wow, thats not good. there isnt a low oil level meter per say, but you will get a loud obnoxious beep/warning when oil pressure drops below a certain level.

 

Yes... there is an oil light that comes on when you're low.

Mine comes on all the time because I leak oil.

 

That's a low pressure light, not a low level light.

I really feel bad for the new crop of used buyers on this site; they're getting in even deeper than I did without even realizing it, and I got in pretty damn deep.

 

LOL. the low pressure STOP is what got me to passatworld a couple of years ago. now every other week my wife is like, what does your car need this weekend?

 

The leak is probably from the CCT gasket on the backside of the engine(maybe the valve cover gasket). If you get to the point it tells you its low pressure, that's not good, but you probably didn't do any long term damage. Our top ends and CCT's get noisy with old crappy oil and low oil in general, as long as it returned to normal, you are probably ok, other than a little extra wear here and there(possibly on the CCT rails).

 

2000 1.8T?
I'm wondering if there could be "sludge in them thar hills?"

 

I'll bring it to my machanic to check for a leak, unless the car is using it but I don't see any smoke.

Unless you are using a quart in 400 miles, I don't think you will see any smoke. My old Mazda used a quart every 200 to 250 miles -- a bit of smoke at startup, but nothing after that.

My 2001 1.8T, with ~95k miles on it, uses 1 to 1.5 quarts per 4k mile oil change.

 

Riddle me this. What is round and fills that hole in the bottom of the oil pan? I am not refering to the drain plug or the oil return line.

 

oil temp sensor

 

I'm not sure which years have this, but some do have an oil level sensor in addition to an oil pressure sensor.

 

Low oil indicator=dip stick. use it

 

My late '01 has an oil level indicator.
I don't use the dipstick as the car uses no oil between services and so I rely on the electronic indicator to warn me of an exceptional oil event.

 

Hmm. Well, at least that sensor isn't made by BOSCH. It might actually last long enough to do its job.

Might be nice if they'd put that sensor in the transmission instead.

 

I think some European/UK Passats had a low oil indicator but US spec ones didn't.

Personally (just my opinion) I think it's silly how we need to rely on buzzers and gizmos for such things. I check my oil and peek under the hood every couple weeks, have had the same inexpensive tire pressure gauge for years, and check my driving directions against a map or mapquest if I don't know where I'm going. It's not difficult, and takes 5 minutes to do. Seems pretty easy to me, and I don't have to worry about replacing/repairing as much stuff.

 

It is stupid, yes, but most people are stupid; it's a good match.

They don't call the dashboard indicators "idiot lamps" for no reason.

 

That is a bold statement. Calling people stupid? :crazy: I think there is a few other words that could have been used, besides stupid.

 

Up here in New England we call them "dummy lights" and we pronounce these things we drive as caahhs.

 

Where do you paak your caahhs out in the yaaad?

 

:lol:

 

I check the oil almost every time I have the hood up. Like after a wash when I'm drying around the hood, doors and trunk. This means every couple weeks in warmer months. Or when I'm checking tire pressure in the transition months of spring and fall. That leaves the dead of winter, which means I check it when I'm filling the washer tank, changing wiper blades, washing the windows etc.

In short, whenever it's that special time for the car.

 

I have one on my FIS Cluster

 

My 01.5 GLX with the ATQ has the oil level sensor in the pan. I have never seen the low oil warning, but imagine it will display as a stop message on my cluster's MFA as shown above on the FIS.

 

yea, my may 29'th of 2001 b5.5 has an oil level sensor as well. it's good stuff to have as it's actually saved my butt.
my car tends to run through about 2.5 or so quarts every 3k miles. this is likely because i drive the car hard-ish while it's still not fully warmed up (late for work in the mornings... :banghead: )

 

I don't think my 99 AEB has one, but it would be a nice safety to have. This winter my oil cooler O-ring gave way and It was pumping out oil like crazy. If it weren't for the fact that I got out of the car to look for something I'd dropped and saw a growing puddle of oil, I never would have known. I was just about to jump on the highway too. That could have ended badly.

 

you would have had the oil pressure warning. germans like things redundant

 

Same here, the only reason I checked is because I had a nagging sense of paranoia that something would break when the first cold snap hit. The way it was gushing out I probably would have made it to the end of the block before my engine seized.

 

gm's can go 7 miles

 

LOL! same here dave. the only way i find out about my low oil level is in a hard turn :lol:

to be honest, i want to say that this does serve a purpose better than redundancy now that i think about it.

ok, so you have oil level. good stuff.
say you're low or over filled, oil froths.
frothed oil has a VERY compressable state. like your couch cussions.
WARNING PRESSURE!

 

I don't disagree, I am saying to use the word stupid is wrong. Stupid is to know better and still continue doing it. Ignoant is better. When you are ignorant of something you don't know any better. Correct me if I am wrong. I also enjoy screwing with Deus, nothing personal though.

 

Nah, I think I got it right. I personally know several people who are driving with CELs on (and not because they've hacked their cars, like here on PW), saying that they'll deal with it when something actually breaks, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who knows people like that. Does that count as knowing better but not doing anything about it? I mean, nobody but nobody is unaware that Check Engine means "check the damn engine", right? It's like if you have a heart palpitation but you figure you'll wait until something serious happens.