Oil pressure warning light question
 

2004 a6 2.7t quattro. ~60k miles.

Feel free to Skip to bold if you don't feel like reading all of this.

I am about 8k into a 10k oil change interval. I am driving home from work on Friday, and the red oil can with no other words (sensor/min) shows up and beeps. Freaks me out so I pull over shut it off and dig out manual. I read that it's bad - low oil pressure. I check the oil, it's low but not really low. I start it up and the warning is gone? I drove home slowly, parked it, added about .5 quart of oil to bring it up to full and started it again - no warning light.

I started it up on monday and pulled out about half way down the block (whenever the revs got over 2k) the light comes on. Park it and take the wife's Touareg. I got the vag com on it last night and couldnn't get it to throw the oil pressure warning - it was "OK" and I drove it around the block etc. Great - fixed itself, my kind of car.

Wednesday morning - today - I go out start it up and let it warm up for 5 minutes even though its like 40 today. I get about 7 miles into my trip when it goes off again - it doesn't stay on though, it comes and goes. Basically just enough to really make me nervous but then calm thinking it's a sensor, then nervous waiting for the engine to seize.

Ideas? Is it safe to drive 30 minutes to the dealer? If I get a manual oil pressure tester gauge, where is the test port on the 2.7? Just do an oil change? Just install a new sensor? I've read conflicting reports - is there 1 or 2 sensors on this one?

Thanks in advance.

I just read over the log and found some issues with oil pressure being "< min"

here's the log if you're interested - bad stuff is at the end.

You've already driven further than I would without checking the oil pressure. I'd start there.

Do you know where the test port is? I was going to hit autozone or napa, but chances of them having directions for this motor seem slim.

when i get home ill look at the bentely and let you know, also ditto on 4driver, i would NEVER drive a car with the low oil pressure light on. especially a 2.7t!

also fwiw, i dont know what oil you are running but i would NEVER do 10k OCI for the 2.7T... WAAAAAy to long. stick to 5000-7500

The oil light comes on and goes out within ~10-20 seconds.

I'm currently using whatever audi spec synthetic comes from pap=parts.

I thought the manual said 10k?

manual also says 105,000 miles for the timing belt change..... look how good that one turned out.

if you have low oil pressure, its nto safe to drive at all. But have hope, i think your oil pressure is fine. here's why.

1. these cars rarely lose oil pressure
2. the symptems you describe, OP warning off at low RPMs (when pump flow is low) and on at high rpms (when pump flow is high) is both back-assward, and a common sign of the OP sending unit(s) failing. I dont know the specifics on your model, btu there are two senders and if one is out of calibration with the other it alarms. Fail safe. And scary.

To be safe, drive below 2k and get it checked asap. Or better yet, have it faltbeeded. Do you have AAA or similar?

Agree with others that 10k on a turbo car is a long time, but i feel it is a red herring to the pint at hand.

G

Thanks for the encouragement. I drove it home from work fine - no lights, but I was keeping it under 2k rpm using the tip - and pissing every one behind me off at stop lights :-).

I am going to pickup a new sender/test manual pressure gauge and do an oil change this weekend.

Does the manual test pressure gauge attach where the sender attaches?

Thanks, I'll let you know how it goes.