Hi all,

 

I own a Skoda Fabia Diesel 1.6 Tdi (Cr 75).  Recently the red flashing low oil pressure light comes on when the car is warm, it happened a year ago once just before a service which I told the mechanic about and he couldn't see any issues.  Now (10 months later) it has become more frequent and usually occurs when stuck in traffic or going slow after 15 - 30 minutes or so, seems ok when on the motorway.

 

There is plenty of oil, coolant on short runs sub 15 minutes this never happens so appears to be heat related.  Could this be the switch / pressure sensor?

 

One thing I have noticed is I have never heard or seen the radiator fan spin up, probably completely unrelated but wondering if there is an easy check to make on this or perhaps a fuse?

 

Thanks,

 

Ant

You've got a mk2 rather than a mk1, but I'd say it could be to do with the radiator fan, if it's not working. Does the car have aircon?

Hi Wino,

 

Yep probably is a MK2 come to think about it, yep it does have aircon which we hardly use but does work ok.

@Antscran

Welcome to the forum.

So how many miles has the car done in that year or 10 months since the last oil and filter service?

Are you sure that the Oil used at services has bee to VW 507,  so 5w 30 Full Synthetic III (Long life.) ?

 

Worth posting in the Fabia Mk2 section.

Edited 9 May, 20206 yr by Roottootemblowinootsoot

Hi Roottootemblowinootsoot....

 

Thanks for the welcome, not more that 8 thousand miles.

 

I cannot say what oil has been used by the mechanic to be honest, I did buy some of the recommended oil (brand model escapes me right now, not had to put any in though as no top up required) when I first ad the issue last years, but it didn't happen again for say 6 months after that.

Radiator fan should come on within a short time of switching A/C onto max cooling; so that's a fairly easy test.

1 minute ago, Wino said:

Radiator fan should come on within a short time of switching A/C onto max cooling; so that's a fairly easy test.

Cool ok will give that ago, nice little tip.

 

There ins't a fuse for the fan in the fuse box is there?

 

From what I gather the fan as a 3 pin connector, would I be correct in saying this equates to +12V / GND / ?  and pending the connections can this be tested with a multimeter for either open circuit or higher than 'x' resistance?

There will be at least one fuse for the fan, possibly two.  I'll have a look at a wiring diagram when I've finished my lunch.

There are different fuse arrangements depending on gearbox type - manual/DSG/automatic - and manufacture date; it's complicated, so do the A/C test first. If the fan does come on, it's probably not going to be a fuse problem; especially if it comes on at what seems to be a low speed initially (not roaring round). Do you know if it was made early or late in 2011?

Hi Wino,

 

Did the AC test and the fan came on with 5 seconds I couldn't hear it above the engine and difficult to gauge the speed.  That is good news the fan runs I had a Peugeot diesel before this and you could quite clearly hear the fan when it was running and the engine was idling.

 

I can redo the test and leave the AC on full for a few minutes if that will help in identifying anything further?

 

It was registered in September 2011

I think what you've already done proves that both related fuses must be OK, and that the fault is unlikely to be related to the radiator fan.

If it was mine, I would be replacing the oil pressure switch first as they do fail, if the fault goes away then theres your answer, if not then the oil pump needs looking at.

Edited 9 May, 20206 yr by UrbanPanzer

Hi, guys. Was there not an issue on some models, where there was an additional sealing washer/grommet left behind in the oil filter casing, by a careless filter replacer? (Don't want to blame either garage or home mechanic). I seem to recall an issue caused by this, though. 

I may be totally on the wrong track but if I am correct, its an easy fix.

 

Oh, a simple fan test too, make a clearly visible let felt pen marker line on the fan's perimeter rim, and on the plastic frame surrounding it. If the fan moves during a small run, you will see it no longer aligned. Do it a few times to be sure as its unlikely to finish up in exactly the same place twice/thrice!

I know this is very old but believe this was all down to the oil level being too high, I ended up taking a specialist as the oil light came on again with a few weeks of a service, they ran some tests and could not find anything wrong apart from the oil level being too high.  Bleed some out and not had this issue since, back again with a different issue now 🙂

Yes, possibly the too-high oil level was causing the crank to contact it and churn it into a froth. 

The aerated oil would be more compressible than  oil should be, resulting in low pressure.

@Antscran I know it was a few years back but who put in too much oil, and then when you posted there was plenty oil were you not checking as you should with the oil at operating temperature and seeing that it was overfilled?

5 minutes ago, Ootohere said:

@Antscran I know it was a few years back but who put in too much oil, and then when you posted there was plenty oil were you not checking as you should with the oil at operating temperature and seeing that it was overfilled?

It's was a fairly well known garage not going to name a shame, always had trouble checking the oil myself (accurately) as the dip stick has 2 spigots which locks it firmly but this is a faff without a tool to unhook both sides, I didn't live on a flat area then so only checked when parked for shopping if I remembered.