23 PSI at 4K RPM and what oil temperature?  Spec says 2 bar at 2K RPM and 80C. If you're really flying on the highway the oil temp goes beyond 80C in a hurry. 

Chris.

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Dnia Jan 3, 2012 o godz. 14:17 pickle vanagon <greenvanagon@GMAIL.COM> napisał(a):

> Just to follow up on this earlier message:
> Faced with the fact that I have oil pressure well below "good pressure", is
> the only prudent thing to do to replace the engine?
> (There are no symptoms of problems other than the reading on the gauge.)
> 
> While I've read numerous tales of woe regarding 2.1l with low pressure
> failing spectacularly, I haven't really come across accounts of how the
> 1.9ls fail.  Is it likely to strand us on the side of the road without
> warning, or get looser first (which would be easily seen on the pressure
> gauge, presumably)?
> 
> It seems it would be a shame to give up on this engine if its likely to
> have a year or two left on it, regardless of whether its below spec.  For
> example, considering that the least expensive route to replacement would be
> to replace it with a "good used 1.9l engine removed from a running van", is
> it really likely that such a replacement would be in significantly better
> shape?
> 
> -Wes
> 
> 
> On Mon, Jan 2, 2012 at 8:49 PM, pickle vanagon <greenvanagon@gmail.com>wrote:
> 
>> A little while ago I sent the below email to list regarding a flickering
>> oil light after extended highway driving on 5w50 oil.  After this email and
>> the replies I got, I switched the oil back to Mobil 1 15w50 oil and then we
>> haven't driven since.  I finally got around to installing a VDO oil
>> pressure gauge and just got back from a test drive.
>> 
>> 
>> It's funny how high the pressure starts out in the cold weather.  Easily
>> 3.5-4 bar.  Anyways, after 20 minutes or so of driving so that the engine
>> has been warm for a long time, I take t up to 4000 rpms (48mph in 3rd gear,
>> I don't have a tach) and I get ~1.9bar, so around 28psi.  But after a
>> minute or two of this (which is how long it takes the oil to get up to
>> temperature, I guess) it drops to ~1.6 bar, say 23psi, where it settles.
>> 
>> So I guess this is pretty bad!  (I guess I could check the accuracy with a
>> mechanical gauges, but I'm not holding out any hope for this changing
>> things...)
>> 
>> So I guess these are my questions:
>> How long do I have before breakdown?  My understanding is that, unlike the
>> 2.1l, the 1.9l is unlikely to fail catastrophically, right?
>> Is further driving severely reducing the rebuildability of this engine?
>> In general, how likely is it that this engine can be rebuilt to good
>> tolerances?  (I'm thinking right now about what I've read about the case
>> journals in the 1.9l engines).
>> I know there are high capacity oil pumps that can be installed on these
>> engines.  Is that an effective way to buy some time?
>> 
>> Thanks very much for any advice guys, this is a bummer, but I'm sure I'll
>> figure out a way to deal with it somehow!
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On Sun, Nov 27, 2011 at 10:27 PM, pickle vanagon <greenvanagon@gmail.com>wrote:
>> 
>>> On our returning-home-after-thanksgiving drive, we had some scary oil
>>> light flicker.
>>> 
>>> Here are the details:
>>> 
>>> Engine has just a little over 100k miles on it.
>>> I typically run Mobil 1 15w50 in it, but shortly before this drive
>>> changed the oil to Castrol Syntec 5w50, hoping to achieve better
>>> lubrication during cold-starts in the winter.  I used a Mobil 1 filter
>>> (which I've used occasionally before, though now it was replacing a Fram
>>> tough-guard).
>>> Flicker definitely seemed related to oil pressure.  That is: it only came
>>> on after driving fast for a long block of time, and then letting the engine
>>> drop to idle.  After I first noticed a flicker happen once and confirming
>>> the oil level was fine, I tried this experiment several times and could
>>> often get some flickers out of it, although not always.  Raising the engine
>>> rpms *at all* would completely kill the flicker.  I couldn't give it even a
>>> tiny amount of gas and still have flicker, even after a long run.
>>> 
>>> Further mitigating factors:
>>> We have an auxiliary battery setup with heavy gauge wire coupling the
>>> batteries via a Stancor relay.  The auxiliary battery is a year old or so
>>> and so almost certainly in worse condition than the starter battery, since
>>> that never gets drained at all.  I have the batteries set up so that a
>>> switch can be used to kill the stancor relay when driving (or force it to
>>> be engaged when the engine is off).  Anyways, with the stancor relay
>>> disabled, I wouldn't get any oil light flicker, as the engine was idling
>>> high enough to avoid it.  The flicker was only happening after a long fast
>>> run *and* at especially low rpms, which would only happen when both
>>> batteries where being powered by the alternator.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Obviously I find this all pretty scary!  I figure the first step is to
>>> figure out what my oil pressure is at various operating speeds and
>>> temperatures.  So I've ordered parts to install an oil pressure gauge.
>>> 
>>> I realize there's a lower threshold (blue) .25 bar switch that VW
>>> recommends to replace the existing .3 bar switch, which would likely
>>> eliminate my flicker,  but right now I'm just worried this is an indication
>>> of deeper problems.  I've ordered one of these switches anyways just in
>>> case my current switch is bad, but the behavior I'm seeing rules out a
>>> wiring issue I think, and I haven't actually heard of anyone having an old
>>> switch that was still responding, but just at too high a pressure (if
>>> anything I would expect them to fail in the other direction.)
>>> 
>>> I also realize the switch to castrol 5w50 may have been what made the
>>> difference.  But I'm reluctant to throw back in some 15w50, have the light
>>> go back off, and then just call the problem solved... I mean, I shouldn't
>>> really be that close to the edge of triggering the switch right?  Or should
>>> I be considering it likely that the 5w50 really was just too unstable in a
>>> 1.9l (which has no oil cooler) at high speeds?
>>> 
>>> 
>>> I'll be grateful for any advice... wow, I hope this engine isn't giving
>>> up on us!!  I was planning on getting a lot more life out of it...
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>