Hey All,

Was having some serious issues with my 1999 Passat over the last year
-- mainly involving oil pressure and check engine lights coming off an
on...especially after oil changes or drastic changes in speed....had
the car shut down on me completely....

Anyway, I was b******g to the guy @ the oil change place about the
issues I was having...he said that he talks to VW owners all the time
with the same gripes...and that the problem is likely the oil pump....

I bought my Passat under the VW Cert program...the car was still under
warranty...anyway, took it to the dealer..of course the diagnostic
came up negative...but I insisted that they replace the oil
pump....after the dealer's 'inspection' and some persuasion on my
behalf....they did replace the pump...my car has been opearting
without a glitch ever since......

Anyway, starting having the problem at 50K on a 1.8T turbo...so, if
you are having similar issues....you might want to take a look at the
oil pump...

99.999% of the times in reality it's internal sludge plugging the oilpump
screen up and causing low oil pressure. Mostly likely the owner before you
was "cheap" on oil changes or regular oil changes. MY suggestion,
regular(3K) oil changes and use a hi-detergent oil such as Pennzoil to clean
things out.


"Brandon H" <jbh30306 (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

I'm betting the better grade of oil they put in there didn't hurt either.
Before you rejoice I'd certainly see what happens when an oil change
happens. AFter all, even a dead motor can have oil pressure if you run
nothing but STP in the crank.....

Tim Wohlford
'89 golf

"Brandon H" <jbh30306 (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

"Woodchuck" <stv_euroski (AT) yahoo (DOT) comXXX> wrote



Yep - I bought the car at 50K - found out later from the service dept
at the dealer that the owner had changed the oil about every 7,000
miles...literally.....It's bad enough to do that w/ a regular engine
-- but it is a major no-no with a turbo.....

Anyway, that's the last time I will buy an off lease car....who knows
if she even put premium gas in it....

I also had two separate parts -- that were related to oil flow and
were 'clogged' -- replaced under warranty shortly after purchasing the
car. On one occassion, the car literally shut down on me...of course,
that was after taking like an 800 mile trip with the 'check engine'
light on....that was my first lesson in maintenance on german cars vs
the japanese cars I had been accustomed to

Oh, something else with the VW Certification program....sure, it
covers a lot...but that's only IF you can get them to fix it and not
just do a patch up job......

Hey Woodchuck,

What are your feelings on those engine oil flushes? Too hard on the
seals? Thins the oil too much? I've run 10w30 dino juice until
recently when the low oil pressure light started going off (both
sensors are new). The pressure is fine with 20w50 (I haven't put a
gauge on it yet) and I don't feel like dropping the oil pan.

Darryl.

On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 06:54:37 -0400, "Woodchuck"
<stv_euroski (AT) yahoo (DOT) comXXX> wrote:

If the engine is clean inside then it's a waste of money & time. If you got
a lot of sludge inside the engine then the flush will just loosen it faster
and plug up the oilpump screen... and we always know what happens next. It's
best just to keep regular oil changes unless you purchased the car used,
then use a hi-detergent oil to remove the crap slowly at 3k oil changes. I
have used Pennzoil for years and all my engines are squeaky clean inside.
Our dealer uses the same oil too.


"Darryl" <umpolung (AT) REMOVEhotmail (DOT) com> wrote

My local car parts store's owner tells me that every time they sell a can of
motor flush he figures that he's gonna get an order for a shortblock. If
the motor's dirty then chances are it's got clumps of oily-charcoal inside
of the motor, and when that breaks loose you're not gonna like the results.

Tim Wohlford '89 Golf


"Darryl" <umpolung (AT) REMOVEhotmail (DOT) com> wrote

Yeah, that's what I figured but I've always used the stuff (once a
year in the summer) without any apparent negative effect. Although no
positives no that I think of it. It's my automotive placebo. ;-)
I've performed the flush and fill regularly on my '89 Jetta and
previously, every year that I owned my '85 Jetta. The strainer's
always been clean but I suppose there's always a first.