John,
Same thing happened in my 83.  This is what happened:  The wire coming from the oil pressure sender (located in front of the drain plug) was laying across a hot manifold or exhaust pipe (can't remember which).  Anyway, the sheath on the wire had melted just enough to ground the wire on this pipe and the light came on.  I removed the wire from the top of the pipe, taped it up an dproblem solved!  I hope yours is just as easy!
JB

On Wed, 5 Sep 2001 16:32:15 -0400 John Flaherty <jflahert@MAINE.RR.COM> wrote:

'84 Vanagon 1.9
20/50 Dino Oil
Mann filter.
Note: Oil light on refers to full bright steady on, not the dim flickering
some owners report.

Hi all,

Got up this morning and drove a half mile to the Y to work out. Van ran
fine, no lights. Came out an hour later. Started the van. Oil light stayed
on. Engine sounded normal. Shut it down immediately. Checked the oil. Level
was fine. Restarted the van. Light stayed on. Tapped the gas enough to make
the alt/oxy lights go out. Oil light stayed on. Shut down the engine and
called a wrecker.

Van has been running great. My oil light has never come on before, and has
never flickered, even at idle.

2 scenarios:

First, assuming my oil pressure is ok, what electrical or other issues could
cause this?

Second, assuming I actually don't have any oil pressure, what could fail so
suddenly?

Thanks,

John Flaherty
Portland, Maine
'84 GL

Peace, JB
'66 Split Window Camper
'83 H20 Vanagon

"You cannot simultaneously work for peace and prepare for war..."