Hello, Guys! I think I might have a quicky...hope so anyway! I own a '95 Cabrio with about 125K miles, and its been a great car. My wife drives it most and loves the 5-speed and top down, etc. Lately the oil pressure sending unit (to the idiot light) has been leaking enough to drop oil on the driveway occasionally so I've tried to replace the switch with a new one. I've ordered from two different places so far, and here is the problem: I take the old one out, the one thats been leaking fluid (from around the ceramic, not from the screw in connection). The first replacement had a plain washer with it, so I put that on. Started the car, the light went out, and I drove down theroad. About five minutes into the test drive, the warning bell goes off, and the oil light starts flashing! I stop, of course, and notice there is no oil leaking anywhere so I drive back home, put the old switch back on, and continue to use the car. I did the same thing again the next weekend with the same results, this time with a new switch from the same place. That was a month or so ago. This weekend I planned on a new air filter, distributor cap and rotor button, and decided to try the oil switch again. Got all the stuff, put in the air filter, the rotor and distributor cap, and then replaced the oil switch, this time from a different parts place. Guess what? Yep, the same thing! So something is rotten in Oil Switch Land!

My question: Does anyone know if there is a difference between the stock VW switch and those offered at parts houses? I don't really mind losing the oil, but I'd hate to think that I'm stuck with the same old switch forever, mainly because I don't like leaving oil spots every where I park.

Any ideas? Thanks, Brick

 

there are two switches one on the head and one on the oil filter housing if they sold you the wrong one it will set off the buzzer

 

No Kiddin'! Where the heck is the switch on the head? That'll be a first for me because I've been into this wonderful little 2 litre for a couple of years and I've never heard that there were two switches! You have probably helped me out immensely and I thank you for it!

Brick

 

on the side above the coolant flange

 

Is this situation fixed. This may be a little tough for an '86 owner to answer correctly but I have one sending unit on the oil filter housing and one on the drivers end of the head. The one one the head takes 2 wires on my model, one for high pressure and one for low. Plus on the '86 models there are 2 different ones for the filter housing. If it really bugged me I think I would go to a dealer and make sure I was getting exactly what I needed.

 

the big two wire one is for a guage

 

Wow! I had no idea I had so many friends on this forum! I'd like to thank all of you who answered in the last month or so about my dilemma...I'll also tell you what I found out about the issue and how it was resolved. Again, Thanks!

When I first posted my query, I pretty soon got the answer that there were, in fact, two pressure sensors, the one I was seeking and another one on 'the head.' When I learned that I figured it was time to contact a dealer, something I generally save for last, as many of you seem to do! The main issue for me is that I live at the end of the road to nowhere, and any dealer is going to be some sort of drive away! Always!

Okay, I called the VW dealer in the closest town..a short hour's drive...and began the long dialog that I knew was in front of me. I at first asked the same question I'd asked the other third-party vendors, "I need an oil pressure sending unit for a '95 VW Cabrio with the 2.0 litre engine, 5-speed." After a few minutes I learned that there could be about five different units that would screw into that same hole, so it became PartNumber time at my house! I'd remembered there was a Bosch-looking number inscribed on the base face of the sender I had, so I yanked it out and wrote it down, and told the parts man what I'd found. He ordered it and when it came in I went over and picked it up, installed it, and all is well! No leaks, no buzzers, no more freaked out wife, no more $29.00,...Life is good!

On variations of the 2.0 litre engine, there could be as many as three sensors on the oil filter housing! Only one of them would be the gauge, or red light, sensor and the others could be variously oil temperature, or something else. The sensor at the driver's end of the cylinder head could be either one of two from the diagrams the parts man showed me. My car had only the 'one' sender on the filter housing (plus the 'one' in the 'head). If this sender is replaced by ANY of the AutoParts brand 'generic' senders, it will likely fail! I ran through THREE different senders from three different vendors until I went to the dealer.

Seems to me that all the aftermarket vendors (AutoZone, Advance, CarQuest, etc.) should be required to have highlighted warnings in their books stating that the sender they're selling you probably won't work, but I guess that's expecting them to be too honest with the lowly customer so I'm not going to follow through on that one. Just be forwarned: If you start getting leaking (or 'seeping') out of these sensors, first thing to do is pull it out and get the Parts Number! That way you're assured of getting the correct part from your VW dealer! It makes no sense to guess at 'generic' fixes anymore with these complex injection systems! I honestly thought I'd save some money with these Six dollar fixes, but I also expected them to Work! Those days are gone!

Again...Thanks

Brick

 

no problem glad you got it fixed

 

What turned out to be funny about my flashing and buzzing is that after replacing and cleaning all of the connections on all the sensors I could find it still would not stop. But hitting the cluster with my fist would stop it. Well, I replaced the entire cluster, problem solved, knock on wood.

 

ya they have a dynamic oil system with a small circuit board on the speedo head that board likes to wig out on them