Oil and other warning light

[Ronaldpayne]

Hi all. I've just read with interest a thread about V40 oil. I recently had a local garage change the oil. I have read that the oil level needs to be calibrated after a change. I do not believe they have done this.
I am getting a check oil level warning. When I do so, it shows that it is at its max.
Could it be over full or is it just because it has not been calibrated?
I also occasionally see a "reduced engine performance" warning with a tortoise emblem.
When I took the car to Volvo for a recall, they said that there are no messages or history on the cars computer regarding this.
Could oil calibration and the reduced performance be linked?
By the way, the car doesn't seem to loose any performance when the warning comes up.
Many thanks.
Ron

[RS3100]

Hello Ron,

Calibration is rather a technical word for what is actually just an artificial known good value applied to the module that monitors the oil level, to prevent it from generating oil level warnings caused by changes in the sump level during draining and refilling, until it has had the opportunity to restabilise itself.

In short, if you are 100% happy that the engine has been refilled with the correct amount of oil, you can ignore any oil level warning that might appear shortly after the oil change. According to VIDA, the level monitor should stabilise itself after the car has been driven at least 30km and then parked on a level surface with the engine switched off for at least 5 minutes.

But if you are in any doubt, the only safe option is to drain the oil and start again, filling with a known correct quantity, otherwise you could risk serious damage if the level is actually incorrect.

All the "calibration" does is to suppress any spurious oil level messages in the interim period. But only garages with access to Volvo diagnostic equipment will be able to carry out that procedure.

I believe reduced engine performance messages can also be linked to the oil level warning if the car considers that the oil level is seriously under or overfilled. If so, they should also disappear once the level according to the car software has stabilised.

[Ronaldpayne]

Many thanks for your help. I'll ask the garage if they performed the calibration and I'll monitor the messages and take it from there.
Once again, I appreciate your help very much!

[sreviz]

I did my oil change for my wife's v40.
Didn't do calibration. But filled exactly 5 litre.
No warning.

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by RS3100

Hello Ron,

Calibration is rather a technical word for what is actually just an artificial known good value applied to the module that monitors the oil level, to prevent it from generating oil level warnings caused by changes in the sump level during draining and refilling, until it has had the opportunity to restabilise itself.

In short, if you are 100% happy that the engine has been refilled with the correct amount of oil, you can ignore any oil level warning that might appear shortly after the oil change. According to VIDA, the level monitor should stabilise itself after the car has been driven at least 30km and then parked on a level surface with the engine switched off for at least 5 minutes.

But if you are in any doubt, the only safe option is to drain the oil and start again, filling with a known correct quantity, otherwise you could risk serious damage if the level is actually incorrect.

All the "calibration" does is to suppress any spurious oil level messages in the interim period. But only garages with access to Volvo diagnostic equipment will be able to carry out that procedure.

I believe reduced engine performance messages can also be linked to the oil level warning if the car considers that the oil level is seriously under or overfilled. If so, they should also disappear once the level according to the car software has stabilised.

Why oh why oh why oh why can'y we just have a dipstick.............? Then you can even see the oil and check if it's smelly, milky etc....

[RS3100]

Originally Posted by sreviz

I did my oil change for my wife's v40.
Didn't do calibration. But filled exactly 5 litre.
No warning.

Which engine does she have? It seems to be the VEA engine cars that are more prone to false warnings if not reset.

According to VIDA, on those cars the oil level check via the DIM does not display a real time indication of the oil level. In fact the "gauge" is a false graphic, as the system is only capable of displaying "Add oil", "OK" or that the car is overfilled.

The representation of the current oil level is stored from the last drive cycle. The level monitoring is taken from a comparison of the last three drive cycles and triggers a warning if the calculated level differs in any one of those cycles.

From what I can gather, the "calibration" just tells the software to start from a known acceptable value, and basically ignore the last three drive cycle calculation until it has started again from afresh.

I still find it difficult to fathom the reasoning behind this method of displaying the oil level to the driver when the actual level is available in real time from the sump sensor, and can be read with suitable diagnostic equipment connected to the ECM.

[sreviz]

Originally Posted by RS3100

Which engine does she have? It seems to be the VEA engine cars that are more prone to false warnings if not reset.

According to VIDA, on those cars the oil level check via the DIM does not display a real time indication of the oil level. In fact the "gauge" is a false graphic, as the system is only capable of displaying "Add oil", "OK" or that the car is overfill

The representation of the current oil level is stored from the last drive cycle. The level monitoring is taken from a comparison of the last three drive cycles and triggers a warning if the calculated level differs in any one of those cycles.

From what I can gather, the "calibration" just tells the software to start from a known acceptable value, and basically ignore the last three drive cycle calculation until it has started again from afresh.

I still find it difficult to fathom the reasoning behind this method of displaying the oil level to the driver when the actual level is available in real time from the sump sensor, and can be read with suitable diagnostic equipment connected to the ECM.

Engine D4204T8.
2016 Volvo v40 cross country D2.