Oil problem! New and need help!!

[SLR]

Hey everyone. I've just purchased my first VW, and i'm having some problems. I've already seen a few oil light questions, but mine is kind of different. Here goes...


I first turn on my car, and it runs, idles fine. Oil pressure shows at about 3-4BAR, no oil light, no problems. I can pull away, run it easy or hard, and there are no light issues whatsoever. As the car warms up, the oil pressure drops and by the time the temp reaches about 60C it's already below 1BAR and the lights flashing at me. By the time it reaches 90C it's at ZERO BAR. Is this even possible? Is it possible my gauge is malfunctioning?

The guy I bought this car from told me he had JUST installed a new oil pump. Stock cabby replacement pump. I haven't gotten around to changing the high pressure oil sensor which people immediately have been recommending I do, but would that effect my gauge reading? It wouldn't would it?

Also, the car's got a FRAM oil filter on it... The strange thing is, the guy I bought the car from told me he had JUST done an oil change with the oil pump install; checked the oil when I got home and it was a freaking QUART LOW!! WTF?? So I was like, damn maybe that's why i've got NO oil pressure!? Added a quart, got it in the upper crosshatch level of the dip stick, and still, i'm getting the same readings. Everyones been saying CHANGE THE OIL FILTER. Would an oil filter really destroy your oil pressure like this?

I'm ranting... i'm sorry. I'm just worried my cabby's going to bite the dust and I JUST bought it.
What I guess i'm really asking is, what do you guys think I should do? Do you think my guage is just malfunctioning? Again, it's telling me i'm getting NO oil pressure once my oil temp has gone to normal levels. It doesn't even fluctuate whatsoever. I just bought this car, so money is sort of tight.... Can I take my car to a mechanic and can they check my oil pressure for very little $$$? or will they try and rip me off?

Thanks everyone!

btw... it seems like the worst possible senario is my bearings? are bad? What exactly does this mean, and how difficult would this be to do? I'm new to mechanics, but i'm not afraid to try anything. With not much experience, and if I end up HAVING to do this, would I be able too? Are there any walk throughs anywhere? Do you guys think I should drop the oil pan and inspect the oil pump? What should I look for as far as wear goes?

AHHH Any help would be so greatly appreciated.

[Briano1234]

A fram filter in the words of a poet. "R Crap".

A fram filter is really really bad. Get a wix, or napagold, mobile1, bosch, genuinevw, mahl, or mann. (designed to be better than a fram) they have the internal anti drainback valve that eliminates gunk trapped in the filter from re-entering the oil, and help to maintain oil pressure at Idle.

Bearing are one cause of pressure problems, because they can allow oil seepage, and that leads to a loss of pressure.

So can a broken crank timing gear, read my farging won't start post.

But i really suspect that you may have a pressure sending switch problem. Have your pressure tested by a shop with a mechanical gauge, if that is low then I would get a little worried that you may need to rebuild, if that is normal then you probably have a defective bunch of switches

Go get it tested. Change the filter.

[gull]

Also, what oil weight are you using? This is an older engine design, with larger tolerances than most modern cars, and it needs a heavier oil -- 10W40 is what the manual recommends for summer temperatures. If your gauge is correct the bearings are probably worn, but I would fill it up with 20W50 and see what happens. You may be able to buy yourself some time that way.

Just for reference, if I remember right, VW's spec is that, with an oil temperature of 80C, you must have 2 bar at 2,000 RPM. They don't give a spec for oil pressure at idle, probably because it can vary quite a bit depending on what your idle speed is.