Zero Oil Pressure Suprise

[Brett Van Sprewenburg <brett@netacc.net>]

So last Friday I'm on the way home at about 12:30am (after being
paced on the highway by a cop, dontcha hate it when they come
flying up behind you trying to get you to 'run' a bit?)  I turn
the corner before my house, and see the oil pressure light blink
out of the corner of my eye.  Hmmm, very odd I think considering
I'm running Mobil 1 10w30, and a brand new Febi/Bilstein 2L 16v
pump (not south-of-the-border stuff).  I take the last turn towards
my house, and the light blinks and the oil pressure gauge goes to
zero.  Very bad.  And just as suddenly it, goes away, right back
up to 40-45psi.  The light blinks a bit more pulling into my driveway,
then off, then on...psi guage floating around...I parked it for the
night.

Next day I change the oil on a whim because I don't really know
what's going on.  Mobil 1 10w30 getting too thin?  I start the
car and the lifters and WHAPPING/SLAPPING like mad.  Sitting in
the driveway, the oil light blinks, and the gauge goes to zero again,
very bad I think.  I push the car in the garage and drop the oil pan
and what I saw still makes me pissed...my factory assembled oil pump
and pickup tube were on the verge of parting ways...one of the 5mm
hex screws that holds the pickup tube had backed out completely
and the other one was well on it's way.  The pick up tube was
swinging in the breeze.

As this was a Febi/Bilstein factory assembled part, I never questioned
it's quality and would have been wary of over tightening the pickup tube
bolts had I decided to twist on them.  Everyone I've talked to that
has installed one of the has NEVER checked those bolts, never occured
to them either (includes people at both VWP and AAB).  I just put one
in Jims motor and didn't check it...what a pisser.

The end result was fine though, after fixing everything (and struggling
for 30 minutes on the two oil pan bolts behind the transaxle bellhousing)
I refilled with oil and started the car up.  Ran well, but the lifters
TICKED LIKE A FRIGGEN HAMMER on the valve cover to 15 minutes.  Wonder
if Bilstein wants to buy me some new ones...  :-(

I used the special VW-Audi supplied engine lock-tight on the damn things
too, it's the same stuff used to secure the oil squirters...

==Brett
  \/  '84 Scirocco (ITB racer 2B) | "Hot VW's, take two home. They're small"
\/\/ '88 Scirocco 16v (Show), '85 Scirocco (Winter) | - brett@netacc.net

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