buzzer?

i got a buzzer which comes on now and again, along with the oil light.
it goes off after a while any ideas?

its a low oil pressure thing ,assuming the engiens ok and not burnign exces soil then id asmuen it oen of three things

1)the dash
2)bad earth to the dash
3)the sender
4)the wire brekaign down (blacking maybe)

It's probably an electrical issue with the oil pressure control cuircuit in the speedo unit, but before making such an assumption, you need to be sure that the engine really isn't suffering from low oil pressure (it should be a minimum of 2.1 bar at 80 deg C and 2000 RPM). If you don't have a built-in oil pressure guage, you should get the engine checked by someone who does, just in case…

Before doing that though, check the wiring to the two oil pressure senders on the engine - one is on top of the oil filter holder (blue/black wire) and the other is on the end of the head, at the gearbox side. The engine end of these wires get brittle from the heat of the engine, and a wire breaking up here is common.

Assuming that all the above are ok, then the issue is usually the circuit in the dash unit - see more details here:

http://portal.campaignregister.co.uk/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=823

hi there

have been having the same trouble as the fella above. have tried all the above except for the dash wiring. tried to connect to your recommended link and it wouldn't work. do you maybe have the info?
thanks
nick

The whole website was moved a few weeks ago, and the URL has changed slightly.

Try this version of the link and you should be ok:

http://www.vwgolfmk1.org.uk/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=823

thanks, that link worked fine. also wanted to mention that i've tried disconnecting both pressure switchs and the buzzer and light still go off …..could this be a more conclusive point in the direction of an electrical fault in the dash?

No, the way that all guages and warning lights work is that the power comes FROM the gauge, and goes down the wire through the sender, and to earth. The amount of volts that the sender allows through is based on the temp or pressure it is experiencing, and that is what gives the gauge it's reading (or what sets the warning light off, when a certain threshold is reached)

This means that taking the wire off the sender stops ANY voltage going to earth, and the gauges are designed to show bad readings in this case, as a safety measure.

have now replaced both pressure switches, no change. yesterday i tried to check the oil pressure with a PSi oil gauge. at 2000rpm it read at 95PSi !!, this surely isn't right? it's a homemade gauge that belongs to a friend who is 99% sure it's working fine. only thing i can think this might be down to is that the end that screws into the oil filter housing pressure hole has a much larger bore hole than the actual pressure switch…. does this sound like it could be the reason the pressure is reading so high…i.e a larger bore allowing too much pressure through at once?

also had the dash out and then realised i had no idea what i was looking at. someone has grafted in positve and negative leads to one of the switches that clipped onto the bottom right hand side of the dash, (fits over a circuit membrane)…i can't work out what this might be for…circuit diagrams just send me crossed eyed! any ideas??

sorry for all the questions, would much rather do stuff myself than send it to a mechanic…much more satisfying if i get it fixed…if!!

cheers

The size of the aperature will not affect the pressure reading for the sensor or gauge.  A restriction will only change pressure when the oil is flowing - both the guage and sensor are dead end streets so to speak

The pressure circuit is even more cunning that most people 1st realise. The are two switches, (from memory) 0.3 bar and 1.2bar, a white one and an brown one. One of the pressure switches is normally open and when the engine starts closes with the oil pressure and the other is the opposite way round, i.e closed and then open. I think this was to stop you simply replacing the 0.3 with a 1.2bar to disguise a worn engine.

Make sure you have the correct wires going to the correct switch. When I get home tonight I?ll have a look.

My flashing LED goes off occasionally an a rapp on the instrument cluster with knuckles usually clears it. :roll:

To make sure you don?t really have a problem use a VDO pressure gauge and sender. There are always some on ebay @?5-?20. You are best with the ones that go from 0-10bar rather than the 0-5bar out of an Audi types.  :wink:

i am now totally baffled with this problem. i have tried two different gauges to check the oil pressure, and they both read around 90 PSi (should be about 30 by my calculations?), have checked at both pressure switch points as well… i cannot think what could be causing this high pressure?? it's not smoking so i'm pretty sure it's not the valve stem seals/guides allowing pressure from the piston chamber into the head.

i haven't tried checking the wiring yet as i didn't want to go on without sorting this high pressure problem…is it a problem, am i doing something wrong here??  :dontknow:

Are you testing hot or cold and what RPM? I have a 5 bar Audi gauge in my car and when cold its right up against the 5. According to the Haynes book of lies conversion charts that?s 71.11PSI. Other VDO gauages go to 10bar (nearly 150 PSI) so 90 doesn?t sound too bad for a cold engine. :dontknow:  When warm and at tickover its about 1.5-2 bar which is about 20-30PSI, when revved its back up to 5bar. Engine oil pressure is high, hence all the leaks that people get and stories of oil filters being blown off (mate with Vauxhall ). Hope this helps.

it's true i haven't been letting the engine get up to full temp.. i just thought it couldn't drop back down to what it should be (2.1 bar at 2000rpm), seemed like a big way to drop down… but from you said about your oil pressure, perhaps i'm being a bit over the top?
maybe i'll try looking at the electrics side and see if that helps, just won't take it for any long journeys for now….just to be absolutely sure!

thanks for your help by the way….

I can tell you what is wrong, if you really want to know…

…and I lay bets that there is nothing wrong with the oil sensor r buzer wiring too.

See, the oil pressure you have IS was too high and what I suspect is happening is that the oil is presurising in the sump.  The reason for this?  The achilies heal of all VW engines, the oil breathers.

I suspect your oil breather is full of carbon and the engine's oil system is now effectiely operating as a sealed unit.  This is very common on VW engines, I've had to do the oil breathers on pretty much every VW I've had, as did my father before me on all of his.

Now it depends on the engine you have fitted as to where your breather filter(s) will be located.  On the small block motors (1100 and 1300) they are on the back of the block under the inlet manifold and above the starter motor.  On the Mk1 Golf they are an "interference" push fit which means you will severel skin your knuckles tryng to change it.  On the later hydraulic engines they are held in with two allen head bolts.

Not sure about the Mk1 GTI but on the Mk3 GTI 2.0 8v the breather is located on the front of the engine block.  There is usually a second gause breather inside the rocker cover.

I've seen the so gunked up that you can't even blow any ir through them.  If you can't find the breather filters check in your manual or look on your inlet side, usually near the throttle body/carb on in the air box.

There will be a rubber pipe, about 1inch diameter, the disappears off somewhere.  It will usually just be pushed on but it may be held on with a clip.  Follow this pipe to where it ends and you will, 99% of the time, be looking at the engines oil breather pod.

Change/clean this, check the oil level and forget about it - simple as that.

Most "my VW has an oil problem" issues are related to blocked breathers.

Kind Regards,


Steve Matthews
1983 Driver on roaring forties…

PS.  With the oil sender wiring disconnected the buzzer will not sound until the engine reaches 2000 rpm after startup, after which point it will wail its teeth ginding tune until you can bear it no more and kill the ignition.

Sounds plausible and easy to check. On your white GTI the breather is to the right of the cam cover, the raised bit with a pipe coming off the spout. Mine was solid with black sticky gunk and I had to chisel the spot welds off from inside. Drill out the weld holding the gauze together, burn of the gunk, clean up and reassemble. Whip off the cam cover and have a look.

thanks guys…. i had a feeling it might be a clogged pipe somewhere, the pressure just seems too high. i've gone and bought myself a second hand set of clocks but the buzzer continues. either the spare set of clocks have the same fault or it isn't a circuit problem… i hope it's as easy as a blocked pipe, the circuit board looks a  nightmare to solder, as well as trying to make sense of the wiring diagram in the manual.
i'll hopefully get a chance to look at the breather pipe etc this w/end and then i'll post the results in case anyone else has a similar problem..

thanks again for the advice
nick

Steve_Matthews

Location: Newcastle upon Tyne
 

 
I can tell you what is wrong, if you really want to know..
 

At last a "Geordie" that knows what he's talking about .

The one i married pretends she does !!!

Cheers Chudd….

Well the one I married knows old Minis and Motorbikes pretty well, as well as a fair bit about old Fiat engines...

all this hassle has turned out to be a dodgy oil filter….brand new vw/audi one too!! oh well, at least it's finally fixed…thanks for all the advice…

so ive still got this problem on my clipper mk1 1990- wheres this oil breather on this engine?

cant be oil filter etc as just had full service. am blowing a little blue smoke tho !

Ed