Engine oil level sensor?
 

Does anyone know if the D5 engine has a sensor for oil level? and can it detect the actual level, or just a critically low level ?

Yes the D5 from mid 2005 has a sensor in the sump, it accurately measures level from
0% to 100% .
It also measures oil temperature and oil quality , but the latter function isnt used .

On the early cars with this sensor, the sump level was only reported back to the engine managment system for it's own use .
Later cars lost the red dipstick and had a level readout in the instrument panel .

I have an 08 C70 D5. I had an "Engine System Service Required" message come up. Had the code read (cheers Joe) and it was the oil level was too high - dipstick is pretty crap and showed full but not overflowing. Changed the oil - I've never seen my drain tray so full - put 5 litres back in, and the messgae cleared 3 days later of its own accord. Hope this helps.

OIl level
 

Hi Ian,

Have you had the engine mgmt software updated in last 12 months?, there was an update last year re the DPF where you should then only top up to a max of 3 XXX s on the dipstick below the 'MAX' marker. Might be related to that ?

Firstly are you up to date with having the recall software done regarding rising oil level?
If not , get it done , If you are up to date and the level on the dipstick was above max then it needs to go back to dealer .
If you have had a service or changed the oil recently before this message came up , and correctly filled it to 2/3 up the dipstick marking ,the oil level sender may need adapting at the dealer .
The correct level with the software upgrade is now 2/3 up the dipstick marking that is about 10mm below max on the dipstick ... your corrected sump capacity is about 5.7 litres give or take a small amount depending on exact variant .

Hi Gents
I'm pretty sure the car was updated before I had it. I'm not convinced the dealer I had it off did anything other than polish it - but that's another story - and they're 250mile away. They were supposed to have serviced it and applied any updates which I specifically asked to be done. Not sure if this happened but when I had the car the oil was at or near the max mark, so even a little bit of diesel going in the sump put the oil level too high and I had the "engine system service required" come up. I did ring Volvo as the light came on, on the last day of the 3 year warrantly, and I was only a few months into the Selekt warranty - the only thing I can say is the help I received was non-existent - very, very poor. The car is lovely though, so thats the main thing - and all is good at the moment - but was very surprised there is a high oil level warning - expected low but not high, and having been a petrol boy all my life, I've never seen rising levels until now - DPFs, what a saga!

Oil level
 

Hi Ian,

I should find a good dealer, there are a few out there.. if they had done the update they would have sucked some oil out to get the level correct, they put some pump thing down the dipstick hole to do it when I had mine done. The update is actually free i think.. definitely worth checking that it really did get done... either way they didnt get the oil level right...

Hi Thassos
I travelled along way to get the car I wanted but the negative side is I can't just call back in to that dealer for them to put the small niggles right - and Volvo always devolve it back to the dealer you bought it from - so anyone doing as I did beware, if anything goes wrong that isn't covered under the Selekt warranty, you gonna end up paying the dealer you take it to for them to just touch your car - around £100 to read the fault. And the catch is, they "absorb" this in the cost of the repair if you give them the go ahead to do it. In my case I guess this would have been around £150 to drain some oil - that is not in "my" car care plan! But I guess they have to make money somehow, just preferably not out of me.

You're right though, I will make sure its had the update. Also one of the guys on T5D5 forum has a reader and works near me so read the fault code for me - he was bl..dy great, and it immediately gave me an easy fix.

Moral of the story, travelling can get you a lovely car at an excellent price, but if there are problems, Volvo UK are pretty hopeless, and it can be a pain in the arse and a load of aggro to sort it.

Oil Level High
 

Hi All, many thanks for the info.

My XC90 was serviced in December, and post that the “Engine Service Required” message on. Level on dipstick was over Max, so following threads, sucked 1/2 litre out. Level on dipstick now about 3/4. Haven’t done a lot of miles since, (wonder why) but hoping message will clear eventually! If it doesn’t in a few weeks, I intend to take out another 1/2 litre out and see how that goes.

Will keep y’all updated, thanks again.

(First Post)

3/4 up the XXXXXXX on the dipstick is about right , about 20+ miles should give the system a correct signal, if that doesn't work it means the oil level indicator was NOT calibrated at the last service so you need to get that reset with your correct 3/4 amount of oil in the sump ..