2001 1.8T AWM 210K
I recently replaced the valve cover gasket, installed all new breather hose kit from Motorsport, new water pump, timing belt, tensioners, etc.
Took a 900 mile trip and ran super. Today the engine oil pressure light can on and stayed on. It wasn't due for a change but I went ahead and put a new filter and synthetic in it. Hook up the vag and watched the oil pressure value in "instruments". Drove around waiting for the oil temp to get up and the value stayed at "OK" until the oil reached temp and I went to idle. The value then changed to <2 but the oil pressure light did not come on. If I idled up to 1000 then it would go back to "OK". Based on what I've read, I'm not looking forward to removing the oil pan and replacing the oil pump or removing sludge. Is the <2 normal for an engine with 210K at idle and should I just increase from a 5w-30 synthetic to something hire? I understand that heat lowers viscosity but can I attribute that to a worn oil pump, sludge, or both?
What would you do in this instance?
Thank you for your suggestions.

 

Sounds like a sludge problem, especially if your the original owner. The bad news is there's no good way to get rid of sludge besides tearing it down. Lots of people sea foam, but ita very possible that could knock a piece of sludge loose and get sucked up by the oil pickup and starve the motor of oil. But you did say you changed the valve cover gasket. What did the underside of the VC look like? That's a good indication of what the rest of the motor will look like. Its possible the oil pickup is just clogged, which will happen after 210k.

 

Thank you Redline for the advice.
The valve cover underside had a marginal build up of sludge on the inside of the cover but I've seen that much many different engines in my liftime.
I plan on replacing the pickup tube this weekend. Rental car runs out on Sunday.
Is "sea foam" a special product, and should I go ahead and do that just before replacing the picku up tube?
My plan was to just leave things alone and just get the pickup tube swapped out.
I know that there's a lot of procedure written out there on how to remove the oil pan but they're all over the map. From just "remove the bolts" to having the freon removed from the AC unit and puttting it into service mode. I obvioulsy want to do the job well with the least amount of dis-assembly. 2001 A4 1.8T AWM.
Thank you again for your post. I don't spend much time on computers and thought that more folks out there would have responded. Much appreciated!

 

The pan can be dropped but not easily. Some will jack the engine up and drop the sub frame, but there's two long hex bolts that ate hard to get at by the flywheel. Once out the pickup tube is easily replaced, but make sure you get an o ring too. Skip the sea foam