Topic: 94 jetta oil light beeping

I change the oil in my sons 94 jetta and after driving the car for 15 20 minutes the oil light comes on and beeps at me intermittently . Anyone have a clue?

Re: 94 jetta oil light beeping

These Jettas have 2 oil pressure sensors: one for low engine speeds and one for high. The high-speed sensor starts acting at about 2,000 rpm, and if the oil is too thin for the wear in the engine it will cause the light and beep as you pass through that engine speed. After the 15-20 minutes the oil has heated enough to thin out, so that would explain why it starts then. At higher engine speeds it may develop enough pressure to activate the switch, so all may be fine on the highway. As the engine slows down, the pressure drops, maybe enough to cause the beep just above 2,000 rpm; which will then stop as the engine speed drops below that point.
Some brands of oil filters are also blamed for this - often Fram. Use an OEM German filter, like Mann.
What wt oil did you use - perhaps 10W30? Normal would be a 15W40, and on older engines many run 20W50 to avoid these issues.
It's always possible the pressure switch is bad, or the instrument cluster; but since it happened after you changed the oil, I'd suspect either the oil weight or filter.

Re: 94 jetta oil light beeping

I had the same problem with my 95 Golf. I installed a mechanical oil pressure gauge to keep an eye on things and it turned out the pressure was fine when it was going off. I grounded the sensor wire and the problem is gone. I planned to replace the sensor so I'll at least have a warning if the pressure does drop too low and I don't notice it but haven't yet.

http://i1017.photobucket.com/albums/af296/bvolks/June2nd2011004.jpg

1971 Doublecab
1985 Diesel Jetta coupe (temporarily retired at 756,000 kms)
1989 Jetta GLI
1995 Golf CL