I have been running Mobil One 15W50 and a Mann/Mahle filter for years.

I drove the vehicle again tonight, and it performed flawlessly. After
giving this situation some thought, I believe that the combination of
having come off a highway at speed, the extreme heat, and an engine that
now has more that 120,000 miles on it, all played a part in producing a
very thin oil (even though high quality) in an aging engine, there by
setting off the alarms. I am going to watch this situation very
carefully to determine what future maintenance action to take to remedy
this.

I thought that putting an external oil cooler on board was for those
with automatic trannies, but I guess that is not the case. If we
continue having this kind of heat, I'm going to have to have a heart to
heart talk with the good folk at the anti-global warming  club. Sheesh!
Can't even drive my fav vehicle because of the heat. Whew!!

John

John Rodgers
Clayartist and Moldmaker
88'GL VW Bus Driver
Chelsea, AL
Http://www.moldhaus.com

On 6/3/2011 7:45 PM, Tom Hargrave wrote:
> Seems the oil got too thin. What are you running in the van?
>
> Thanks, Tom Hargrave
> www.stir-plate.com
> www.towercooler.com
> www.kegkits.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> John Rodgers
> Sent: Friday, June 03, 2011 7:29 PM
> To: vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com
> Subject: Spooked!
>
>    While driving my manual tranny 88GL  home this afternoon the oil
> pressure alarm sounded and the oil pressure light came on. I killed the
> ignition immediately, noted all the gages seemed normal, and being very
> close to my house just  coasted on down the street, around the corner,
> and halfway up my up-slope driveway and stopped. All the while I'm
> thinking "Omigosh! What now?" ( I have an important art show to
> participate in on Sat. and have to set up by 6 am -- this is not good!)
>
> After getting stopped, I sat for a moment, the turned the ignition on.
> All the lights did their normal thing. I hit the switch, the engine
> started right up, oil pressure light went out. I noted no strange
> sounds, and the oil pressure alarm did not sound. I drove the remaining
> 100 feet  up the hill to the house - all was normal.
>
> Today was extraordinarily hot - 100 plus degrees, driving was slow
> coming off the highway home, and even though the temp gauge needle was
> in the middle, nothing seemed wrong. I did note that at very slow speeds
> the fan kept coming on frequently. I was poking along about 30 mph when
> the alarm sounded and the oil pressure light came on.
>
> I opened the hatch, and noted the engine seemed really hot. The heat
> just came boiling out. I looked for oil leaking, coolant leaking, etc,
> but found nothing. Oil dip stick measures halfway between the marks, and
> the coolant level is up. I checked the rear oil pressure switch, and the
> wiring connector, but it was tight.
>
> I let the van sit a while with the hatch open to cool the engine, then
> started it up. After Idling a minute, I revved the engine up to 3000. I
> ran perfect. No lights, no alarms. I have tried several times now, but
> cannot reproduce the event. Of course the circumstances have changed as
> the atmosphere is cooling down.
>
> Anybody have any ideas? Can the engine oil get so hot under normal
> driving conditions as to cause low oil pressure. Surely that is not a
> good thing. But how can I avoid that in the common daily summer weather
> here in the South. I'm afraid this event might repeat itself at a
> tremendously inopportune time - as such events usually do.
>
> Thanks,
>
> John
>
>
> --
> John Rodgers
> Clayartist and Moldmaker
> 88'GL VW Bus Driver
> Chelsea, AL
> Http://www.moldhaus.com
> -----
> No virus found in this message.
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>
>
>