Engine Oil Level Poll

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Yorkshire2160

They are setting oil levels at 70% my Volvo specialist has shown me the bullitin from Volvo. Yes I do short journeys but always give a good long run each week keep revs up above 2000 rpm. And I disagree with previous reply rising oil is a problem in this era of car ,not so much from 2015. I am no maths genius but 70% of 6.2 is only 4.34 Ltrs of oil.

This is where it gets confusing. You have to use VIDA to get the level to 70% & the engine oil has to be minimum 60 degrees to get to this percentage.

Its not 70% of maximum capacity, its 70% in VIDA when parameters such as engine oil temperature are met. Follow VIDA & you (or they) can’t go wrong, but they also need to reset the oil gauge.

Not to sound funny, but a car of this size takes more than 4.3L of oil. Even a small car would take maybe 3/4 litres, never mind something with a 2.4L engine that weighs nearly two tonnes. You don’t need to be a genius to work that out either.

I suggest you add some oil urgently, as 4.3L in this engine is far too low & you could do serious damage. It doesn’t sound to me as if this “specialist” you’re using actually knows what they’re doing. Putting 4.3L in a car this size with a big engine is frankly ludicrous.

Your car needs 5.8L of oil, not 4.3L. 5.8L allows for failed regenerations & is the proper amount of oil required for your engine. Keep driving the car with 4.3L in it & the oil level will be the least of your worries… you’ll have a destroyed engine.

If there’s 4.3L in it now, you need to add another 1.5L & reset the gauge in VIDA. Just to reiterate, this needs to be done as a matter of urgency.

[SwedishCarFan]

Hello all, new member here, just purchased a 2012 V60 2.0 D3 163bhp model and had an oil level issue. Please excuse the rambling...
Bought the (recently serviced) car a few weeks ago and had an intermittent warning message appear "Engine system service required", quick look on YT to figure out how to interpret this and code 097 shows.
Likely to be too much oil added after a service it said - very probable me thinks.
Upshot is I purchased/fitted a Technician dipstick to check oil level... it was about a 1/4 full level and then checked the dashboard oil level and it's half full (2 bars)
Car has been driven over 100 miles since I removed the oil. (removed before I bought the dipstick) I will monitor and carry a bottle in case of low level warnings.
Question - do I need to go to dealer to 'calibrate' the dash oil level against the physical dipstick ?
Seems mad to have two different readings. Never experienced this in car DIY for over 30yrs.
Cheers guys !

[Clan]

Originally Posted by SwedishCarFan

Hello all, new member here, just purchased a 2012 V60 2.0 D3 163bhp model and had an oil level issue. Please excuse the rambling...
Bought the (recently serviced) car a few weeks ago and had an intermittent warning message appear "Engine system service required", quick look on YT to figure out how to interpret this and code 097 shows.
Likely to be too much oil added after a service it said - very probable me thinks.
Upshot is I purchased/fitted a Technician dipstick to check oil level... it was about a 1/4 full level and then checked the dashboard oil level and it's half full (2 bars)
Car has been driven over 100 miles since I removed the oil. (removed before I bought the dipstick) I will monitor and carry a bottle in case of low level warnings.
Question - do I need to go to dealer to 'calibrate' the dash oil level against the physical dipstick ?
Seems mad to have two different readings. Never experienced this in car DIY for over 30yrs.
Cheers guys !

I assume you have the 5 cylinder engine ....
you need 0W/30 oil A5/B5 specification

drain the oil and filter . Put back in just eactly 5.7 litres , then the gauge needs calibrating with the dealer VIDA equipment ..

The Mechanical dipstick l will be about 60% up the XXXXXX scale so that will be the correct normal position ..

[SwedishCarFan]

Cheers Clan,
yes it's the 5 cyl engine (sound nice for a diesel)
info greatly appreciated, is there a OBD dongle/app that could do the resetting or is it dealer only ?
I never 'normally' use dealers as they're rates are crazy !
Does seem to me a money making thing to force you to go to the dealers for an oil change !

[Clan]

Originally Posted by SwedishCarFan

Cheers Clan,
yes it's the 5 cyl engine (sound nice for a diesel)
info greatly appreciated, is there a OBD dongle/app that could do the resetting or is it dealer only ?
I never 'normally' use dealers as they're rates are crazy !
Does seem to me a money making thing to force you to go to the dealers for an oil change !

Even an oil change is technical these days , the correct level is critical ....

[SwedishCarFan]

....Even an oil change is technical these days , the correct level is critical ....
...But my point is, it shouldn't be overly technical - Volvo have overcomplicated a simple DIY job forcing owners to go the their dealer to use fancy software, it's absolutely nonsense !

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by SwedishCarFan

....Even an oil change is technical these days , the correct level is critical ....
...But my point is, it shouldn't be overly technical - Volvo have overcomplicated a simple DIY job forcing owners to go the their dealer to use fancy software, it's absolutely nonsense !

They aren’t the only ones. There’s loads of car manufacturers that don’t use physical dipsticks nowadays… BMW, Mercedes & Land Rover for example.

Modern isn’t always better!

[Zebster]

Originally Posted by Kev0607

They aren’t the only ones. There’s loads of car manufacturers that don’t use physical dipsticks nowadays… BMW, Mercedes & Land Rover for example.

Modern isn’t always better!

But surely the electronic dipsticks are improving? I've become familiar with mine and now I trust it... it showed 'low' yesterday so I added 0.25L and today it shows 'OK'. Good enough for me and I know that even if I can't be bothered to check it regularly then it'll give me the 'add 0.5L' warning message as and when necessary (like many early VEA models mine does consume some oil between changes).

[SwedishCarFan]

Improving ???......
The owners handbook states the following: “The oil level is only detected by the system during driving. The system cannot detect changes when the oil is filled or drained. The car must be driven about 30km before the oil level display is correct”
How can this possibly be an improvement in that you have to drive 30km if you add or remove oil to confirm the new level ?

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Zebster

But surely the electronic dipsticks are improving? I've become familiar with mine and now I trust it... it showed 'low' yesterday so I added 0.25L and today it shows 'OK'. Good enough for me and I know that even if I can't be bothered to check it regularly then it'll give me the 'add 0.5L' warning message as and when necessary (like many early VEA models mine does consume some oil between changes).

I don’t think the electronic dipsticks have improved at all. I’d disagree on that.

Physical dipstick all the way I think. Simple & it works…