# Oil pressure - stop engine warning



## aammiinnee (Mar 1, 2015)

Hi guys, 

I Have a VW CC 2009 2.0T, with about 94000 km on it. 

Last week I was driving back home at night when the Oil Pressure warning came on as I was going out of the Hight way 2 blocks away from my house.

I slowed down since I was only 2 minutes away. 

Here is what happened in the next days : 

1 - the Next morning I check the Dip Stick, the oil level was extremely low. I Had my previous oil change 8 months prior and only drove 6000 km. I added oil to top it off (put around 2-2,5L of Castrol Edge SAE 5W40)

2 - the same night drove about 10 km and the light came on again. So I stopped the car, checked the Dip Stick, checked for oil leaks. Everything seemed fine. At that point I was thinking, maybe I've put in too mush oil, so I went for an oil change (Castrol Edge SAE 5W40) the next day and asked the mechanic to check for any leak or anything that could explain the light. 
He changed the oil, the filter and told me that my oil pan was getting old (rust on the bottom, but no leak), but nothing that needed changing right away. 

3 - Same thing, drove for 10 km light came on again. Called the dealership to try and get some answers, they asked me if I did an oil change and if I used an after market filter. I told him yes and he said that that was the issue (the filter) That I would be getting an oil pressure warning while turning. But this is not the case, I'm getting the warning while driving in a straight line, basicly when the engine gets hot. 

4 - I didn't change the filter (Wasn't the first time I used this filter), and went back to the mechanic to make him check again if everything was sealed adequatly and told him about the filter. He double checked everything was tight, he lifted the car to check for leaks. We saw oil on the side of the oil pan, but that oil was coming from above (on the passenger side). It was not leaking, more like oil stains, witch could have been caused by the oil change in the morning, or maybe something else.

5 - I went to another mechanic to get a second opinion. He asked me if the engine was cleaned before the oil change (not the case) and thought it might be the pressure oil sensor. since my oil level was low and the engine was not cleaned, he tought it might be a misreading of the sensor that would too dirty. So we changed the sensor (OEM), the mechanic added a Liqui Moly additive to the oil that "helps the seals", he let the car run for a while, and took it for a drive, no light.

6 - Came back to pick up the car, Light came on again after 10-15 km, got tired of it so I decided to take out the sensor and put in a pressure gauge to actually see the oil pressure and here are the results that I got (I drove the car for 10-15k so the warning would come back again before doing the test) : 
- Idle (hot) : 10 PSI, steady needle
- 2000 rpm : 35-40 PSI, little bit shaky 
- 3700 rpm : 46-50 PSI, Still shaky, (I have a video of this last one) I can post it if needed

Are these reading good or bad ? 

At this point I'm thinking of changing the filter, but I feel like that is not the problem...

Any ideas on what I should check/do next ? 

Also do you think it is safe to drive the car since there's clearly pressure ? 

Note that I have no "knocking noise" at the moment and never had.

Thanks


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## aammiinnee (Mar 1, 2015)

Anybody ?


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## WILLCCU (Oct 26, 2015)

The internet is full of oil filter horror stories and There are more prejudices for and against different brands that it will make your head spin. So my short answer is yes, change the filter to an OEM brand and make sure you top off any oil loss. Worst case; your only out $15-$20. Best case; it fixes the problem. 
If it still does not fix the problem, go back to a VW mechanic. A shaky oil pressure gauge can be aerated oil, a bad engine bearing or all sorts of things. 
Just before I lost ALL of the bearings in my race car, the needle looked like a sewing machine needle! I caught it in time without total destruction. But it still cost plenty of $$$...


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## BORA RSI (Oct 19, 2001)

Change the filter.


Those readings are fine. 

Next would be changing the sensor. If that's not it take the oil pan and see if there's anything there. 

I had that happen to my old cc. Oil pan had aluminum shavings. Ended up I I spun a crankshaft bearing. Verrry odd. 


Do the filter and proper oil. Vws are known to be sensitive


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## [email protected] (Dec 23, 2009)

*Oil pressure stop engine light*

Were you able to fix this by changing the oil filter?
I have the same exact issue with the same symptoms. The light never comes on the highway, it only comes on low RPMs inside the city. I have changed the oil pressure sensor and the PCV valve. The PCV valve had two cracks in it, but the issue is still there.
I will change the oil filter and oil, because the last time I changed oil, I think they used a wrong oil type, 10W30, but I am not sure. 

Appreciate any input.


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## BORA RSI (Oct 19, 2001)

[email protected] said:


> Were you able to fix this by changing the oil filter?
> I have the same exact issue with the same symptoms. The light never comes on the highway, it only comes on low RPMs inside the city. I have changed the oil pressure sensor and the PCV valve. The PCV valve had two cracks in it, but the issue is still there.
> I will change the oil filter and oil, because the last time I changed oil, I think they used a wrong oil type, 10W30, but I am not sure.
> 
> Appreciate any input.


Change the oil first and see if that does it. For me it ended up being a spun crankshaft bearing. Which was tearing up the insides and I had alot of metal shaving in the pan. Needed a new engine basically by the amount of shavings. Hope it's not that. If it is I know it can be rebuilt if it's not as bad as mine was.


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## [email protected] (Jun 11, 2014)

It sounds like it could be one of the balance shafts. I had similar symptoms on my car and it was very difficult to diagnose without any teardown.
After removing almost everything from the block itself, we were able to find that the front balance shaft had started to hesitate instead of spinning freely.
The balance shafts are directly linked to the oil pump assembly and either of them do not spin properly, they will cause issues with the pump.










This problem is starting to become more prevalent as these cars age, and I strongly believe that it is associated with the dealer recommended 10k oil changes.
Vehicles that come to my shop that are serviced with 10k oil change intervals also have significantly more chain stretch and wear than vehicles serviced with 5k oil changes.
Also, the oil being used at the VW dealership (especially the oil they were using up until they re-formulated it recently)has a fairly poor additive package.


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## Benwari (Dec 13, 2020)

I am using a VW cc 2011 TSI, currently experiencing oil leak at the engine belt area, but stil can't identify leakage location.. so most time when driving the engine smoke with so much oil on the engine belt.. also give hard start. Error code on shows oil pressure engine off, owners manual... Then the temperature goes up to 190... Please I need help to solve this problem my location is Nigeria is hard to get a good VW mechanic over here.


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## OEMplusCC (Jan 27, 2013)

Benwari said:


> I am using a VW cc 2011 TSI, currently experiencing oil leak at the engine belt area, but stil can't identify leakage location.. so most time when driving the engine smoke with so much oil on the engine belt.. also give hard start. Error code on shows oil pressure engine off, owners manual... Then the temperature goes up to 190... Please I need help to solve this problem my location is Nigeria is hard to get a good VW mechanic over here.


I am assuming you are driving US imported CC with a 2.0TSI ? The leak you are describing is most likely the top timing cover. You need to replace it, no other way around that. 
Once you replace it, then see if the low oil pressure goes away. However, I think it wont. You most likely have a different problem as well.

PS: I would not drive VW with a 2.0TSI if you dont have access to inexpensive VW parts. Youll buy few parts and that will cost more than the car is worth. Honda or Toyota is the way to go in that situation.


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