1994 audi 100 quattro. All of a sudden the car has no oil pressure.. runs bad and get a really bad tick after a minute or two.

I have heard that there are oil lines that get clogged up.. anyone have any idea how to attempt to clear these out? I did just had the timing belt and water pump done and everything has went to crap since. The car died while driving down the road so I just put a brain box in it ( I did match up the part number) and now it is running but the oil light is flashing like crazy now. The car sat for about 3 weeks while I waited to figure out that the ECU was bad and ordered one from EBAY.

Ive been told that the oil pumps pretty much never die so I was advised not to change that and try to see if something is clogging somewhere.

Any help or hints would be great. Thanks!

 

I don't think the "lines" can get clogged, but rather the pressure limiting valves - the system has several: one in the oil pan, two in the valley pan, and one in each head. Also, the oil pickup has a screen that can become clogged in extreme conditions - as in the car was neglected over time (long interval in between oil changes, with oil changing into sludge).
Does the tick go away after the car warms up? If it doesn't, then you need to replace your valley pan valves. However, that's what the manual says. If the valves in the heads are clogged or fail to operate, then oil starvation will lead to "destruction" of your cams and lifters, as the lobes will rub unlubricated against'em. You may need to have those changed as well.
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Do you actually have an oil pressure gauge in your A100? The next "generation" C4 (1995 and on) only has an oil temp gauge.
Since you have the oil light on, do you have also a CEL or at least a DTC code? Have you scanned the car?

 

Thanks for the reply.

I started the car up last nite and drove it down the road and back ( maybe 2 miles all said and done) and it ran.. but not well.(Power feels low.. acts like it wants to die out too when taking off unless you gas it good.. if you don't gas it it stalls.)

The car has the bar guage.. which will read in the middle at start up but after a few minutes it drops to 0 and the oil pressure light comes on.

And the car does not have a consistant idle.. the RPM needle bounces around a little and gets near dying out then it will rev up again. It has quit out by idling too low but I am able to start it back up after.

Driving it last nite it does not seem like it has a lot of power but I did get it up to 55 mph.. but I have had the car for 5 years and I just know that it does not feel like it has the power it use too.

I have done a lot of work on the 100 lately ( Water pump and timing belt, fuel pump ) and the car wouldn't start so I put a new ECU or brainbox in it.. and then it started but then this oil issue started.


The car has been a nightmare lately... issue after issue. I run amsoil in it and change it every 5000 miles or so b/c I drive so little.. takes 10 months for me to hit 5000.

 

And I have not had the car scanned.

 

You should definitely scan the car and start from there.
However, I suspect that all your problems may stem out from the ECU you purchased off EBAY. It may be the wrong match for your car. Did you call an Audi dealership prior to the Ebay purchase to ask for the correct part number for your car?
When you said:
,
how did you figure out is the ECU?
Remember - the devil is in the DETAILS, usually.
The more background you attach to your inquiry, the more potential help you can get in return.

 

I matched the numbers with the box that was in the car before I made the purchase. For weeks I could not get the car to start but once I changed the ecu the car now will fire up.

I found on a few forums that a bad ECU may have something to do with it not turning over.. it wanted to start but just would not. So that's when I tried the brain box.

The car just died while I was going to the store one nite.. while pulling in the parking lot. It was very rainy and my car does leak a lot of water.. ( well it did we sealed it up.)

 

To try and provide more detail here's whats been going on.

After I had the timing belt and water pump done.. the car started to stall out sometimes. But only if you tried to drive it right after starting, If you let it warm up for 3 to 4 minutes it would go fine.

I took a chance and drove the car to Albany (160 miles) to see my family. About 90 miles in the car wont accelerate and I have to pull over. I cant get the the thing to go over 100 rpm. After sitting 20 minutes I can get the car to start and drive it ten more miles until it happens again.... this continues until I finally make it there.


Garage says its a fuel pump so they replace that. And the car runs from Albany back home non stop... did not quit out once. It was raining BIG TIME and I had a pretty bad leak in the sunroof so water would collect and dump into the car. :/ Sucked.

And so I get back from Albany and not the car dies while pulling into the car station. Could not get the car to start... it would try but would not fire up.

The garage I deal with here and I agreed that a ECU may be worth a try due to how wet the inside of the car had been getting. The ECU numbers did match up an d once installed the car would start! Yay!

except... now we have this oil deal.

 

You need to have it scanned, nonetheless. That flashing oil warning light has a story to tell.
Based on the codes you can find what's going on with respect to the oil pressure.
From seeing the oil pump itself, yes I would say that is a slim chance for a C4 Audi's pump to fail. And IF it fails, then probably a horrible noise would be going on as it is notched to the crankshaft. You don't have that.
If the oil doesn't move through the system, then those pressure limiting valves are responsible - my humble opinion.
However - since you say it's idling and running like crap, you may have something else going on AT THE SAME TIME.
A clogged fuel filter - if they didn't replace that at the same time with the pump, bad coils pack or a failing idle control valve will all cause the car to run like crap. Notwhistanding the fact that an ailing crankshaft position sensor will probably exhibit similar symptoms with what you described from the very beginning and throughout.
You gotta scan it before anything else...sorry for repeting myself.

 

Thanks Chefro! Your input and advise is greatly appreciated.

I do agree I really need to get the car scanned.. I just do not have a nearby dealer. I would have to buy my own scanner I am afraid.


I dropped the oil pan yesterday to see if maybe the screen in clogged.. everything looked good. I did an oil change with 20w50 just to see if the pressure would keep up. To my suprise the bar guage is staying up! I ran the car for 1/2 hour and the oil light never came on and the pressure stayed near the top of the guage. What do you think about that? I ran it down the road and back too... no oil pressure light.

So today I plan to try to figure out why it has less power.. Maybe cat converter is clogged? It does seem to to idle a little funny also. This car has been good to me for 5 years so things will start to go wrong.... it is what it is!

Thanks again for the help! I may try the cam position sensor and see how that looks.. I have seen that said on other forum threads also as maybe being an issue.

 

You can do a search on "VagCom" in the forum (plenty info) or use directly the Ross-tech page.
I have an USB cable purchased off EBay just as many others. You'll need a KII-USB cable and a 2x2 adapter which you also can buy it off EBay.
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As far as your oil pressure...hmmmm... Initially I wanted to say that the sensor may need be cleaned or replaced, but with everything else you have going on, and you mentioned, I refrained myself from doing so.
If the previous grade oil you used went past your rings like crazy - so you'd have no pressure/compression, then your cats would be messed up - no doubt about it. But the car would also smoke like crazy...which you didn't mention at all. Someone else could probably make a better sense of that for you than myself, I'm pretty sure.
(But you'd also have leaks all over, by all the seals..)
Running a thicker grade oil may not let it go past the rings; that could be one explanation.

Listen, I'm not a mechanic and my experience is so insignificant as compared to lots of guys around (I haven't "seen" some of them lately) that had their nose into cars and engines since forever. I could say that I blabber non-sense most of the time, even on subjects I may think I know something about.
However, having said that, I bet on all my Haynes non-shrinking neck t-shirts that you have something else going on beside the "oil" issue.
Scan the car first and start from there Otherwise you'll just guess your way around.