Oil Pressure & Boost Gauge: Monitor Performance

Hello!

The following problems occurred during the installation of the aforementioned displays:
Oil pressure gauge: It only shows a meaningful reading when the engine is cold, around 2 bar at idle. As the engine approaches operating temperature, the oil pressure gauge drops to about 0.7 bar and then the needle seems to get stuck, regardless of whether I accelerate or not. Is the oil pressure sensor possibly defective? The oil pressure sensor, which replaced the original oil pressure warning contact on the engine block, might be the problem.
2.) Boost pressure gauge: This gauge makes noises when the engine is started, and the needle vibrates strongly. No air is escaping, but there's a rattling sound from the needle, which doesn't settle. I've read something about using a small piece of foam, but I'm not sure where to put it – just stuff it into the hose?

The car is a 110 horsepower Ibiza with engine code AFN.

Regards,
TTL.

'The vibration is normal. Just take a small hose clamp and tighten it around the hose right before the instrument until the vibration and clicking noises no longer bother you. It works perfectly.'

TTL wrote:

... Oil pressure gauge: It only shows a meaningful reading when the engine is cold, around 2 bar at idle. As the engine approaches operating temperature, the oil pressure gauge drops to about 0.7 bar and then the needle seems to get stuck, regardless of whether I accelerate or not. Is the oil pressure sensor possibly defective? The oil pressure sensor, which replaced the original oil pressure warning contact on the engine block, might be the problem. ...

Hi TTL,

That's a very low oil pressure reading (if it's actually accurate).

Wear rate: 2 bar at 2000 RPM, 80°C oil temperature.
In VAG vehicles, the oil pressure is measured at the end of the cylinder head.

Hi TTL,

I'm having the same problem. Mine makes similar noises too.
Following Ulf's suggestion, I inserted a small tube into the hose and secured it with a cable tie from the outside. Unfortunately, it didn't help.
The clamp is supposedly supposed to really make a difference. If you've found a solution, I'd also be interested.

@Stukov

Do you have a clamp like that? I've already been to every hardware store, every VW dealer, various small workshops, and ATU here, but I haven't found anything. The smallest one I saw could have just squeezed two hoses together.

Greetings,
Thomas.

Thomas wrote:

Hi TTL, I'm having the same problem. Mine makes similar noises too. Following Ulf's suggestion, I inserted a small tube into the hose and secured it with a cable tie from the outside. Unfortunately, it didn't help. The clamp is supposedly supposed to really make a difference. If you've found a solution, I'd also be interested. @Stukov Do you have a clamp like that? I've already been to every hardware store, every VW dealer, various small workshops, and ATU here, but I haven't found anything. The smallest one I saw could have just squeezed two hoses together. Greetings, Thomas

"... don't be so unimaginative! The restrictor, or whatever you want to call it, is only meant to create a bottleneck in the hose, so that the pulsations in the intake manifold don't cause the needle to fluctuate excessively."
Are you going to City Park? You'll steal a stick from a dog, carve a small notch in it, bite off a piece, and then insert the bitten-off piece into the tube so that there's a small air gap between the narrowed part and the instrument, acting as a buffer.
Professionals drill a 1.5mm hole into the wooden piece, or they use a screw, or something similar. You clamp a second piece of hose under your clamp.

Best regards, Rainer.

Yes, exactly, you just need to find a way to make it fit tighter.

Tightening the cable ties properly should also work. I got my clamp from ATU. They had them in a yellow package, a pack of two, somewhere on the wall. You just need to ask a seller.

Thank you for the answers !!!

Obtaining a hose clamp should not be a problem; I bought them in a pack of 10 at Bauhaus back then .
I'll give it a try.

Well, that issue with the oil pressure sensor once drove a workshop foreman to utter frustration.

@Bertil
The oil pressure in VAG vehicles is measured at the end of the cylinder head.

I've read the sentence several times, but I haven't become any smarter from it, and I don't mean to be rude. I couldn't make sense of the abbreviation 'VAG.' If I'm interpreting this correctly, the oil pressure sensor is giving incorrect readings in my situation?

Best regards,

TTL (Andreas)

TTL wrote:

@Bertil The oil pressure in VAG vehicles is measured at the end of the cylinder head. I've read the sentence several times, but I haven't become any smarter from it, and I don't mean to be rude. I couldn't make sense of the abbreviation "VAG." If I'm interpreting this correctly, the oil pressure sensor is giving incorrect readings in my situation?

Hi Andreas,

VAG = VW and Audi Group.
That should be in your user manual!!!

That was the original designation - now there's more included - VW, Audi, Seat, Skoda, Bentley, Bugatti, and by the end of the year, Rolls Royce. I'm not sure anymore if Lamborghini is still part of it...

Sure, here's the translation:

"By the way, it should be 'VAG engines' - sorry."

Please provide the German text you would like me to translate into English.
Update 09/24/2002, 7:15 AM.

Lamborghini is also part of the Volkswagen Group (VAG).
Please provide the German text you would like me to translate into English.

Hi,

I am a staunch advocate of the foam method for fixing LDA vibration issues.
Simply insert the tube into the connection point inside the vehicle.
- done.
I wouldn't do it on the engine side, near the intake manifold, because over time, an oil film will gradually form inside the hose, and I'm not sure what that will do to the foam.
It's possible that you might need to adjust the amount.

Hi everyone,

For me, replacing a Y-piece with a T-piece brought the desired success! Simply connect the T-piece so that the connection from the 'vacuum bridge' to the control unit has a direct path, but the boost pressure gauge does not. This was enough for me, and the gauge is now very stable...

Best regards, Holger.

Hello,
My father was a sausage vendor, and now I'm adding my two cents.
Does VAG stand for 'Verein Armer Geschäftsleute,' which translates to 'Association of Poor Businesspeople'?
...or something like that...
Best regards,
Alchard.

Hi everyone,
mein Tip gegen Zittern in der LDA: den dünnsten Schlauch nehmen, den man bekommt. Dann nicht mit der Länge geizen. Ich habe ca 2m genommen und den Rest im Motorraum aufgerollt und mit einem Kabelbinder stramm angestrapst. Angeschlossen habe ich den Schlauch mit einer Spritzenkanüle, die ich durch den Gummikrümmer gepiekt habe. HaThat's really good.
Regards,

Eike.
PS: If you wind the hose, stand it upright, and strap it down, I can imagine that some water in each loop could wonderfully dampen the vibrations. The system would then only need to be airtight .

Hello everyone!

A brief update!
Today, I tried to restrict the boost pressure hose with a hose clamp, about 10cm before the lambda sensor (LDA). Unfortunately, it didn't work – the gauge still fluctuates even though I narrowed the hose down to the diameter of a straw. However, I'm going to replace the thick hose with a thinner one, which Bosch also advised against. According to Seat, who I contacted about this, the workshop foreman suggested it might be a damping issue with the gauge. The LDA itself is from Conrad Electronics. Are those from VDO 'better,' or does it not matter?

Regards,
TTL (Andreas)

Hi TTL,

I have the one from VDO, and I'm still having the same problem.
For the hose, I will use a vacuum hose, the same type that is used throughout the entire vacuum system.
I tightened it until almost nothing could pass through.
No success.

I'm going to try using a T-piece now, then coil up the long hose, and hope that this annoying noise will soon be a thing of the past.

Greetings,
Thomas.

I also have the hose from Conrad, and it runs from my LDA (located next to the crankcase ventilation) over the driver's footwell to the center console, with a hose clamp positioned just 3 cm before the instrument cluster.

The instrument still vibrates slightly when idling (with a cold engine), but that vibration disappears when I increase the throttle.

I have to mention that from the beginning, I installed the T-connector with the hose leading to the gauge in a way that the hose runs straight through the T-connector, and the hose leading to the gauge is attached to the side. Perhaps that configuration supports the measure I took, as I read about it in a previous post.

A combination of both could therefore lead to success.

Hello.

It worked.
I simply inserted a small piece of foam into the tube on the side of the gauge. Not much, maybe a cubic centimeter, and then I reassembled everything. The gauge is now slightly heavier, but the noise is gone, and the needle no longer vibrates.

That's really great. Good tips. I would highly recommend that everyone does the same.

Thank you.
Thomas.