D4 VEA 'add 0.5L' oil level warning
 

Shortly after starting a short journey home last night a message popped up to tell me that I needed to add 0.5L of engine oil. I continued home, parked up and turned off, however then realised that I should have parked on a more level location to enable use of the electronic level check. So I immediately restarted the car and moved it; surprisingly the warning message had gone (I did scroll through the messages to check). I then left the car overnight.

This morning I've been out to check the level but - although the level display outline is available - there is no actual level indication shown on the gauge... so now I'm not sure if the electronic dipstick is working OK? I started the engine and just moved the car a few metres and there were no warning messages.

Oil was last changed by a Volvo dealer about 2k miles ago and I last checked the oil level about 1k miles ago (when the electronic level indicated around 75/80%, which is about what I expected). No obvious signs of leakage in the engine bay nor on the ground where the car is usually parked overnight. Car has now done 73k miles.

I do have a litre of the correct spec oil (Shell 0w20 VCC RBS0-2AE) so I could easily add some, however I've read a few forum posts where owners in a similar position have ended up over-filling. I have carefully studied the owner's manual, but does anyone have any useful experience with this issue? I'm currently tempted to add just 0.25L (rather than the total 0.5L in one go), take it for the minimum '30km drive' then park up for a couple of hours and try the electronic gauge again.

TIA

No useful experience to contribute, but like all VEA owners I/we have to live in the blind hope that the electronic oil level indicator is up to the job. If there was a retro fit dipstick conversion as there is for the 5 cylinder I would be the first to purchase. For info mine at 92k has never read less than full, so have to assume it is not using any during the 18k I do each year, which is good, if true of course!

I had the message fill with oil message with my VEA D4 so topped it up. It went to Volvo for the EGR fix and I asked the dealer to check for leaks / check the level was ok. Mine has a very minor oil leak but since getting it back from the dealer after the EGR fix I checked the oil level every day for a month. The car reported max for a month then the next day low oil top up with 0.5l was displayed. I have never seen anything other than max or min on the indication.

In my opinion it is not fit for purpose. If they want these for people that don't check oil levels then that is fine but as oil level is critical for the engine it should have a user accessible dipstick.

Discussion here on dipstick regarding levels and fits in with what I observe - max or min and nothing in between (although T6).

https://forums.swedespeed.com/showth...stick-Question

The risk is you could start a 1000 mile journey with it just over the threshold for max and at some point need to fill if you get the message. All good if you find it easily or near a dealer (probably worth having a litre in the car always).

I honestly thought that Volvo intentionally only filled the sump to around 75% to allow a little headroom if the DPF regen process caused diesel to enter the sump? But my knowledge is merely anecdotal!

I'm generally happy to trust electronic gauges (i.e. the fuel gauge) but I don't understand the logic of this particular system... apparently the electronic dipstick gives an average for the last 30kms, however I wouldn't necessarily expect the "add oil" warning to be driven from the same sensor (as presumably an immediate warning needs to given that the level is dropping?).

I'll admit that I'm worried...either the level sensor is playing up or my engine has actually lost oil. Neither are good outcomes!

Thanks for that very informative link. While it appears to refer to a previous generation system, I note that a Volvo oil level display is probably only a simply a pass/fail indicator (with maybe 2 or 3 steps) pretending to be an accurate analogue level sensor. Nevertheless, I've still probably suffered some oil loss to cause a transition to a lower threshold, and that does concern me.

Given the uncertainty, I think I'll stick to my plan and try adding just 0.25L, taking a drive, parking up somewhere level for a couple of hours and then seeing if I can read a new level. If not, then I'll repeat that process...

I bet it will say max even if you put 100ml in but I could be wrong :-)

As it has recently been in the dealer for service don't do anything take it back , they were responsible for filling it and most importantly re calibrating the oil level gauge at the same time , it is a mandatory part of the service , i suspect they haven't done that , let them have the hassle of sorting it out ...
..

I've not added any oil, but just been out for a 20-ish mile drive... no messages whatsoever! So I've parked on level ground and will check eDipstick indication in a couple of hours.

If it has lost oil then it's not obvious where it went... I've checked for leaks around the engine, spray on the bulkhead, leakage from the filler cap and leakage onto the undertray. Additionally the engine is running very well and just recorded a 62mpg average whilst on this test drive, suggesting that compression is good. I guess a turbo seal could be leaking?

don't worry too much , you don't have to do anything special the oil level system takes an average over 20 miles , just check the level gauge on the dash a few times over the next day or so , what is it showing now ? The very fact that the message has come on makes me think the gauge was not calibrated at the last service 2000 miles ago ...
yes 65 - 70 mpg is not too hard to achieve if you stay at 60 -70 mph for long periods .