Failure Indicator central computer message came on and then went off. I also noticed oil pressure gauge dropping to (0) zero momentarily.

Only happened twice.

Oil sender unit, contact’s corrosion?

I have no oil leaks and oil level normal.

Anyone had it and knows what it is?

Thanks

 

I replaced my oil pressure sender while the engine was out of the car for other reasons....relatively cheap part. My problem went away after a few weeks on its own....but I changed the part out anyway when opportunity knocked.

I was told this was a common problem in all 996's.

 

Well here's the problem - the oil sender unit has two terminals - one for on/off there is oil pressure (this triggers the light) and one for variable resistance (this drives the analog gauge).

Now if the computer says no pressure and the gauge says no pressure, odds are you had no pressure for a second which could be due to a piece of debris or something floating around getting caught in one of the oil channels around the motor. OR the pressure relief valve for the oil pump was stuck open so it's pumping but the valve is letting it all back into the sump. It's extremely rare for the pump itself to fail since it's gear driven by the motor, not electronic.

In any case, you need to have the sender changed - it's only about $75 plus an hour or two of labor. It's located behind the throttle body. Fingers crossed that fixes it for you.

 

I just brought mine in for the same problem. Assumed it was the sending unit. Dealer claimed it was the instrument cluster ($several thousand dollars but my car was cpo, so free). We will see if it happens again.

 

it's a very common problem on the 996TT. I don't think you had debri it's a bad switch. It's happened on all 3 of TT's

 

Huh, thanks.

So as long as the oil is topped up nothing sinister can happen? Switch difficult to get at?

 

I would still want to make sure so you should replace the sending unit , you can never be to careful. It sounds like the sending unit. It's not a real hard job but having small hands would help.

 

I had the same problem and it was intermittant. The sending unit was going bad. Replaced it and no more lights/warnings.