Skip to main content
Gerry | Vanagon
Checking account...
← vanagon.com home · Continue the discussion in the forum
Subject:Blinking Oil Light
From:Loren Busch
Date:Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:13:03 -0700

Got a mystery (and hopefully not a major problem) going on with my '90 Westy
(stock 2.1L and automatic).  Driving home from a VW event Sunday I suddenly
had a flickering oil light while cruising at about 50 mph.  No buzzer. Came
and went over the next few miles.  I pulled over and checked the oil level,
down about 1/2 quart but still well above the lower mark.  Added 1/2 quart
and continued home.  Blinking/flickering continued for about a mile then
quit the last two or three miles getting home.  Drove it today in town, no
blinking light first half of trip then started again.  And it doesn't seem
to bear much of any relationship to RPM, doing it at cruising speed above 2k
and about the same at idle.  I've had oil lights coming on in my '85 (stock
1.9L) when the wrong oil was put in once or when very hot.  But that was
always a steady light at idle, went away at higher RPMs.  This is not
steady, just flickering.  BTW, I know that the oil pressure sensing setup is
different in the 2.1L vs. the 1.9L.
I guessing (hoping?) that it's a loose wire connection or bad pressure
sensor.  Which of the two sensors, high or low, would most likely cause this
kind of behavior?
I'm taking the van into my mechanic Thursday morning to try to pin this down
(and hope it's something short of an engine on it's last legs) but asking
the lists for any hints.