# DIY Oil Pressure Pressure Light Switch (High Pressure oil pressure sensor)



## capsolo99 (Dec 29, 2006)

DIY Oil Pressure Sensor Replacement (oil pressure light switch)
This is a DIY for people who aren't expert mechanics. I spent the time making this because I've found it to be a common problem people have asked about and I believe this simple DIY will help. As far as I know there is no detailed DIY and I'm creating this for the people who know what's wrong, want to fix it, but aren't sure if they'll do it right.
I've created this DIY so that people who are not very technically inclined can save some money. I am not a mechanic but have gathered information and with a little help from family, and vortex members, I've been able to fix some simple common problems with my Jetta. If I am wrong, it is plain misinformation and I apologize and will correct any errors
My car is a 96 Jetta 4 cylinder 2.0L 8 valve. I believe this fix can be done on all MK3 models with a 4 cyl 2.0L gasoline engine.
This DIY is for changing the HIGH PRESSURE oil sensor (located on the top of the oil sender unit). In my case it was white. And rated at 23-29 PSI
NAPA Part ECH OP6111 It will come with a metal crush washer
It took about 5 minutes to do.
Overall Problem: My oil light and alarm is coming on. I am leaking oil. 

LOCATE THE LEAK: There are a million places oil can leak. Pop the hood and see if you can see any oil coming out. I had a friend rev it up to about 3000RPM and saw it was leaking out from the oil pressure sensor located on the oil sender unit. 








THERE ARE 2 OIL PRESSURE SENSORS: There are two different oil pressure sensors. One located on the oil sender unit above the oil filter and one located near the top of the engine. The one you DONT want to change today is the one that is coming out from the top of the engine block (if you're facing the car the top sensor is on the drivers' side of the engine. It looks like a bolt with a rubber casing and a wire coming out of it but we wont replace that one today.
FIND THE ONE YOU'RE REPLACING: The sensor that you WANT to change is coming up out of the unit the oil filter is attached to. I believe it is the called oil sender unit. The sensor looks like a bolt with a rubber casing over the sensor with a wire coming up out of it. You will find that the oil isn't coming out of the top of the sensor instead it's coming out where the sensor screws into the oil sender unit. The seal is broken and needs to be replaced.








2 SENSOR TYPES: This is where it got tough for me. I read into it and found that the two different sensors measure 2 different pressures. the oil sensor that needs to be replaced measures high oil pressure but because it's located physically lower within the engine bay it's commonly referred to as the "lower oil pressure sensor," . However this specific sensor is for measuring oil under high pressure. Hence some confusion.
I researched and found there are a bunch of different colors available. I searched NAPA and found 2 high pressure oil sensors. The one I purchased was from NAPA. I got the white one. Product # ECH OP6111. This sensor is rated to close at 23-29PSI or 1.8Bar (measurement for pressure) It will come with a metal crush washer.








REPLACEMENT: 
1) Once I found out which one I needed to be it was very easy to replace. You can remove the oil dipstick to get to it easier. First carefully remove the rubber boot squeeze the boot and gently shimmy it and pull up. It should pop off. Within the rubber boot is the metal contact.
2) Now the oil sensor is exposed. I used a plumbing wrench to unscrew it. Luckily because there is oil on the underside it wasn't very tough to unscrew. Take it out along with the metal crush washer. DONT DROP ANYTHING IN THE HOLE. That would not be good.
3) Put the washer on the new sensor and screw it in. I didn't measure any torque but I tightened it so that it was a little bit past snug.
4) Now the contact on the wire must fit over the new sensor's contact. I pulled the rubber boot up the wire so that I could connect the contact easily. The wire seemed delicate so be gentle.








5) Once the contact was connected I pushed the rubber boot down over the sensor.
6) BEFORE I started the engine I checked the oil dipstick to make sure I had enough oil. Unfortunately I had way too much in there so I had to drain some of the oil from the oil pan.
ALL DONE! Some sensors require the battery to be disconnected for 5 minutes but I didn't disconnect the battery and it all worked out fine.











_Modified by capsolo99 at 6:22 PM 3-23-2009_


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## Drewker (Oct 21, 2012)

*youdamannowdawg!*

Thank you for taking the time to make this guide. I just bought a 1996 golf and one week later encountered this problem. I've never been much of a mechanic, but I'm trying to learn with this car. Reading your guide helped me diagnose the problem and made me confident it was something I could handle. I tackled it first thing the next morning and claimed my first (very small) victory in automotive mechanics.  Thanks again


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## odeith909 (Oct 8, 2012)

Hey this is a good DIY you got here, just thought I'd add to it for anyone else who will happen to run into the same problem I did. On the mk3 VW Golf/Jetta/Gti 2.0 aba engines there are two oil pressure sensors, a high pressure and a low pressure. I recently had trouble with an oil leak from the low pressure sensor which is blue in color, and located above the one you show here on the drivers side head of the engine. 

Here is a link to a great write up I found looking for an answer.

Here is a picture of the low pressure sensor location in my engine bay (95 Golf obd1), should be the same for all years mk3.




> Here are the part numbers listed on the link for the oil pressure sensors, just in case.
> 
> --------------
> 
> ...


Just did a quick search on Advanced Auto Parts and found exactly what I was looking for after not having all that much luck with the above part numbers, so take them for what they are.

Here is the link for all the Mk3 Oil Pressure Sensors.


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## Mr.loops (May 27, 2010)

Very nice right up!

For those wanting to know the torque spec for the oil high oil pressure switch: 18ft-lbs


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## None-VW (Nov 6, 2010)

already replace my sensors..

But not work for me 

already disconect the batery cables get it reset..but only the light when off for about 10min..after that. this anoying noise came back on again.
banghead:

its any other way to get that light off??cut cables or anything??


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## odeith909 (Oct 8, 2012)

None-VW said:


> already replace my sensors..
> 
> But not work for me
> 
> ...


Nah, don't cut any cables, as long as your engine runs fine I wouldn't worry about the light much. It could also just be oil gunk covering the filter on your oil pump. In which case you can either remove your oil pan, after draining your oil of course, and physically check for particles and remove them yourself.

Otherwise check the troubleshooting section of the link I posted as well as the comments, Vince did a good job of replying to questions people had about their mk3,2,&1 Vw's oil sensors. :thumbup:


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## snowmanii (Mar 4, 2011)

*Oil pressure sender bad*

I actually found a leaking sender (after changing the oil cooler seal ). Oil coming from under rubber cap. took cap and wire off, oil coming from in between plastic and wire connector on top of oil pressure switch.


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## sassassin (May 7, 2011)

I had a blue one on my cabrio it was leaking I changed it with a brown one will that affect anything?


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## drakeortiz96 (Mar 21, 2016)

Greatly helped me, couldn't figure out which sensor to buy for my girlfriends car

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk


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## Jmk3v (Mar 7, 2020)

What size wrench do I need to remove the oil pressure sensor?


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## iAmSatan (Jun 24, 2021)

Jmk3v said:


> What size wrench do I need to remove the oil pressure sensor?


 24mm


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