Oil Pressure Gauge

wayne964 · 08-10-2006, 08:27 AM

I have a question for the forum. I had my C2 in for unrelated oil service and when I picked it up I noticed that I was registering an oil level on the gauge even when the car was cold. Usually I stay in the red or very low until the car warms up and then it will register at about 03:00. The gauge was registering about 01:00 cold and after the car warmed up it pinned like the oil level overfilled. Any Ideas on why this is happening?

kang · 08-10-2006, 10:28 AM

Yep, they overfilled the oil tank. This can cause it to overflow and make a mess in your engine compartment, or get sucked down the intake via a vent tube.

You can siphon some off. Just stick a hose down the oil filler and siphon it out. A clear hose helps here, as you can see where the oil is as it comes up the hose. You don't want to get any in your mouth.

Or, open the engine drain plug. Let that quart or so drain out, and then refill what you need to.

Or take it back to the shop and have them do it. But they might say this is a normal amount of oil.

wayne964 · 08-10-2006, 11:00 AM

Kang, Thanks for the info but after reading my own post it was not very clear. The shop did not do an oil change on the car. They were performing some other work. I had the deck lid replaced by them with an RS America deck lid from MA Shaw. They also did a recharge on my air but did not do anyhtin with the oil. That is why I am so confused by what is happening.

kang · 08-10-2006, 11:09 AM

Hmmm, prehaps the hit the oil level sensor or something, but that's no where near the work they did.

I'd take it back to them.

wayne964 · 08-10-2006, 11:32 AM

Kang, Thanks I dropped it off again this morning. They were saying the same thing about not doing anyhing with the sensors. However, they may have accidently done something trying to bypass the spoiler warning light in the clock. I had to fax them the correct jumpers to get the warning off. I know they were around my cruise control when trying to dismantle the alarm.

kang · 08-10-2006, 12:56 PM

Good luck. Let us know what they find.

wayne964 · 08-11-2006, 05:29 AM

Kang,
Well I am totally confused now. They started by changing the oil and getting all the correct levels in and it corrected the problem. So I am told. I picked it up this morning and all looks good so far. I have no idea why that would have happened since all was working fine prior to the deck lid being replaced. Also, why would changing the oil make the oil level gauge behave itself. Anyway all is good for now. Thanks for the help on this one.

kang · 08-11-2006, 07:26 AM

Well, it sounds like it was indeed overfilled. "Getting all the correct levels in and it corrected the problem" explains it. How it got overfilled is the only remaining question. Perhaps someone at the shop added a quart for some reason.

It wasn't changing the oil that made the gauge behave itself, it was getting the correct amount of oil that fixed it. You could have done the same thing with my siphon suggestion above, by draining 1 quart. All they did was drain 10 quarts and put 9 back in, or whatever the numbers are.

colo964 · 08-11-2006, 12:47 PM

Probably not much to worry about. Mine has registered as much as 2/3 full when cold, no problems. The only time I had oil sucked into the intake, it was 1 qt low and I hit a sharp bump (drive thru car wash) when I think the cold water also suddenly shut the thermostat. Mine loses 1 qt every 1500 miles so a little too much not be a problem in a month.