Re: oil starvation

[Phil@sievers.com (Phil Payne)]

In message <9502011518.AA00971@hawk.anselm.edu> Andrew Shea writes:

> when I go around a corner real fast (read almost too fast), the oil
> light goes on.

Check all earth straps and brown wires connecting the body of the engine to 
the chassis ground.  Check the connector to the oil pressure switch down on the 
side of the engine - either bend out the internal spring to make better 
contact, or replace it.  If you're confident working on a running engine, get
someone to watch for the light while you pull the wires about.  If the oil
pressure sender on the engine block (it's on the radiator side, one cubit
down) has a second terminal, this will operate a 0-5 bar VDO oil pressure
gauge.  More comforting than a light.

That's pretty likely to fix it.  Another (amazing) thing is that workshops 
sometimes accidentally swap oil dipsticks between cars causing incorrect filling
- in one case I know of, VW actually *supplied* the wrong one in a Scirocco,
causing overfilling.  This can be as dangerous as underfilling.

If neither of the above works, there are other possibilities - one is impending
oil pump failure, one is damage to or incorrect fitment of the oil pickup pipe.

Neither is cheap to check, but they're not prohibitively expensive either. An
engine rebuild costs a tad more.

(German garages fill by quantity.  The book says your car takes 3.2 liters?  
They measure out 3.2 liters, and pour it in - without touching the dipstick.) 

Phil Payne
Sievers Consulting UK
Vice Chair, UK Computer Measurement Group
Phone    +44 385 302803
Fax/BBS  +44 1536 723021
Fido     2:2503/415
CIS      100012,1660