OIL LIGHT Shining bright.

YES OIL again :lol: :lol: , so on the way back from Dawlish over the weekend, the oil light came on.
Immediate stop and check around the back all seems fine , wait 10 min and on we go.
Never travelling over 55 miles an hour. Happened another 2 times and stopping for 10 to 15 min each time.
Oil pressure gauge not working and all I have to go by is the dip stick type sender. Got home a little later than expected but all safe.
Could it be due to being loaded up , I am sure this is a contributing factor.

So any ideas greatly appreciated.

J & P

Tell me about your motor bud, what history do you have for it as in when was the last rebuild etc etc. Should be able to handle the load and a bit of warmth as they ran these beasties around in Oz and SA etc etc. You’re not running straight 30 are you ??? Was the dip stick too hot to touch ?

Ozziedog,,,,,,,, give us a clue :mrgreen:

Was this pulling up to a stop at a junction, or while driving along?

If this was while it’s pulling then that’s not good.

Unfortunately did not do the dipstick touch test.
The only thing I have ever done major to this engine is remove heads and put in new valves. Lapped and overnight fuel test.

No history on the motor. Other than it was in the bus when bought from Matt, down Folkstone way back in 2014.

The illumination happened whilst under load. Not whilst decelerating or coming to a stop.

Yes there are worry gauges but don't work yet and I rely on the dipstick type that makes the oil light come on when hot.

J & P

Without a gauge there is no way of knowing, could be an intermittent short on the wire to oil switch or dodgy switch. You say the dip stick temp puts oil light on if hot so maybe its that?

Will remove dipstick temp probe this weekend and have it tested at work.

Thanks
J & P

Sounds like it’s a temperature thing not an oil pressure problem. The dip stick sender is getting a bit hotter than usual because of the higher ambient temps and you’re loaded up for the holiday.
Are you using 20/50 ? oil if not try this in hotter weather.
As long as all the oil is still in the engine it can’t be that serious.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

WAS going to go for a drive to the sea side. About half way down after a particularly long climb the
oil light came back on again. Pulled over and let it cool. Then drove home as I did not want to risk it.
Needless to say I am not popular :lol: :lol: .

Jumped out and checked the oil pressure gauge at the back , I know it drops in pressure when hot but
there was NO PRESSURE at all. Picture gives you an indication as to where the gauge is situated.



The standard pressure switch is after the gauge and has the dip stick sender on the same connection.

I was able to touch the dip stick sender and suffered no blisters. :lol: :lol:

Going to pull the oil switch tomorrow and replace , hopefully I have a spare somewhere.
Going to also check the wiring first . Any other suggestions gladly accepted.

J & P

Try driving it after removing that adaptor and pressure gauge.

Are the cooling flaps working? Sticking relief valve?

Checked the gauges and all working.
Cooling flaps seem to be okay, moved from not extended to fully extended in the housing.
Have not checked the relief valves. Will have to dump oil to check.

On start up the pressure reading is about 40 to 45 PSI
As it warms up the pressure drops slowly but steadily.
If you rev it the pressure goes up and drops back down again.

Yes I know there is a small knock. It has always been there.
Thanks all, stay safe.

J & P

if youve got 10-15psi on idle when hot then i wouldn't worry too much

Oil????

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,what oil are you running? :mrgreen:

I used to have a gene berg dipstick temp sensor that lit the oil light when hot, mine did sometimes come on when pulling up hills, particularly in hot weather.

If I remember correctly the dipstick sensor would illuminate the oil light immediately to full brightness (as it’s just making a circuit) whereas the oil pressure sender would illuminate gradually from a dim glow.

Do you know if the light came on straight away or glowed dimly at first?

I run a save-my-bug dipstick, that causes the oil light to flicker first so you can back off a bit. If it comes on bright red then I'm in trouble.

sparkywig said:

I run a save-my-bug dipstick, that causes the oil light to flicker first so you can back off a bit. If it comes on bright red then I'm in trouble.

Click to expand...

Yes, mine was similar now I remember, definitely flickered to begin with but didn’t glow gradually

I also run a 'save my bug' dipstick. Depending on it's position there is a danger that it will earth out on the oil funnel. Check that when it starts to rotate (as it warms) that it's not going and touching against some metal. I have a bit of rubber hose over nearby earthing points. As I've read elsewhere, if you have a overheating prob you should see it flickering, before coming on full. Finger crossed.....

Sent from my moto g(7) plus using Tapatalk

Small update .
First off the oil is 20 W 50
Light illuminates straight away, no flickering.
Jumped out to check oil pressure when it happened and 0 reading on the gauge. Remember it's 40 to 45 psi on warm up.
Checked for earthing of the dip stick and nothing close by fortunately.

I removed both front and rear pressure relief valves . ( spring and plungers).
The one closest to the front of the bus fell out. The one at the back dropped out after the slightest touch.
They are both stock , so cleaned and returned them whence they came.
I have also replaced the oil pressure switch as an extra precaution.

The only thing left to do now is replace the oil pump, don't really want to get into that.
I am wondering if the engine is now so old and oil is by passing things when hot creating the pressure loss. Tired???
The engine is from a beetle built between Sept 70 and June 71. According to DVLA I am the 11th owner??? :shock: :shock:
When I first got it I refreshed it a little removing the heads decoking and replacing the valves, otherwise
I have just looked after it with the regular maintenance. It does not smoke when driving just a very small
amount on start up every week to keep things kosher.

Well there you go that's it so far. Nearly weekend.
Thanks for all the suggestions and help, much appreciated.

Keep safe all and stay virus free.

J & P

When you’re bored you might wanna get into a compression test with and without a little oil bud.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,old and tired,,, who’s that remind me of hhhmmmm :mrgreen: :mrgreen: