Advice needed - sudden oil consumption.

[antman99]

Hi all,

Wondering if anyone has had similar.

Had my D4 VEA for 2 1/2 years in the xc60, in that time (35k miles) I have never had to top up the oil nor had the oil light come on.

Last night I had to get Volvo Assistance to tow me home as the warning came on saying low oil but confusingly the digital gauge showed a empty. According to the dealer empty does not actually mean empty but rather an amount (not 100% sure how much) less than full.

So in all the time I have owned the car the gauge has always read one bar below full, including last time I checked it two week ago.

Dealer today have the car and have said there are no problems and simply topped up 0.5l of oil. When I asked them why has it drunk that much in 2 weeks they say that they can only investigate if it happens again in another 2 weeks as they know the amount that is now in there.

Obviously I know that is has gone down so I am wondering if anyone knows what might be causing it.

Thanks

[MyV60]

I've experienced a similar problem vwith my 2015 V60 D4 engine; engine starts using oil after 90000 km, Volvo investigated oil consumption but without any official outcome so far. I presume there must be a general problem. Would be good if we could find other people who have (had) the same problem.
Regards.
Dirk

[Ross D]

I’ve had a V40 D4 2015 for three years now and have not had an issue with the engine using oil until it hit about 88k since then it goes through a half litre of oil every 900 to 1000 miles. The car has been fully serviced, there’s no oil leaks and it doesn’t appear to be burning oil as there’s no telltale blue smoke on start up or heavy acceleration.

The car had a recall recently over the inlet manifold issue and had the head removed and work undertaken as per the recall. Mentioned it to my mechanic who has spoken to contacts in car trade and they reckon it’s potentially an issue with the design of the engine to comply with the emissions tests when the car was new.

Any other thoughts on this would be appreciated

Thanks

[Zebster]

Mine has used 3L in 12k miles between services (now on 82k miles). I wait until the 'add 0.5L' message pops up then do what I'm told. I did mention it to the Volvo dealer recently at service time and they had no explanation, other than to tell me that my engine does have a leak from the 'rocker cover and end cap' (which they'll fix for £800!) although I know this can't possibly explain the 3L usage, as there isn't a single drop on my driveway where the car is parked almost every night.

I've seen a theory that this engine was built with loose oil control rings to aid economy, but these then soot up, jam and then fail to control the ingress of oil into the cylinders...

If you do add oil then it has to be a 0w-20 that meets Volvo spec VCC RBS0-2AE and do be aware that the e-dipstick shows the average level over the last 30km... so if you add oil the reading won't change until you've covered a fair bit of mileage, but the add oil message will disappear immediately.

More here... https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=293927

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Zebster

Mine has used 3L in 12k miles between services (now on 82k miles). I wait until the 'add 0.5L' message pops up then do what I'm told. I did mention it to the Volvo dealer recently at service time and they had no explanation, other than to tell me that my engine does have a leak from the 'rocker cover and end cap' (which they'll fix for £800!) although I know this can't possibly explain the 3L usage, as there isn't a single drop on my driveway where the car is parked almost every night.

I've seen a theory that this engine was built with loose oil control rings to aid economy, but these then soot up, jam and then fail to control the ingress of oil into the cylinders...

If you do add oil then it has to be a 0w-20 that meets Volvo spec VCC RBS0-2AE and do be aware that the e-dipstick shows the average level over the last 30km... so if you add oil the reading won't change until you've covered a fair bit of mileage, but the add oil message will disappear immediately.

More here... https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=293927

make sure the crankcase ventilation system vents properly into the main turbo air inlet pipe and the pressure does not build up in the engine , that will make the oil leak from multiple places .

[Zebster]

Originally Posted by Clan

make sure the crankcase ventilation system vents properly into the main turbo air inlet pipe and the pressure does not build up in the engine , that will make the oil leak from multiple places .

There seems to be some disagreement over whether the cam cover should be under slight vacuum when a latex glove is put over the oil filler hole or slight pressure... In your experience should the glove be pulled in, blow outward slightly or be roughly neutral?

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Zebster

There seems to be some disagreement over whether the cam cover should be under slight vacuum when a latex glove is put over the oil filler hole or slight pressure... In your experience should the glove be pulled in, blow outward slightly or be roughly neutral?

I've never put a glove over one but there is always a depression in the turbo inlet pipe when the engine is running , pressure in the crankcase will increase oil consumption and encourage leaks , if there is pressure when it is idling it is going to be 100 times more under full turbo power .