D4 VEA 'add 0.5L' oil level warning

[Zebster]

Originally Posted by Chrisv60

The obvious difference is the usage pattern. We all know that a diesel car repeatedly driven short distances is more likely to have issues.

My usual journey is 2 miles of town and then motorway which I would have thought ideal. But maybe it means I'm doing motorway speeds whilst the engine is still cold.

The Volvo dealership told me to drive it hard to avoid EGR problems. But I had a Passat which belched out clouds of black smoke if I booted it. So would that produce more soot?

So what is the optimum? I suppose the issue is that cars should be designed to cope with all types of journey and driving styles but that seems particularly difficult with diesels trying to meet emission targets.

Yes, it probably is down to usage. But as you say, the car should be able to deal with all types of 'reasonable' usage (however that may be defined?).

I wonder if high oil consumption and crankcase pressurisation are because piston rings are becoming jammed with soot?

[iain cooper]

very difficult to drive a car "hard" these days without breaking the law, especially an automatic ?

any tips appreciated.

Iain

[Zebster]

Originally Posted by iain cooper

very difficult to drive a car "hard" these days without breaking the law, especially an automatic ?

any tips appreciated.

Iain

I believe that if you drive a diesel hard then you just make more soot. You don't see it with a working DPF, but my old pre-DPF Accord used to make plenty of smoke when driven hard

[Clan]

Originally Posted by iain cooper

very difficult to drive a car "hard" these days without breaking the law, especially an automatic ?

any tips appreciated.

Iain

Indeed , with the 8 speed auto the engine is kept to about 1800 rpm until you get to 80 mph it is almost like a cvt . There is no benefit in revving diesel engines to do ay sort of cleaning these days ......

[MrQ2001]

Thank for this!

[MrQ2001]

Originally Posted by MrQ2001

Thank for this!

Hi all
A quick update.
It was finally the rocker cover/seal where the oil was disappearing.
About 2 weeks after my last post I was driving from Plymouth to midlands and on one point I could briefly smell burned oil in the cabin. Nothing dramatic but having THE issue in mind, I stopped to inspect. Good that I did! Thin but distinctive blueish moke was coming out from the back of the engine (oil dripping to the hot engine block). Car was working fine so I continue (65mph) and straight to the garage to address the issue.
Since the rocker cover has been changed (I have done about 2k-ish miles) the oil level has not moved and is still OK (hard to say exactly as the digital meter will only jump to low once we get there...).
We finally did not change the cam shaft seal.
The garage said the engine pressure is OK...
T.

PS: I forgot to mention, first time i visited to address the oil issue, Volvo dealer told me that consumption of about 1l of oil every 3-4k miles is normal for D4 engine. (??!!)

[Clan]

Originally Posted by MrQ2001

Hi all
A quick update.
It was finally the rocker cover/seal where the oil was disappearing.
About 2 weeks after my last post I was driving from Plymouth to midlands and on one point I could briefly smell burned oil in the cabin. Nothing dramatic but having THE issue in mind, I stopped to inspect. Good that I did! Thin but distinctive blueish moke was coming out from the back of the engine (oil dripping to the hot engine block). Car was working fine so I continue (65mph) and straight to the garage to address the issue.
Since the rocker cover has been changed (I have done about 2k-ish miles) the oil level has not moved and is still OK (hard to say exactly as the digital meter will only jump to low once we get there...).
We finally did not change the cam shaft seal.
The garage said the engine pressure is OK...
T.

PS: I forgot to mention, first time i visited to address the oil issue, Volvo dealer told me that consumption of about 1l of oil every 3-4k miles is normal for D4 engine. (??!!)

Volvo dealers cant talk , It was a very misinformed employee who has little or no training !

[Dash300]

As I posted in another thread my 6 year old 105K VEA has until a couple of weeks ago never requested a top up between services. So this year I've used 1/2 ltr in 20k. More than satisfied with that.

[Zebster]

My car was in for a Volvo service a week ago... they told me there were noticeable oil leaks from the 'rocker gasket plus an 'end cap' (I'm guessing camshaft cover gasket plus a camshaft end cap?). I was quoted £800 for having this work done, which the dealer admitted they'd had to do 'a fair few of' but unfortunately Volvo UK would give no goodwill. I declined, and will probably replace just the gasket myself when the weather improves.

I've had to add 3L of engine oil between services, covering around 12k miles (car now on 82k miles). I discussed this with the dealer who blamed this on the leaks, however I haven't seen a single drop on the driveway where it gets parked almost every night.

[gillypop]

I had mine resealed in November thinking it was causing the constant oil low level warnings (using approx 250ml a week). It has made no difference and the leak at the time wasn't near the cambelt. Its a very expensive job £1000 where I am (Surrey - high hourly rate of £160) and I thinks a sealant rather than a physical gasket. Had i known it wasn't going to make any difference I would not have bothered. It went back in to check for oil leaks after being resealed and they said its no longer leaking.

I suspect it will become more common.

Mine is now on 121k which also means due for cambelt change which I am not bothering with. If it snaps it snaps and I can move on from this mistake.

You will not see any leaks on the drive as the under engine cover is designed to soak up any oil loss for environmental reasons.