Faulty oil sensor?

Indi

Member
Low oil light won’t turn off.

The light came on so I checked the dipstick, the oil was low so I topped it up. Despite this the light hasn’t turned off.
Does this sound like a faulty sensor, or does it need to be reset manually after filling or something?
I accidentally overfilled it slightly, if that’s relevant...


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No that’s a faulty sensor. No manual testing needed

Petrol or diesel ?


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1.4 petrol.
It’s got no oil in it at the moment as when I went to drain out the excess I put in I found the sump drain plug threads were stripped, so I’ll change the sensor before I fill it again.
Thanks.


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1.4 petrol.
It’s got no oil in it at the moment as when I went to drain out the excess I put in I found the sump drain plug threads were stripped, so I’ll change the sensor before I fill it again.
Thanks.


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Another longshot. Do you know if your service flap alarm switch is working ok.
I believe (but I may be wrong) that when you open the flap to top up the oil it resets the warning (if the level is high enough). If your flap alarm trigger button is faulty it would not sense the flap being opened and so it thinks that you haven’t topped it up.
As I say a longshot, but it is easy to check. Try locking the car with the flap open and the hazards shouldn’t flash if it is working ok.

Steve B
 
Another longshot. Do you know if your service flap alarm switch is working ok.
I believe (but I may be wrong) that when you open the flap to top up the oil it resets the warning (if the level is high enough). If your flap alarm trigger button is faulty it would not sense the flap being opened and so it thinks that you haven’t topped it up.
As I say a longshot, but it is easy to check. Try locking the car with the flap open and the hazards shouldn’t flash if it is working ok.

Steve B

Thanks, I’ll definitely check. Part of the latch is snapped off so I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s other problems with the hatch.


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If the catch is broken a previous owner may have disabled the alarm trigger because the alarm would not set (because the car “thinks” that the flap is open. Either that or it would be triggering the alarm as the flap was not secured.
Steve B
 
1.4 petrol.
It’s got no oil in it at the moment as when I went to drain out the excess I put in I found the sump drain plug threads were stripped, so I’ll change the sensor before I fill it again.
Thanks.


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I'm having a similar issue, the red flashing/beeping oil light comes now and then, but disappears after 2min or when start the car again. Oil level is good.

Do you know how to change the oil level sensor on the bottom of the crank case or the oil pressure sensor on top, next to EGR? Cheers
 
I'm having a similar issue, the red flashing/beeping oil light comes now and then, but disappears after 2min or when start the car again. Oil level is good.

Do you know how to change the oil level sensor on the bottom of the crank case or the oil pressure sensor on top, next to EGR? Cheers

Mine never disappears, it always beeps when I start the car and then the orange low oil level indicator stays on until I stop, so I’m hoping for me it’s the sensor/button in the service hatch.
From what I understand your symptoms sound more like the typical oil sensor failure, which If it is the oil level indicator (as opposed to the low pressure indicator) then the oil level sensor is the common culprit...

I’m not an experienced mechanic or anything so am probably not the best person to take advice from, but the level sensor just has 3 bolts I believe, so just drain the oil, unbolt and unplug the cables and put in the new one.
But again, probably worth getting clarification elsewhere if you’re unsure, as if I need to do mine I’d just be trying it and seeing what happens...

Maybe that helps xD


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Mine never disappears, it always beeps when I start the car and then the orange low oil level indicator stays on until I stop, so I’m hoping for me it’s the sensor/button in the service hatch.
From what I understand your symptoms sound more like the typical oil sensor failure, which If it is the oil level indicator (as opposed to the low pressure indicator) then the oil level sensor is the common culprit...

I’m not an experienced mechanic or anything so am probably not the best person to take advice from, but the level sensor just has 3 bolts I believe, so just drain the oil, unbolt and unplug the cables and put in the new one.
But again, probably worth getting clarification elsewhere if you’re unsure, as if I need to do mine I’d just be trying it and seeing what happens...

Maybe that helps xD


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To me the red flashing comes on 1-2 times a week and always goes away after a bit, but definitely need to sort that.

Can anyone recommend 1.4 petrol AUA 2001 model OIL PRESSURE and OIL LEVEL SENSOR to buy? I might as well change both of them, but there's too many on eBay and don't want to end up with bad quality ones, thanks.
 
I just left mine alone and it fixed itself one day ! There was no Rattling from the Engine. No Oil Pressure Low Warning Lamp. The Oil Level was at Max. Just the Oil Level Low Warning was on all the time. I just using the A2 as usual. One day the Warning went away and has never come back. That was about 2 years ago. I think the cure might have been associated with driving up and down some particularly steep hills.

Steve
 
If the catch is broken a previous owner may have disabled the alarm trigger because the alarm would not set (because the car “thinks” that the flap is open. Either that or it would be triggering the alarm as the flap was not secured.
Steve B

The switch appears to be completely missing which would explain it :)
There is a plug on a wire that ends just behind the hole and not a plugged into anything so I’ll try shorting that at some point to see if that sorts the light.
Thanks, Indi.


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I think that the switch would be “normally open” when the flap is closed so in its current disconnected state it is “telling the car” that the flap is constantly closed. I would recommend getting a secondhand switch With the connector still on it. (there should be lots around. A2Steve?). you will also need the flap latch too (sane source?).

Best do that than risk shorting it out? just in case? After all the real solution is to replace it and repair the latch so that it is functioning properly?

Steve B
 
I think that the switch would be “normally open” when the flap is closed so in its current disconnected state it is “telling the car” that the flap is constantly closed. I would recommend getting a secondhand switch With the connector still on it. (there should be lots around. A2Steve?). you will also need the flap latch too (sane source?).

Best do that than risk shorting it out? just in case? After all the real solution is to replace it and repair the latch so that it is functioning properly?

Steve B

I’ve got a new hatch and sensor on their way from A2Steve, and I’m feeling reasonably hopeful that this will fix it.

I did go to try and short it out but the wire I had on hand was to thick to fit in the sockets of the plug. Potentially, as you say, not a bad thing...

Thanks for your help!


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What has the Service Flap being Open got to do with the Oil Level Sensor ? My Alarm used to keep going off because the Service Flap does not Shut as far as it should, so I just disconnected the Alarm Switch and left it disconnected. Alarm problem fixed, permanently !
 
What has the Service Flap being Open got to do with the Oil Level Sensor ? My Alarm used to keep going off because the Service Flap does not Shut as far as it should, so I just disconnected the Alarm Switch and left it disconnected. Alarm problem fixed, permanently !

The oil sensor isn’t good at detecting sudden changes in level, I think, so the way around this is that when the car detects the service hatch opened it assumes you did it to fill the oil and turns of the light for a while. I believe this means you can get rid of an oil light for a few hundred miles by opening and closing the hatch without topping up the oil.
But because my switch is missing it always thinks the hatch is closed so thinks it hasn’t been filled. (I may be wrong but this is my understanding)


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When the low oil warning light comes on it will stay on until you have topped up the oil. The system will reset the warning if you have topped up the oil.
When you open the service flap to check the oil level it resets the warning (if the level is high enough.

if the alarm trigger button for the flap is disconnected (perhaps the previous owner took it off because of false alarms from the broken flap catch) the system does not detect the flap being opened (of course) so it does not recheck to see if the oil level is now sufficient.

These little cars are quite clever!!

Steve B
 
@66Beetle By the way, if you disconnect the flap alarm switch I think that you might find that your alarm is no longer being set, so yes, no more false alarms, but only because you have no alarm set at all (that might be ok though because the alarm beep on an A2 is so quiet that having it not set is not so bad)

With your flap alarm switch Disconnected are you sure that the alarm is setting?

The hazard lights flash when you lock the car but that does not mean that the alarm is set.
There are two separate VCDS settings for the hazard flash. One that flashes when the care is remotely locked and one when the alarm is set.

Steve B
 
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