dont have the answer but i do have the repair and advise of the worst case of damage it can cause.As i said dont let it put you off as 1.8 T is a good engine and very strong,i service my mates and he has never had the issue and thats on 190,000 miles so what is that telling us.Great question syboit hope i make some sense and hope some one give me the source of the issue

[syboit]

Hi, thanks for the extra info. A friend of mine has VAG-com software on his laptop (and has one of those cables) if you know someway of checking the oil pressure in there that would be great, it would be a nice way to keep an eye on this issue.

[a8 tech]

17 dash 08 measured value bock 1 or 3.You will find oil pressure there

[parmy03]

thanx 4 the advise a8 tech!

i was just wondering is the sump the only way ov getting to that oil strainer?
if so how do i go about getting to it? is it a big job?

[a8 tech]

Hello Parmy,the only way is to remove the sump and this would mean lowering the subframe to allow access to the bolts and to remove the sump.It takes about 3 hours and you will need toreplace the subframe bolts as they are streatch bolts also its adviseable to check the wheel alignment after as moving the subframe can knock the camber out.If you have got the time and its your first attempt allow 1 day and also consider removing the rocker cover and cleaning out all the crap in there also and check the breather pipes and give them a good old clean.When you have reassembled change the oil again after 1000 miles to remove any left over sludge and jobs a goon un.If you do it yourself you will know its been cleaned out as some workshops may shy away from cleaning the system fully and also see if there are any good oil flushes avaliable to you.Good luck and get those overhalls on

[parmy03]

thanx mate!! ur a star! do u think i should get it done from a garage as im not realy that experienced in that department! if so how much can i expect to pay?