Engine died and oil light came on without warning

Tiny
MR HAPPY
  • MEMBER
  • 1999 VOLKSWAGEN EUROVAN
  • 245,000 MILES
I a 99 eurovan with a VR6 engine and after letting it run for 8 minutes it died and the oil light came on. This happened twice and the first time it started immediately the second time it would not but let it sit for about 3 minutes and tried it started after that. Between the first and second time I did a hot engine flush and oik change to see if this would help. It appears it did not. Any ideas? Thanks!
Sunday, May 19th, 2013 AT 12:52 AM

4 Replies

Tiny
EXOVCDS
  • MECHANIC
  • 1,883 POSTS
The oil light comes on whenever the engine dies / stalls. Because the oil pump is no-longer creating pressure. Your battery light should have
also come on at the same time.

Did the engine turn over (starter turning the engine) when you tried to start it?

Was the check engine light ON when you turn the key to ON?

Thomas
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Tuesday, May 21st, 2013 AT 6:35 PM
Tiny
MR HAPPY
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Thomas - Thanks for the reply.

Battery light did not come on when the oil light came on. The engine turned over when trying to start but there was no ignition or firing taking place. Turning the engine over reminded me of when a timing belt breaks but this van has a chain.

Other information I have read indicate the take up tube and screen in the oil pan may be plugging. Oil pressure sensors replacement has also been suggested.

I have documentation of previous repairs and issues. One issue has been the check engine light being on. Reading the documentation on the engine light being on, no cause has ever been found that turned the light on and has since been on for some time.

Any other suggestions are appreciated!
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Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013 AT 11:57 PM
Tiny
EXOVCDS
  • MECHANIC
  • 1,883 POSTS
2carpros. Com is not sending me "replies" any more. Sorry about the late reply!

What I meant about the "check engine light", it is supposed to come ON when the key is in the ON position. If it does NOT
come on when the key is ON, then the ECM is not powered-up and that will cause a "no start" condition.

You need to have the ECM scanned to determine what code(s) is stored.

A faulty Engine Speed Sensor (crankshaft position sensor) can cause intermittent stalling or no-starts (cranks but does not fire).

Although it is possible that the oil pick-up screen is restricted (causing low oil pressure and the light to come on) it is more common
on 1.8T engines than VR6 engines. Even if that were the case, should not cause stalling or no-start conditions.

Thomas
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Thursday, May 23rd, 2013 AT 5:41 PM
Tiny
MR HAPPY
  • MEMBER
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Exovcds - Thanks for your replies and suggestions.

Yesterday I did change the fuel filter. When I changed the filter it appears to of been the original one.

I also say that because I have the records / invoices from the first, second, and third owners. None of them ever mentions an fuel filter had been changed. Furthermore, there was some brownish colored gas coming out of the fuel filter.

However, it took a bit of time to get the van started after changing the fuel filter. When it did it ran for 4 minutes and stalled again and would not start. I suspect there might of been some crud still in the fuel line.

I did let it sit overnight and tried starting it this morning and the engine fired up without a problem. It ran without stalling for 18 minutes. I repeated this again later in the day and ran the engine for 20 minutes without issue.

So far the problem appears to of been resolved. Next the real test is to license the vehicle and drive it to see if this reoccurs.
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Wednesday, May 29th, 2013 AT 9:59 PM

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