Ihave a 1988 8v , since i bought it ,it has had this annoying problem where the oil warning light and buzzer come on every now and again. what i have done so far to try and cure it: replaced both sensors,removed oil and flushed,replace filter with quality german filter andreplaced oil with castrol (think it was 10w 40). I also cleaned out the breather on top of the engine that was full of mayo. I drive 20 miles to work every day and the light comes on without fail at the same place every day-after going down a hill and slowing down from 60/70 to 30mph,a few seconds later the buzzer and light come on until i lift my foot of the accelerator briefly. It also does it if i'm probably in too high a gear probably doing 40 when in 5th for example,again lifting of the accelerator briefly stops the warning. Generally the engine sounds ok- a bit tappetty on start up but that soon settles down and it performs very well. one thing i have noticed and dont know if it's right or not is when i take off the filler cap -there is no oil splashing about out of the hole,in cars i have had previously oil splashes everywhere when you do this,is this normal? I am getting quite fed up with this and don't know wether to just disconnect the buzer and light and keep my fingers crossed or to do some further investigations-like oil pump/pickup. what do you think? cheers Daz
sounds like the engine is shagged to me!! the two warning circuits buzzer and light are seperate if i remember rightly so for both to going, sounds like you genuinely have low oil pressure. before you condemm it though i would drain the oil, drop the sump off and check the pickup pipe this can sometimes get blocked on high mileage engines that didnt see proper service intervals. Then bung it alll back together put quantum 15/40 in it and try again....
Slightly thicker oil wouldn't hurt (15w40) but sounds like you need to drop the sump off and have a look at the pickup pipe. Take it off and soak it in paraffin, and check that the O ring is OK between the pickup pipe and the pump. It's not common to need a new oil pump, but it's probable that it would wear more if the engine oil was dirty - depends how well the previous owners have looked after it. I think you should see some oil splash round with the filler cap off, although the oil shield on top of the cam bearing caps will stop a lot of it. Edited by: mikehorsb
The oil pressure is supplied by the centrifical force of the crankshaft but the volumn is supplied by theoil pump. It sounds like the screen on the oil pickupis "sludged" up so the volumn is starving the crankshaft. At low speed this is compounded because the crankshaft is not spinning very fast. There are certain road conditions that may be causing the oil to not get to the pickup tube that is already clogged. In sharp/hard cornering this causes the oil in the pan to collect to the side of the pan and the pickup starves. Racers uses a "windage tray" to compensate for this. Cresting a hill or stopping the car at the bottom of a hill will cause the oil to starve the already clogged pickup. Cabbys have a sensitive oil warning system and simply changing to a different oil filter can cause the warning light to come on at different times. I thoughtthe buzzer was only for tellingme tostop driving like a maniac. It is normal for the engine to be a little "tappy" when you first start it up. Ask someone to remove your oil pan and clean the screen. Also, don't think you have the right oil filter just because it is German.
You mentioned that the oil breather is "Mayo". This is telling you that water or coolant is leaking past the head gasket and mixing with the oil. If you check your oil level the level will be rising over a period of time. Sometimes slowly and sometimes it will actually push the oil right out the dipstick tube. I saw one head gasket let go internally and the "mayo" came right out of the dipstick tube. I know that mixing water/coolant with oil is not a great cocktail for your engine but usually there is no bearing damage. (believe it or not). In the old days, before detergent oil, people would drain the oil and fill the crankcase with kerosene. They would drive a few miles then put fresh oil in it again. Little or no harm was done.
Hi Bubster...it's possible that you're right, but in the cool damp conditions of a UK winter, it's common to get condensation through the breathers, causing a smallish amount of mayo in the breathers, or under the cam cover. Over time this can build up enough to need cleaning out. It's especially common if the car does lots of short trips. So mayo + no coolant loss is normally just condensation.
