Oil Pressure Measurement on VW Passat

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Just signed up with "the oil guy". I have a 2003 VW Passat 1.8 turbo and I am worried about this sludge issue. I just checked in the oil pan and valve cover gasket and everything looks clean, but I have been running dino oil
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and changing avery 3 to 5K. So far the car has been great and I haven't had any performance issues. I just switched to M1 0w30 full synthetic and plan to change again in 1K with the large filter that was recommended on this site. My question is; Where do I measure the oil pressure, and is oil pressure a good indicator of sludge clogging the pump intake screen?
 
Sorry, I can't give you any info on checking oil pressure in that vehicle; but, I would like to address the oil issue.

Your decision to switch to synthetic was the correct one, partially. You need to get that M1 0w30 out of there ASAP. It is way too thin. Your Passat needs a heavy 30 wt like Castrol Syntec 0w30, or a 0w40 or 5w40 synthetic. The oil you choose should also display the VW 502.00 spec. on the bottle.

My choices would be, in this order:
Castrol Syntec 0w30
Castrol Syntec 5w40
Mobil 1 0w40

All three can be had at AutoZone.

A couple of other choices are Valvoline Maxlife Synthetic is 5w30 or 10w30. Both are recommended for vehicles specifying a VW 502.00 approved oil.
 
Thanks for the fast reply, I just ran to the garage to double check and it was 0w40 that I put in NOT 0w30 (sorry about the confusion). It does have the VW listing on the back, but I will get a better oil for the next change.
 
If you want to check oil pressure for the purpose of checking for a clogged intake screen I would say that best place would be the pump outlet before the filter. That's not to say it's practical to find a way to measure the oil pressure at that point. If you get low pressure there then you at least know it's not the oil filter restricting flow. Since low pressure could be caused by other things it wouldn't necessarily indicate a clogged intake screen. of course you'd need some sort of baseline to know whether the oil pressure is low or not.
 
Jerry_F,

If you've got Mobil 1 0w40 in it, there's no reason to look for a "better" oil for your next oil change. The M1 0w40 will serve you & your VW very well.
 
I'm not fimiliar with the '03 Passat, but most oil pressure switches are located somewhere near (usually above) the oil filter. It looks like this:
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It will have a wire connected to it. I suggest that you unscrew it, add a small section of braided hose, and attach a tee to the other end for the pressure switch and pressure sender. If you just put the tee directly on the block, you could end up cracking the tee from fatigue (engine vibrations over time). This is how I did mine, and it works great.
 
Jerry_F, I've teed into the factory oil pressure switch on several vehicles to install an aftermarket oil pressure gauge; it's usually pretty easy once you locate the factory pressure switch. I just put the tee right into the block, maybe the hose method slalom44 mentioned is a better idea.

Make sure you have adaptors on hand to adapt from your oil pressure port thread&size to the tee thread&size. My engine oil pressure port was 1/8"BSPT (British Standard Pipe - Taper thread), so I got Stewart Warner adaptors for 1/8"BSPT male to 1/8"NPTfemale, which connects the oil pressure port to my 1/8"NPT tee. Then I used a 1/8"BSPT female to 1/8"NPT male to go into the tee and the original pressure switch. Then the aftermarket oil pressure gauge connects to the remaining port on the tee.

Make sure you ground the original pressure switch (I wrap some bare wire around the outside and secure with a hose clamp). If your aftermarket pressure gauge is electrical, ground that sender too. I've found using Teflon tape usually for me anyway results in a broken ground path so I always use the hose method above.

Hm...based on your location....maybe you could take it to OCC???
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They put nitrous in the Prowler before so I'm sure they could hook you up with an oil pressure gauge
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1) Clean your engine with Auto-Rx Just do it. That will remove any sludge and varnish already built up inside that engine. You have some, just not enough yet to kill the engine.

2) Use synthetic oil after the Auto-Rx. Don't even think of conventional oil. Use only oil that meets VW's spec, or similar synthetic oil that has proven to be adequate.

3) Use Mann W 719/30 oil filters. They are larger than original size, and they are the filter now specified by VW and Mann + Hummel. You can get these filters from mail order dealers for about $6 each. They have the correct internal bypass spec, media filtration spec, media flow spec, and they are among the best quality in the world.


Ken
 
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