Fabia 1.2 TSI Red Oil Light

[Fordyman]

Hi All,

 

Long time lurker, first time poster.

 

We recently had our 1.2 TSI (2011, 31k Miles) booked in for an Oil and Filter change. After about 3 miles on the way home the red oil light came on and beeped 3 times - which I believe is Oil Pressure. Back to the garage.

 

They hooked the car up and it was complaining about not liking the oil, which was: Helix Ultra ECT 5W-30 (which they said was perfectly OK for a variable service length). They then put in some Helix Ultra ECT C2/C3 0W-30 (and a new filter), which was also on the 'supported' list.

 

Off we go and almost home and the light comes on again! It was 6pm now, so now way of going back that night.

 

Go back the next day and no light all the way there, hooked it up to computer and everything was saying 'OK'. Drive back and the dreaded light comes back when we're almost home again!

 

Doing a bit of searching it could be an oil pressure switch, but what I don't understand is why straight after an oil change. Now I need to obviously drive it back there but I'm scared of doing some long term damage?

 

Help!

 

[xman]

Check the oil level, carefully. I.e. dead level ground and stood at least 10 mins.

If its too high (above the top kink) then the oil can aerate due to the crankshaft churning the oil, the oil pump cannot handle aerated oil and hence no pressure.

If its below the bottom kink you can lose pressure on corners, accelerations, hills etc.

Low oil pressure warning is deadly serious and if you ignore it even for a few seconds, serious, irreparable damage is likely.

[Ootohere]

??

How much oil is charged for on the Bill?

Was it 3.6 litres.?

 

Lets hope the correct Oil Filter has been used, 

Do you have a Part Number for that?

 

 

As to checking the Oil, do it as VW says for this engine. 

At Operating temperature, and wait a few minutes.  (A few is not more than 10 minutes.) If it was they could say 'Wait More than 10 Minutes.

But then Skoda says Check when Warm. (bad translation.)

 

So best Dip it when Stone Cold & on the Flat and see how much oil is in.

 

Maybe use Oil that is Perfect for Fixed Services, 5w 40 Full Synthetic VW 502 00 & change every 10,000 miles,  

Unless you want Variable servicing and lots of miles covered between  Oil & Filter changes.

So that needs to be 5w 30 Full Synthetic Long Life (VW 504 00)

Edited 11 February, 2016 by GoneOffskiroottoot

[fabiamk2SE]

I think it would be fair to ring the garage and ask them to recover it?

I too wouldnt want to be driving it like that, certainly not until you know the problem.

If it is too high oil level, thats worse than a low oil level.

[szatyo]

Hello Fordyman, can you please let me know what was the outcome? I'm currently in exactly the same situation with my Skoda Rapid 1.2 TSI.

(Took it for oil change and after a mile the pressure warning came on. Took it back, checked everything but they can't find the fault).

[Ootohere]

Welcome.

If the correct oil was used, & the correct quantity,

so 5w 30 VW 504 00 or 5w 40 VW502 00 then you need to be sure the correct oil filter was fitted correctly, ie not over tightened.

 

That is the basic first checks. 

[szatyo]

Thanks for your reply, I'm taking the car back to the garage tomorrow morning and will check these with them for sure! Will be posting update and out come here later.

[szatyo]

So we changed the filter, adjusted the oil level, cleaned around the spark plugs with compressed air and I went for a test drive for about 5miles. Nothing happened, I turned around and was gonna go back home but then the oil pressure warning came back so I turned around and came back to the garage.....(all the while the engine ran smoothly and perfectly)

[Breezy_Pete]

Did anyone check the oil pressure switch? i.e. unplug it and see if there's oil inside the connector (as tends to happen when the diaphragm inside them starts to leak).

 

[szatyo]

First thing we did was change the switch but it didn't help. The car we're talking about is 63 reg with 23k miles.

[Breezy_Pete]

Fair enough.

Really struggling to imagine why cleaning round the spark plugs might be helpful for an oil pressure problem?

[Ootohere]

Can you explain please.. Was it just a service oil filter change last week.

 Today was the filter too tight,  or wrong filter,  was there to much or little oil in. And was there a mess of spilt oil.  Who is doing this?

[szatyo]

Awayoffski,

The service was done last week Friday including oil change, oil filter, air filter, fuel filter. Today I checked if they put the correct oil in. They did, 5W - 30 Castrol which is approved according to Skoda manual (VW 504 00). I checked the oil filter number, again correct and today they put in a new one and made sure it's not tightened too much. Afterwards I checked the oil level, again correct. Asked them to check if there was any oil spilt, there wasn't, but they cleaned everything regardless with compressed air and cloth. All this was done in the local garage by mechanics. Since the service they have now spent a total of 6 hours on it no charge, including coming to meet me roadside when I first discovered the problem and obviously stoped the engine straight away. It seems obvious that the fault is not mechanical as the engine runs as smooth as ever and when put on pressure gauge, it reads ok. Visually, engine looks like brand new. I'm going back to the garage tomorrow morning, they're bringing a specialist in electrical faults in with sophisticated equipment who will try do diagnose it...fingers crossed.

 

Wino, 

I spent the weekend googling and reading forums about this and in one of the threads I read that somebody who had the same fault and couldn't diagnose it for months eventually found some oil spilt in the spark plug sockets. The problem went away after replacing the spark plugs and cleaning the sockets with air and cloth.

[Ootohere]

The bit at the end for Wino sounds highly unlikely as having had a Low Oil Pressure Warning light on, The Red Oil Can.

 

PS, 

what i have seen and had myself was a Low Oil Pressure warning where the Oil Filler Cap was not on properly and sealed after someone 

had messed up the cap.

Edited 26 June, 2017 by Awayoffski

[szatyo]

Thanks again for your answers. I just drove to work about 5 miles stop and go in London. The red oil can and beep came on after about 3 miles or 10 minutes into the journey as it has done since the service.

Back to the garage in the morning, will post about any findings..

[szatyo]

You'll never guess what it was! The electrics specialist came and checked it all over and found nothing wrong. So he called his Polish mate who works in Skoda factory and explained the symptoms. The guy just casually said: "oh I know, this is a typical problem, take the oil filter off and with your finger reach inside the engine and you will find the little rubber/plastic sealant ring from the bottom of the previous filter sitting there. Just under the oil level, that's why you didn't see it." 

He did it, found it, took it out, put the filter back and voilà: problem gone! 

[Breezy_Pete]

Great result, and thanks for letting us know. Next time someone has these symptoms, you or someone else on here should be able to offer a quick solution, or at least a very worthwhile check to perform.

[szatyo]

No problem. I totally agree and am happy to have contributed to the community!

 

Annoying little fault that could have caused big demage. Can't really fault the garage and the mechanics either. They have about 100 years of experience between them but have never met the problem. Didn't charge me a penny extra even though it cost them about 40 hours of head scratching plus having to bring in the motorhead who eventually had the connection that sorted it.

[ilantech]

Big thanks to szatyo for sharing this experience.  My Mother-in-law had exactly the same symptoms after taking her 2012 Roomster for a simple oil change service.  The gob****es at the local garage replaced the oil pump, oil pump chain, and oil pressure sensor trying to hunt down the issue....and presented her with a bill of more than £700.  Then they told her that this engine only has an expected life of 80,000 KM - and she needed a replacement.

After 15 mins. of Google searching I found this post.  Went up to the old folks place at the weekend...removed the oil filter...and there, clear as day, was the old o-ring.  It took me literally 10 minutes to fix the issue.  Massive brownie points earned, smiles all around.

Winner!!

[szatyo]

Great news, well done! 

My next service is due, wish me luck for things to go smoothly this time around!

[Mrsdingy]

So glad I found this thread.  My Fabia Monte Carlo was serviced at the end of the year and felt something just wasn’t quite right but it was driving ok, until last week when the oil light started to come on.  Found this thread last night and took it to a garage this morning to see about it and there was the extra washer right enough.  Car is running like a dream now. 

Thank you everyone. 

[2ndskoda]

If you look back at recent threads you will find that this 'issue' was covered fully - and the same story re 'A call to a polish friend' was mentioned.

 

How many people in the motor trade have a friend in Poland and at Skoda I wonder!!

 

Hmmmm !!

[Ootohere]

Was it not that i linked this thread in that thread, same Polish friend.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/450278-oil-warning-light-intermitent 

Edited 21 June, 2018 by Offski

[mrgf]

On 6/21/2018 at 16:25, 2ndskoda said:

If you look back at recent threads you will find that this 'issue' was covered fully - and the same story re 'A call to a polish friend' was mentioned.

 

How many people in the motor trade have a friend in Poland and at Skoda I wonder!!

 

Hmmmm !!

 

 

I think you will find this is called "Cross-referencing"! Look at the dates... Szatyo posted the Polish reference back in June, 2017! You yourself have recontribute to this exact same issue on at least two occasions... Ilantech was just resurecting it as it became relevant to him/her, in recent days. That is the beauty of this type of forum.

[2ndskoda]

Thanks mrgf

must admit I did not look at the dates!

Now begins to make sense - Mrs Dingy has quoted the complete thread, which was a past post (if I now understand correctly) which helped her overcome a more recent difficulty.