XC 60 nightmare

[Rooster]

The level sensor is there to monitor oil level because during regen of the DPF unburnt diesel is pushed past the piston rings into the sump and hence the oil level rises overtime instead of falls like it used to do on older cars.

It is there to stop what has happend to the OP's XC60 that has run away on its own engine oil,

TBH i have never seen a volvo D5 engine that has run away and i have worked at dealers for 14 years,

There is no oil pressure switch on the D5244T10 twin turbo D5 engines (the engine that will be in the OP's XC60) just the level sensor, altho they have started putting them back on the very latest 5 pots that have the smart oil pumps altho there is still no pressure light,

[JMI]

Originally Posted by Rooster

The level sensor is there to monitor oil level because during regen of the DPF unburnt diesel is pushed past the piston rings into the sump and hence the oil level rises overtime instead of falls like it used to do on older cars.

This is exactly what happens, so there is a lot to do with the DPF! I was about send wimorrison to do his homework, but you wrote it here.

[wimorrison]

The rising oil level that affected a few cars until the ECU was reprogrammed had no effect on the DPF. You could fill the engine to overflowing with oil and it would have no effect on the DPF primarily because there is no direct relationship between the engine oil level and the regeneration required to clean the DPF.

What has been done here is for some people to incorrectly to align cause and effect to reach the wrong conclusion. The cause of the excessive over fuelling to the engine was incorrect programming in the ECU when the DPF sensor detected that it required a regeneration. This excessive over fuelling resulted in unburned fuel washing down the cylinder walls of cold engines into the sump resulting in a high oil level. The driver would detect this by reading the electronic dipstick and getting the readout in the driver information module. The solution by Volvo was to reduce the oil level in the sump and reprogramme the ECU. Excessive oil in an engine sump will generally result in oil seal failures, typically crankshaft front and rear, very, very occasionally in an engine over running - but in all cases the oil remains in the engine - it does not fill up the exhaust where the DPF is fitted.

As you will now see the high engine oil level was as a result of over fuelling at the injectors because the DPF required a regeneration and that the engine oil level sensor, aka electronic dipstick, has no relevance or dependency at all with the DPF - indeed either will work just as effectively without the other.

[Yellowbelly]

Can we assume that the service was not done at a Volvo dealership? If not, goes to show the need to ensure that a service on a sophisticated car like an XC60 needs to be done by somebody who knows what they are doing.

[Crockers]

Originally Posted by Yellowbelly

Can we assume that the service was not done at a Volvo dealership? If not, goes to show the need to ensure that a service on a sophisticated car like an XC60 needs to be done by somebody who knows what they are doing.

I totally agree.

[JMI]

I hope this doesn't mean you suggest, that we all have to go and service our never cars with the main dealer!

I haven't been to a Volvo main dealer ever since i bought the car, but i have the right person to look after it! I saved thousands of pounds spend for no reason. I can reassure that my car is much better looked after than any main dealer will do.
The only thing i do is, i always buy genuine parts from Volvo and i never touch anything else.

[Crockers]

The clue was...

Knows what they are doing...

[craigv60]

Going back to the OP's problem, the engineer's report concludes that while the engine ran away on its own sump oil, the crank bearing damage was consistent with it having been run without oil.

I wonder if the garage that did the oil change with the old filter made another mistake. Does the oil filter on this engine need to be 'primed' to maintain oil pressure when restarted?

[watchboy]

regarding the priming of the oil filter, I'm sure that the D5 filter is a paper element type.

A practice I have adopted when changing the wifes oil filter (Mazda 3MPS) which is a paper filter is to soak it in new engine oil. The actual housing for the oil filter points downwards so it is impossible to fill the housing with new oil.

The D5 oil filter housing is at just under a 90o angle to the block, so again, you will be hard puched to prime the housing, at best you could soak the paper filter but it isn't going to make a massive difference.

More concerning to me is that they re-installed a paper filter, if you have ever seen the paper filter when removed it is designed to 'compress' very slightly thus it ensures that the oil is filtered.

Whilst there will be an oil pressure control / relief valve fitted within the oil filter housing has the fact the old filter was re-installed in a 'compressed' state contributed to the failure of the engine.

The other thing that other members have mentioned, is, the oil capacity of the newer D5's being lower due to DPF issues, or more specifically that the oil level increases whilst regenerating / during a failed regen due to diesel seeping or washing past the rings.

Have the garage in question been aware of this?? The circumstances of the failure suggest overfilling due to the engine running at high speed due to excess oil being added.

I have never come across a garage who would suggest putting an old filter back in a car, especially not a paper element type oil filter..... makes me shudder just thinking about it.

Paul

[Daleman]

What worries me is that if the oil in the sump is growing in capacity due to the diesel oil intended for combustion getting past the piston rings it must play havoc with the lubricating ability of the genuine oil in the sump.

Thinning it down to such a degree that over say high mileage service intervals the oil in the sump could have very poor lubricating qualities and may not be able to keep up with lubricating big end /crankshaft bearings etc.

These bearings may then look as if they have been starved or run without oil because of poor lubricating ability of the very thin diesel oil in the sump.

I am not saying its a definite but it has crossed my mind that this may occur if the vehicle is used for short journeys mixed with high service intervals.

To my mind full oil changes around 5-6000 miles and keeping short journeys to a minimum may help.