Oil consumption

[Bulleidboy]

A silly question? I have had my 2010 XC70 since August 2016 when it had 55K on the clock - it now has 60K. As it has no dipstick, will it tell me when it needs an oil top-up? The same for servicing, my old 960 went in for its annual service every June - should I do the same with the XC70 - or will it tell me when a service is due?

[tt82]

The car will let you know when a service is due and also if the oil level is too high/low. However there is a way of getting it to check it, try looking in the owners manual.

[Tatsfield]

IIRC, it will tell you that you need a service if the oil level goes too high. You may be wondering how the oil level can rise! Does the car manufacture its own oil? No, regenerating the DPF sometimes results in a failed regeneration and excess diesel fuel intended to be burnt in the DPF ends up in the engine lubricating oil sump. It's a long sad story of poor development, in common with many DPF designs, but the upshot is that Volvo cope with this by setting a lower level as the "Full" mark and warning you that the car needs an urgent service if the oil level approaches the true full level so that the dealer can dump your diluted oil and refill the sump. Not ideal but owners who don't know about this just think their car needs a service and those that do, know why.

[Model flyer]

Hi is your v70 a D5 model? If so it will have a dipstick for workshop use. It's situated on the lower left of crankcase looking from the front. It's very short . The correct level should be half way between the high and low marks. If you take your car to a non Volvo garage for servicing then tell them it will only need 6 litres of oil for the change and not 6.5 litres as per the manual.If its filled to the max mark a "engine service" message will appear on the dash. If this should happen then get garage to remove 1\2 liter of oil and message will reset after a few miles of driving. As in previous post it's a compensation/ bodge for poor development but once you know about it its not a problem.

[Bulleidboy]

Many thanks for the quick replies. I'll have a read of the manual and search for the dipstick. This is my first diesel and the car is running very well.

[MikeBJ]

When you do find the details as to how to use the electronic oil level reading, remember to close the door when you're trying to get the wretched thing to do its thing!

What's wrong with having an old fashioned dipstick. This said, as noted, there is a dipstick, as noted previously. It's not obvious, and best only checked with a cold engine.

Oh, and while I'm diss'ing Volvo, where's the temp gauge?

[Model flyer]

Temp gauge ! Yes why not fit one ? You can read engine temp by fitting a Bluetooth gizmo to the OBD socket and then read it on a phone app or pay extra and get a decent reader. But agree a temp gauge should be fitted as standard. Just penny pinching me thinks .

[Boatie]

I've had my MY12 D3 SE Lux for 3.5 years and I've loved it. However, the 3 things that have annoyed me throughout are the lack of a proper dipstick, no temp gauge and no obvious indication of when a DPF regen is taking place. Some will say all 3 are unnecessary as the car will monitor itself but I remain uncomfortable. (as an aside there's a very interesting post recent post on the V60? section around DPF regen ,worth reading.
Interestingly Volvo have included a temp gauge on the V90. They've also re-positioned the electric parking brake switch (a 4th niggle on present car).
Moving onto a V90 next week and that's not niggle free. £20 for a hard copy handbook is taking the ****
Anyone want an unused Vida/Dice 2014A?

Frank

[Simon Jones]

Judging by the number of queries on the forum about how to change a bulb or fuse, what oil to use or how to fold rear seat down, etc, it would seem an awful lot of owners don't even know how to open the glovebox to read the manual .

I bet at least 90% of P3 owners don't know how to put the windscreen wipers into service mode to make changing the blades easier.

[wilbydoughboy]

Originally Posted by Simon Jones

Judging by the number of queries on the forum about how to change a bulb or fuse, what oil to use or how to fold rear seat down, etc, it would seem an awful lot of owners don't even know how to open the glovebox to read the manual .

I bet at least 90% of P3 owners don't know how to put the windscreen wipers into service mode to make changing the blades easier.

The original information in my handbook as regards the oil level was updated and unless I had requested this update and kept it with the handbook, any future owner would face problems. I do believe that owners/service centres could overfill if they follow the book.