Hi all,
First post - so here goes,
I have an A4 1.8 turbo 1997/8 engine code AEB with 85,000 miles on the clock. Driving home the other night I got the oil pressure light on, checked my oil level and it was ok. I asked my local garage to check the oil pressure and it was running at around 3 bar at 3000rpm - The oil light is now off at the moment but I know this pressure is low and was wondering if there were any issues regarding the A4's with oil pumps at this mileage or any other known problems.
Thanks for reading

Regards
Dave

 

I'd be careful. It Could be the oil pump going bad, which woulnt be good for your engine.

 

Respot, this exact thing happened to me. Here is what my situation was, hopefully it helps you out. Same scenario, driving down the highway at about 80mph and the oil pressure light comes on. This is the red blinking light in the center display. I turned the car off anf coasted off the road. Got out, checked the oil and it was fine. I started it again about 15 minutes later and the light was gone. I changed the oil that day about 1500 miles early and didn't have the light come back for a couple of weeks. Again, on the highway at about 80mph, turn it off, restart it, same thing. This time I had it towed to the dealer and checked out. Now this is where it gets a bit interesting. The dealer claimed that they pulled the pan off and cleaned things out. Actually what they did was remove the oil level sensor and spray brake cleaner up on the pick up sump screen. That worked for about another week and then the light came back. Again, towed it, this time to my shop here in Indy. My mechanic told me that the problem was due to a clogged oil sump screen. On the AEB engine you can buy just the pickup pipe with the sump screen on it. On my engine (ATW) you have to buy a whole new pump. The good news is that on the 1.8t, Audi has extended the warranty to include the repair of this problem with unlimited miles. Check with your dealer to make sure your year is included, but I'm pretty sure it is. They will end up removing the oil pan, and either replacing just the pickup pipe/sump screen and cleaining out as much junk as they can. I ran two quarts of auto tranny fluid in my oil for about 200 miles before I had the work done to clean as much out as I could. If it's on your dime, expect it to be about $700.00 - $800.00. For me, Audi covered everything including the tows. Does the light go on and off depending on how fast you are driving? Anyway, I hope this helps.

 

Not good. Either oil pump or sludge on the sump screen. While AoA should cover this, you will need to provide evidence of oil changes within the suggested intervals.

 

Thanks guys - your help is very much appreciated, Doose - It has happened twice now, a couple of months ago the light came on and compressed air was forced through the pressure switch opening and it was ok until now, same thing has been done this time but the pressure increased to normal then slowly dropped off to 3 bar.
So it does point to the oil pick-up in the sump. Will check with Audi UK if it's covered under any warranty - thanks for that advice I would never have thought of checking that because of the age and mileage of the car.

I will let you know how it goes

Regards
Dave

 

Update :
Removed sump and sure enough the sump is full of crud, also the oil pump pick-up is partially blocked.
So i'm going to replace the oil pump and see what happens.
Guess what - not covered by Audi warranty - not in the UK anyway.

Regards
DaveH

 

I did a flush when i last changed my oil and managed to get a load of thicker crap out the bottom of the sump. I think the build up comes from the way dealers change the oil now by sticking the vacumn down the dipstick and sucking it out.

After the flush and a new filter i replaced my oil with fully synth mobil 1, what oils you guys run? The dealer had put semi synth in it in the past.

 

Mobil 1 0W - 40

 

I am using Royal Purple and my low pressure is solved.