MY car runs!!! but one problem...

i finally got my 90 tsi AWD running after replacing the head, and putting everything back together. before this all i had experience with was changing spark plugs... i put the timing belt on, along with all new timing parts and got the timing lined up right, finally...i started up my car, ran rough and stalled out. then today after work i discovered i forgot to connect the oxygen sensor and now it runs smooth, but has a bit of high idle...anyways my real problem is the oil pressure gauge reads max. the needle is as far right as it goes. it goes there when the key is switched on and stays there after the car starts. i used a block of wood to support the engine while i had the motor mount off, could this still have damaged the oil pan? would this make a very high pressure reading? let me know what other things i should check first.

you probably broke or shorted the wire to your oil pressure sender. usually this causes it to read no pressure if it broke so it probably shorted or you need a new oil pressure sensor. there are two sensors one sends a reading to the ecu the other to the gauge. check your chiltons for testing/replacment

but it reads high pressure. when i start the car it slowly climbs up to the high line and passes it. i can see the wire is still intact

hmmmm... thats interesting the way you said it before i thought it just went to full high pressure as soon as the key was on.

Ohm out the wiring between the tab on the sensor and the other end at the guage, if you can find it. If the wiring checks out, replace the 20 dollar sender. Any damage done to the pan, etc, would show up as low pressure most likely ;)

while the engine is running take the oil cap off the valve cover, you should see oil being thrown everywhere, and take a look at the bottom of your oil pan to see if its dented in, this happened to me and ruined my oil pickup.

But his pressure is high, not low. ;)

hmmmm... thats interesting the way you said it before i thought it just went to full high pressure as soon as the key was on.


Same thing really. The stock guages have a lot of filtering, takes time for the needle to move.

thanks for the replies, once i find and ohm-meter i'll try it out.