Engine system service required
 

Hi,

Just bought a Volvo v40 d3 about 2 weeks ago and everything has been fine until I was driving along the motorway today and "engine system service required" appeared on the dash. I've only been doing about 12 miles a day (6 miles to work and back) until I took it on the motorway today and that message popped up.

I had a read of some other forum posts and I reset the warning and took it for a drive and it popped up again. I suspect it could be something to do with the DPF regeneration. It's done 60000 miles and was last serviced 124 miles ago.

Hope that gives you enough information, could someone please shed some more light on it?

If you reset the code then presumably you have a code reader? The error code should point you in the right direction. It could be the DPF but more likely a faulty O2 sensor, something like that. Did you buy it through a trader? If so take it back and get them to sort it.

Theres a reset button on one of the stalks that takes the message off. Its from a trader and under warranty do I'll ring them and see what they say. Just curious as to how serious it was. Seems to be running fine

it will run fine if it is o2 sensor remove clean out refit bit o2 senser reqs readapted via vida

next thing you no manifold will clog up

regards

This message would come up on older Euro4 Volvo diesels on the V50 when the DPF additive was low, ie had not been serviced by a Volvo dealer and additive was running out. You would get this message on these cars after fuel has been added and additive tank was low.
On your car you will not have the additive as far as I am aware because the DPF design changed to a life item.
If your are only doing 12 miles a day, then probably the DPF is not able to regenerate properly, hence the message.

Go for a good blast down the motorway for 10 miles or so and hopefully it may clear.
I should add, get codes read by a dealer to confirm.

You are going to get this warning message appearing all the time, because your 6 mile commute is FAR too short for any modern diesel engine to properly warm up so that it can 'regenerate' it's particulate filter (i.e burn off all the soot captured by the diesel particulate filter on the exhaust).

It's like trying to do the hoovering when the dust bag is full....it needs to be emptied. The car will burn off all the soot it collects, but only when you're driving it for miles and miles (at fair to high speed) to ensure the engine/exhaust/DPF is scorching hot, in order to burn off the crap.

It is possible to 'force' the car to self regenerate when parked up, however you should just take it for a long drive, keeping revs slightly higher than usual (but keep them at a constant level).

http://www.dackmotorgroup.co.uk/images/paras/93.jpg

A 6 mile commute won't allow any of that to happen.

Consider trading it in for a T3 or T4 petrol version, which will not have this issue on the same commute.

If it is the newer VED 4 pot engine (2015on) then i would get used to it, will be on as much as your washer fluid low light,

Dealer should sort it free of charge,

see the 100+ page thread in the s60/v60/xc60 section,

If you have only had the car a few weeks, the limited use you have given it will not be the cause of the warning light: provided the engine and fuel system is in good order, it will take many hundreds or even thousands of short journeys to clog up the dpf, your couple of hundred miles will have had no effect whatsoever on the dpf. I know of several diesel volvos that have done mainly short journeys for years without problems.
The obvious first check would be the oil level; these engines are very sensitive to being overfilled - if the oil level is high it will trigger the light. If it is, simply drain off half a pint or so and all will be ok.
The second thing could be the temperature sensor in the dpf; this is a well known issue on the XC90’s around about 2010 and 2011, when a batch of faulty sensors was used, it is possible your car may have been fitted with one if it is an early model. To diagnose that, your car needs to be hooked up to a Vida and have the codes read properly.