Uhhhh, there's this flashy light that comes on in my car sometimes, its big and red and looks like this:

What should I do?




Haha, just kidding. I know its not a critical problem-- oil temp and engine temp stay fine and it only happens in very specific circumstances. If I drive the car hard for a couple minutes then let it sit at idle for a bit (at a stop sign or in slow inch-along-traffic) it'll come on for a few seconds then disappear. Anyone have any ideas? Oil pump problem, maybe? or is the oil somehow cooking and getting all coagulated?

-planning to get oil pressure gauge

 

It could be very critical. It helps us help you when you list your engine/yr. If you have a 1.8t, they were known for oil sludging, and the solution was to use fully synthetic oil while also using the updated larger oil filter from the dealer, or from audi specific web sites such as ecstuning.com. It could be that, or your oil pump-or both. If I were you id do an engine flush with seafoam or auto rx and then change the oil, and repeat that process every 500 miles for a couple times and see what happens. If you do the engine flush, only run about half a bottle of the seafoam or whatever for 50-75miles at a time. Its not good to leave that stuff in there too long as it thins your oil out and can score your piston walls/piston rings.

 

This is my buddy, I posted pics of his car about a month ago. He bought redrocket's car from Audizine...
It's a 97 with about 190K miles (300K km). It is indeed a 1.8T, and it has been treated to synthetic with the proper filter every 3500 miles (5K km).

I hope it isn't sludge... it shouldn't be sludge, but who knows. I'm hoping it's an oil pump... the oil pressure guage will be peace of mind, anyways... it's better than a damned light.

 

not a critical problem?! If its sludge... it could be a HUGE problem!

 

Haha... yeah it definately could be a critical problem. I should know.

Just remember that if you get your engine flushed, it might not clean out all the crap from your oil pump. The flush may loosen up a lot of caked on oil which may then over a few months loosen and clog your oil pump. You should flush your engine and replace the pump.