low oil pressure

[jstaton]

I just finished re-torquing my head after installation. I went around the block and as the engine was warming up, the low oil pressure sender started to blink.
It does not appear that I am losing oil, I just changed it when I did the head and put on a new Mann oil filter. The oil light doesn't go off if I rev the engine. I do not believe that I am blowing any smoke out the tail pipe.
Can anyone think of what could have caused a low oil pressure situation from replacing the head?

[Kudagra]

Many times on here it has been stated to NOT retorque the headgasket because it allows it to shift. Hopefully that didnt happen. Ask 935Racer. He knows.

[coke]

What year make and model is your car? This happened on an 84 of mine, however, it was an intermittent problem. Did you change the weight of the oil you used? Like, lets say you were using 20w50, and you went to 5w40 synthetic or something?

I would say hook up a mechanical oil pressure gauge to the head, and be sure your getting at least 8 psi at the head. Make sure the oil pressure senders wire's are connected. One may have fallen off.

[burn_your_money]

Does your coolant guage work? maybe you have the 2 connectors mixed up

[jstaton]

The car is a 1991 na 1.6 hydr head Jetta. I used hylomar on the head gasket. The coolent temp gauge works fine. I let the car idle untill it was warmed up, then retorqued the head 1/4 turn. I had no oil pressure issues before.
I don't think that the weight of the oil is the issue. I degreased the engine last night to see if there are any external leaks, so far I don't see anything.  I am hoping that somehow I have a bad electrical connection or something. I have a spare mechanical gauge I can check the sender at the top of the head.

[jstaton]

I just talked to a guy here at work and he said maybe the oil is getting up to the head, but not draining back to the sump fast enough. This would make the ride around the block seem logical- it is enough time for me to get all of the oil up into the head then run the sump dry. if this is true then:
A) I put the wrong head gasket on (mechanical versus hydraulic)
B) The head gasket slipped
C) I have an incompatable head.

[wyldman]

Check the oil pressure first,to determine if it's an internal engine problem,or an electrical problem.My best guess is a wire knocked off\crossed,a bad connection,or a bad oil pressure sender.That's usually the case if the engine was fine before.

[jstaton]

Thanks for the replies. I am hoping it is electrical. I have an old SW mechanical oil pressure gauge somewhere and I plan on hooking it up this weekend.
I had taken some photos of the head job so that I could do a “how to” for the GTD forum (maybe on what not to do!) and I was able to confirm I do have the hydraulic head gasket. Everything looks correct. Hopefully I can nail down the pressure mystery this weekend.
 

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[burn_your_money]

Any luck?

[jstaton]

thanks for asking
I check the oil level and found that I had put way too much oil in, I was off by a quart or so. I let out the oil and started the car up. now I am noticing an oil leak around the crank pulley. I am guessing that I blew out the seal by having too much oil in the crank. I did let it warm up and went for a drive, but since it was leaking I decided not to let it run too long, especially without a mechanical gauge hooked up. The oil light did not come on, but it never got warmed up (it was one of our first cold days up here)
for the most part I haven't looked at the car for a week. I moved it out of garage and into the driveway. I have an oil pressure gauge somewhere but need to clean up the garage to find it.
i will probably get to it again this week or weekend

[burn_your_money]

I have an oil pressure gauge somewhere but need to clean up the garage to find it.

LOL we are in the same boat. I can't find anything in my mess of a garage.

Is it leaking all the time or just when it's running?

Maybe you'll get lucky and now that the correct amount of oil is in it it will stop leaking

[jstaton]

it appears to be only leaking when it runs, (and it looks like it has the runs when it is running)
I need to degrease the area and then take a look again

[jstaton]

I started another thread- it looks like there is fuel in the crank case......

http://vwdiesel.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=5306