Joy, Check the archives for info on the oil warning system. Since it was
sudden and consistent you most likely had a wire break or a connection fail
to the high pressure oil sender switch. This is the switch located on the
rear of the engine, just to the left of the oil pump. Access is easiest by
removing the water pump belt and pulley. If the switch should need to be
replaced be sure they get you the proper .9bar switch. Most parts books and
even ETKA can confuse you make you order the 1.8bar switch. The reason you
can idle the engine without the buzzer is the dynamic oil pressure warning
system ignores this switch under 2,500 rpm.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Joy Hecht
Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 9:35 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: oil buzzer buzzing all the time

Hi folks,

Matilda's got a new trick.  Every time I start to drive, the oil buzzer (the
one that lights up the little picture of an oil can) takes to buzzing.  Oil
level is fine, coolant is fine, there's no apparent problem.  It doesn't
happen if I sit with the van idling, but as soon as I start to drive (within
max 30 seconds) the buzzer lets out a squawk.  If I turn off the engine and
turn it on again, I get maybe another 30 seconds of quiet, then it starts
again.

This just started today, and actually I drove her directly to my friend's
mechanic (who has succeeded in fixing other troubles in the past - no real
vanagon mechanics less than 100-or-so miles from here).  We figured it's
something about the oil pressure switch or associated wires - he's going to
do some searching and get back to me.

But I'm wondering if others have had this happen, and if you've got
suggestions.

Joy