Very cold days sets off oil light

daveyonthemove

Smile if you like SEAT's
May 14, 2006
1,519
0
Wrexham
Over the last few days (hard frost etc) my car has decided that it's out of oil. It isn't out of oil, in fact its not even low, but the red oil light flashes continuosly and i get a "Beep" when it starts flashing.
On a day when the temps are mild or warm this won't happen, so its got to be related to the cold.
Doe's anyone have this problem or a solution? Getting to the dealers is tricky so if i can pinpoint the problem i could either sort it myself, or see if VW will have a look at it under warranty.
All advice is welcome.
(its an FR TDI BTW)
 

Mitchy

TTRS
Oct 12, 2004
2,310
0
You are aware your car does not have an oil gauge and no way of telling if you are out of oil etc;)

It has a red oil can warning light on the centre instrument panel that may light up if you have an oil pressure problem.

I think you are referring to the most common known vag fault that has been discussed on here in about 1 billion threads;)

Try a searchy:)

BTW..Your coolant is low :D
 

Timmyboy

Former Cupra Owner
Aug 27, 2005
108
0
Bristol
Thought I'd spare you the search, only because I had the same problem and fixed it last weekend - a week of freezing temperatures, car iced each morning and NO BEEP :)

More than likely the metal prongs which do the sensing in the coolant bottle are covered in crap - very quick solution is to take the top off the expansion tank (where you'd usually fill it up), get a long flat bladed screwdriver - take a look inside and you'll see (if it's similar to a LC anyway) 2 metal rods which go from the eletrical connector bit outside, through the case and into the coolant - give them a good scrape up and down the length of each prong and you're good to go.

Worked for me anyway, and countless others.
 

daveyonthemove

Smile if you like SEAT's
May 14, 2006
1,519
0
Wrexham
You are aware your car does not have an oil gauge and no way of telling if you are out of oil etc;)

It has a red oil can warning light on the centre instrument panel that may light up if you have an oil pressure problem.

I think you are referring to the most common known vag fault that has been discussed on here in about 1 billion threads;)

Try a searchy:)

BTW..Your coolant is low :D
Coolant level is bang on the line. I described the oil light as that was the only indication i had and (rightfully) assumed someone else might have had the same and could relate to it. And the most common topics on this site are normally answered with "MAF", or relate to wooshy dump valves for your LCR boys! But your post was more than helpfull so cheers.
 
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daveyonthemove

Smile if you like SEAT's
May 14, 2006
1,519
0
Wrexham
Thought I'd spare you the search, only because I had the same problem and fixed it last weekend - a week of freezing temperatures, car iced each morning and NO BEEP :)

More than likely the metal prongs which do the sensing in the coolant bottle are covered in crap - very quick solution is to take the top off the expansion tank (where you'd usually fill it up), get a long flat bladed screwdriver - take a look inside and you'll see (if it's similar to a LC anyway) 2 metal rods which go from the eletrical connector bit outside, through the case and into the coolant - give them a good scrape up and down the length of each prong and you're good to go.

Worked for me anyway, and countless others.

Cheers mate. I'll give this a go when i get to work and hope it does the job.
 

lc_allan

Northern Monkey
Sep 15, 2006
3,389
4
Davey in non search cold start beep shocker ;)

Mods please make this a sticky :lol:

J/K :fool:
 

daveyonthemove

Smile if you like SEAT's
May 14, 2006
1,519
0
Wrexham
So for future reference should i search:
Oil light that actually means coolant?
BEEP on cold start, but actually beeps 3 times?
No oil gauge but red light indicates there might be?
or should i take a pot luck guess and click on any of the topics on the forum as there is over a billion of them with this answer in so the odds are pretty good on me finding it?
Alternatively i'll just continue to try and find the answer i need, and then ask someone for help like i always do.... ;)
 

Jonesy

Leftie and Proud
Sep 27, 2004
420
0
Pig Hill
So for future reference should i search:
Oil light that actually means coolant?
BEEP on cold start, but actually beeps 3 times?
No oil gauge but red light indicates there might be?
or should i take a pot luck guess and click on any of the topics on the forum as there is over a billion of them with this answer in so the odds are pretty good on me finding it?
Alternatively i'll just continue to try and find the answer i need, and then ask someone for help like i always do.... ;)

or you could have looked here

It must be groundhog day :p

.
 

UncleFester

Grumpier by the day!
Apr 30, 2006
4,764
1
Milton Keynes
www.facebook.com
I sorted it in even less time than that, now i know it's just an idiot light for the contents of the coolant bottle, i'll do a manual check if i see it again and promptly ignore it! I had an experimental scrape of the prongs but after 2 seconds thought f*** that. They didn't look dirty in the first place, i just think it's another of the cars 'quirks' :)
 

Timmyboy

Former Cupra Owner
Aug 27, 2005
108
0
Bristol
Not necessarily - my coolant level was spot on perfect and the metal probe thingies were a nice and shiny metal colour with no obvious crap covering them - scrape did the trick however.
 

UncleFester

Grumpier by the day!
Apr 30, 2006
4,764
1
Milton Keynes
www.facebook.com
Depends how you define quirk, strange that it only seems to cause problems in prolonged cold spells - we've had cold snaps before and it hasn't done it until now. I actually wonder whether some dielectic grease on the prong ends that go into the plug would be a better idea - it might be a loose contact / poor conductivity that causes it.

If it was just dirty prongs / limescaled then it should fail irrespective of the temperature outside. Maybe it's a thing with VW coolant that it looses the ability to conduct between the prongs during very cold weather?

In fact the more i think about it the more i'm convinced it's the contact between the prongs and the plug - you effectively scrape that when you pull it off to check it which would make scraping the prongs a red herring?
 

Timmyboy

Former Cupra Owner
Aug 27, 2005
108
0
Bristol
slightly embarrassing to admit (but I will anyway :p) - the first time I read about scraping these prongs, I automatically assumed it was the ones on the contact with the plug (e.g. outside the coolant bottle) and was pissed off when, some scraping later, it didn't fix it. Only spotted the long prongs when peering into the bottle itself - idiot :lol:

Here's the other thing I find strange - it's a well known fact that switching the car off and back on again (even hours later, or straight away) you don't get the beep - unless it's clever enough to only warn you once in a 24 hour period or something, unlikely though.
 
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