vRSRutty

The garage said it had been replaced before as it looks newer and had been replaced by a genuine part. The car is at 95,000 miles. @J.R. In regards to N428, I will try leaving it unplugged, and delete the error code myself, and see if there's any improvement. If there is, could be a pointer to that. I posted a thread above in which a mechanic said he unplugged it and re-coded it, and since then the car has done 20,000 miles problem free, so I deffo think it's worth a shot.

Got it, he did say that's a possibility. I really want to get to the bottom of it, but I haven't got the skill set to check, and the labour cost to check those is something I can't really afford on an off chance it might fix it. Every garage has stressed the amount of hours it'll take to replace the pump, I assume it'll be similar to check it's all in working order. And then when it comes to piston ring jets - that sounds extremely expensive.

No, but they replaced the tensioner, so I assume they'd have seen/checked. I will check once it's back with me. Even if that was the case, would that cause blue smoke?

Ah okay, that's a shame then. Are you suggesting the replacement part could be faulty?

Correct with the oil pressure, 0.4 bar idle and then normalizes and drops off with throttle. The oil pump was visibly newer, presumably replaced just before being sold to me in hopes to fix but then failed to fix etc etc, could be faulty but wouldn't know unless I'm willing to pay £500 or so to have it done, which at this point, I'm not. I haven't had it long enough to notice major oil consumption, it goes through some, but where I haven't been able to use much power I presume I haven't burnt through much either. Not sure if the PCV was checked, after briefly checking the workshop manual I can't see any reference either. Browsing another thread here, a user says a Skoda tech said it's easy to DIY(?) Once the car is back, again, I'll have a little nose around. EDIT: After watching a few vids, seems super easy, worth 1 final shot?

Probably the final update! The garage called me a few minutes ago, and they were 100% times more helpful. They've tested the pressure and it validates what the prior garage said. Unfortunately, the oil pump has been replaced (shortly) before my ownership, they then dropped the sump and it looks fine, the pick-up pipe is clear and they've replaced the filter housing tensioner as well as the oil but to no avail. The car still produces the malfunction code etc. He said that when he took it out for a drive and letting off the throttle at high revs, the car produces blue-ish smoke for about 15-20s after. He believes it could be a deeper issue involving the piston rings or the turbo in either case will be very costly. He said he could replace the solenoid, but with the blue smoke, the chances are very unlikely it'll have an effect. So as it stands - I'm looking at an engine and/or turbo rebuild. I don't think it's a cost-efficient move to continue further sadly.

According to the garage, it's actually low pressure, it was tested with a mechanical gauge which I presume bypassed and electrics, specifically the oil pressure switch.

Hmm okay, thanks.

Found this on Facebook, the original poster stated the issue I'd been having, tried changing sensors but no fix, this was one of the replies.

To be honest, it's barely given me the chance to be able to properly take it out. Whether it was abused by previous owners, I don't know, but that's a chance I'll have to take if I choose to go ahead with getting it fixed. I have some hope knowing that the garage didn't actually check anything, so will see what Thursday brings. I'll keep the space updated and once again thanks to everyone who has offered their help.

Will be looking into it over the next few days, but yeah. I'll be checking out the oil filter and tensioner first, just to rule that out, and then I'll probably leave dropping the sump etc to the garage on Thursday - depending on how adventurous I'm feeling. It wasn't a main dealer but rather a reputable garage who fixes the dealership cars for VW etc. and potentially, but that Level 3 switch is an ass to get to without dismantling the air box and removing some sort of wiring guard/pipe, as I tried changing it myself following the manual but couldn't get access to it. Not saying they didn't do this, but I presumed they just tapped in to either sensor at the top as they're so much easier to access. I don't think it was a case of it's totally ruined, but if I were to get it repaired, chances are it'll be too damaged already and would greatly reduce the lifespan.

It sounds fine, and yeah makes sense, it's just incredibly out of range, is meant to be 0.85-1.6 and operates at 0.4 lol.

Yeah, the only thing that unsettled me slightly is that the garage and my friend have both said an engine running at that low of pressure, is probably screwed. Especially as this issue has been happening for a good few weeks, if not a good couple of months now. Do I spend to investigate and then replace (potentially) a faulty part, for it to then be too far gone anyway? Torn between selling it on and cutting my losses, or having faith and spending more money and time with it to be potentially too far gone.

Update on this! @J.R. @Breezy_Pete @TheClient The garage didn't check why or how the car has low oil pressure. Didn't check the sump, oil pump, pick-up pipe, PCV valve, nada. They said even IF it was any of them, chances are the damage is already done. Just told me it has low pressure and quoted me £8800 for a brand new engine. Is it true that the damage will be already done? It was running at 0.4 bar, and then when accelerating it spikes up and then drops off, a friend of mine told me that an engine running at that low of pressure is probably knackered.

Potentially, I'm surprised it's survived this long knowing what I now know. Will have to see how the next week pans out. I'll pass this on to the mechanic who I'm taking it to next week, he seems more open to the idea of just stripping it and seeing if he can find anything.