1999 1.8t oil light

[Cevans811]

please help i just got a 99 audi a4 1.8t quattro, since buying the car there has been nothing but problems. the car has 65k on it but since ive gotten it i had the valve cover gaskets replaced at the shop because they where leaking oil bad. now after getting the gaskets replaced the oil light came on so he switched the sensors to see if the sensor was bad. the light still comes on but now it takes a little longer to come on i can drive a little further then last time. im out of money and leave to go back to college in a few days and i need to drive this car about 350 miles and i dont know what to do to get the low oil pressure light to shut off. im pretty sure its sludge in the car but the audi said it would be 1900$ in labor plus parts to remove the sludge and im basically out of money from the other repairs and just buying the car. i was looking at auto-rx from other post but im not sure if this is the best thing to do. please help with anyone thats had experience in this. the light does not come on at idle only when driving.

[B72011]

Sorry to hear. A B5 is NOT the car to get as a college kid-hindsight is a beeatch. Dont know any advice other than dump the car unless you are able to drop the oil pan and look at the oil pickup tube to see if it is clogged.
If you have space, I'd drop it off at home and R&R it on your summer break--learn the ins and outs of Audi's. You wont get more than $500 for it by selling it. Dropping the pan isnt that difficult---a full sludge removal--thats more time. If you have time later you can work through it. With some tools and a decent head on your shoulders you can do a TON of things. Dont let this one experience sour you on the joy of Audi ownership--theyre really fun cars. You kind of need some basic mechanical skills though to keep one for the long term as there are things that pop up....knowing how to deal with these saves you big $$ and time and allows for $$ for the ones you cant diagnose on your own or without the help of this board----which is filled with tons of really talented and experienced individuals.
There is a video on Youtube where a guy in an East Coast shop uses diesel and auto trans fluid (I think) and cycles it thru the car while running in an effort to remove the sludge. Perhaps showing the video to a shop--you might be able to try it thru them for a few hundred --or try yourself?
Good luck amigo!

[SN95Audi87]

What type of oil was used for the life of the car? Low mileage Audi's are kind of scary because either they have been sitting for a long time or maintenance that was performed on it was very minimal. I bought mine with 112k with a bunch of services done to it such as timing belt, heater core, alternator replacement etc but the car to my standards was in poor shape. All the seals were leaking, the rebuilt alternator gave out, and majority of suspension components needed to be replaced. This all happened when I was in college so it was very hard to fix while I was working part time as well. Thank goodness that I am mechanically savvy with most cars because of ton of research on audizine, and other sources.

I agree with "B72011" post, you should find a cheap beater civic because this car will drive you bonkers right now because your at a place in your life where you need a reliable car to get you from point A to point B. Park the Audi for a few months till warmer weather comes and go through a check list of things that need serious attention.

Bushings
Various Check Valves
Sensors
Correded vacuum lines
Engine Flush/inspection
Coolant Seals
Differential Seals
Trans Fluid
Diff Fluid
Fuel Filter Change

Just to name a few off the top of my head, but priority is making sure the engine is sound.

Nate

[Cevans811]

yeah i dont know what was done to the car. the carfax showed a very clean history and maintence done well i only really need the car to last until the summer its my final semester at school when i get home im getting something newer. im thinking about trying the transmisson fluid the basd thing is ive only done about 40 miles with the car since i got it

[crazyquik22023]

Auto-rx is a good engine flush, but if your oil light is already coming on then the pickup tube is already clogged with debris and no engine flush will likely help. If you actually want to fix it the correct way you would need to do a desludge, then drop the oil pan and change the pickup tube. Dropping the oil pan will require lowering the subframe and/or lifting the engine up about 2 feet. Also the oil light does not come on until the engine is at 2000 rpms or higher so it will never come on at idle.

[Cevans811]

Auto-rx is a good engine flush, but if your oil light is already coming on then the pickup tube is already clogged with debris and no engine flush will likely help. If you actually want to fix it the correct way you would need to do a desludge, then drop the oil pan and change the pickup tube. Dropping the oil pan will require lowering the subframe and/or lifting the engine up about 2 feet. Also the oil light does not come on until the engine is at 2000 rpms or higher so it will never come on at idle.

Thank you so much. I've done so much reading on this I didn't know about the light not coming on below 2000 rpm. But yeah guess this car is basically junk than nothing I an do to fix it or rig it to last a few months...

[SN95Audi87]

Thank you so much. I've done so much reading on this I didn't know about the light not coming on below 2000 rpm. But yeah guess this car is basically junk than nothing I an do to fix it or rig it to last a few months...

If its a low mileage B5, its not necessarily junk. Just needs some very important maintenance ASAP you know. It just sucks that this happened at the most inconvenient time. Mine had this issue as well but I bought it with this service done. The pan was dropped and I see a make shift gasket around the oil pan. Also there was a class action law suit with Audi on this as well. Just dont give up and make wise decisions. The car can be very reliable but you need to pull out the weeds first.

Also I recommend Amsoil Engine/Trans flush. Its a detergent for cleaning out engines and transmissions, it will not hurt the motor because it doesn't have any aggressive chemicals in it. Also use a 25,000 Mile oil filter they offer. It will clean up any residual debris down to micron level. Its almost a 20 dollar filter but its worth it in my eyes.

[Cevans811]

Yeah unfortunately I'm out of money and don't have the money to get this fixed by a shop or the tools/know how to fix it so this car is basically useless was hoping for a temporary fix to get it to the summer but it's not looking like there is one out there so not sure what I'm going to do with the car now.

[SN95Audi87]

Yeah unfortunately I'm out of money and don't have the money to get this fixed by a shop or the tools/know how to fix it so this car is basically useless was hoping for a temporary fix to get it to the summer but it's not looking like there is one out there so not sure what I'm going to do with the car now.

Store it properly and see if you can find another one, a 5 speed civic hatch works or something economical with a low price tag.

[walky_talky20]

There is a chance of doing a quick fix. It is not commonly done, or really recommended - and may only be possible on certain 1.8T's (perhaps AEB/ATW engines like yours). It is described with success in this post:

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...=1#post7246881

The rest of the thread is good information. Unfortunately the photo of the tool he made is no longer there, but he has a pretty nice description of it anyway. With an intermittent oil pressure warning, you are operating in the danger zone. Very low amount of lubrication is happening to critical engine parts. Your engine is being starved for oil because the pump inlet (pickup tube) is clogged. This is an overwhelmingly common problem for1.8T's which are not taken care of (and even some that are!). They are sort of predisposed to this issue. This is what you are quite likely battling:



With some luck, you could use the tip from that post - scrape the gunk out of the screen - flush with some diesel fuel - THEN CHECK THE OIL PRESSURE WITH AN ACTUAL GAUGE TO MAKE SURE YOU'RE GOOD - and the engine will probably live. With some luck, that is.