Mister Quickie

Was driving in the rain yesterday with the a/c on, heard a beep and saw a message "Failed Indicator" preceded by an oil dropper image.

I checked my oil, it was fine. Left the car parked for a little over an hour. Checked the oil level again, it was fine.

Drove back home sans a/c, the indicator didn't come back on. This morning, no a/c & no indicator, will test this out more with a/c

Anyone experience this?

'04 996 non-S, non-turbo

soverystout

How does the oil pressure indicator read?
If your oil is full the the pressure is "normal" then it could just be a computer glitch.

Mister Quickie

On the scale of 1 to 5, it's usually 5 (full) but at times drops to 3 (midpoint) then back up to 5

soverystout

Sounds normal. Plenty of oil + Good oil pressure = no problem.

Mister Quickie

I just got in the car for a short drive, the scale actually reads 0 - 5 (as opposed to the 1 to 5 I posted earlier), doesn't matter the needle only drops to the midpoint every so often (rarely to the bottom), this time I ran the a/c, the notification didn't appear

I'll keep an eye on the oil

pongobaz

If it's random, then it sounds like the oil pressure sender is starting to go. Cheap fix.

03911TT

+1 on the oil pressure sender, I just replaced mine and it was behaving the exact same way as yours.

kpl

before you replace it, clean the electrical connections to it, for some dumb reason they are not very weather/dust proof. Doing that fixed my issue.

RF5BPilot

Happened to me while under warranty. Dealership replaced the sender. Happened once since then and it resolved itself within a few minutes while driving.

Mister Quickie

I asked the service center at the dealer. The part was $78 and they estimated the labor to be about an hour. On the one hand I was told the general rule of thumb was that if a job was under two hours you have a shot at doing it yourself but more than two hours and there's a lot of other pieces that need to be taken apart in order to get to the part in question but on the other hand was told that even though this was an hour or less job, there were certain things that needed to be sealed/put back together properly.

Is this the type of task within the realm of someone whose experience is limited to repairing/maintaining a '91 8v VW GTI but is at the same time mechanically inclined?

If so, is there anyplace I can find a procedure (pictures/diagrams are helpful) on how to perform this step by step along with the necessary tools?

If it's too long for this thread perhaps a recommendation on a Chilton's-type manual for an 04 996. I don't mind buying it since I plan on doing some repairs/maintenance on it myself, time/equipment/experience permitting

Sneaky Pete

have you downloaded the free repair manuals? http://www.cannell.co.uk/Manuals.htm

Mark I

It takes longer to raise the car up & remove the right rear wheel than it does to change the sender. I recommend using the crow's foot & extensions method described in a thread posted by Dharn55. It involves accessing the unit from below (helps to have someone guiding the wrench on top). The other method involves grinding off part of an open-end wrench & working from above. I replaced mine using Dharn's method; literally took five minutes.

996 cab

You sure you want the pressure sensor? I think there is a oil level sensor.

Mister Quickie

@996 cab: not sure now that you mention it.

normally the oil level gauge reads between the midpoint and the high point.
When the "Failed indicator" notice (preceded by a graphic of an oil can) pops up on the dash, the aforementioned oil level gauge drops down to the lowest point immediately.
After a second or so the "Failed indicator" notice disappears and the oil level needle jumps back up

Lerxst

http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/...4%29%2C%20Each