Engine service light - too much oil - draining a bit?

[BurnsieUK]

So, over the weekend my car said it didn't have enough oil in (<.5L). So, my dad put about 2L in.

Driving home I got a engine system service light. A quick search says overfilling with oil can trigger this... Checked the electronic dipstick and sure enough, full to the brim.

Is there an easy way to drain maybe litre?

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by BurnsieUK

So, over the weekend my car said it didn't have enough oil in (<.5L). So, my dad put about 2L in.

Driving home I got a engine system service light. A quick search says overfilling with oil can trigger this... Checked the electronic dipstick and sure enough, full to the brim.

Is there an easy way to drain maybe litre?

0.5 litres low, so 2L was added?

If your car had a dipstick hole, you could put the tube of a vacuum oil extractor into it, pump the handle & wait for the oil to drain slowly into the extractor bottle. That's not an option for you though, as your car doesn't have a dipstick/dipstick tube.

You'll need to jack the car up, open the sump plug & drain the excess oil into a container. There's no "easy way" on these newer cars that don't have a physical dipstick.

You haven't specified which model of Volvo you have and whether its petrol or diesel. These newer cars don't take as much oil as people think. Volvo recalibrated oil levels in their vehicles, as the oil levels were rising too high because of failed DPF regenerations (in diesel vehicles).

Volvo's solution was to recall the vehicles, recalibrate them so the car thinks its got loads of oil, when really it has less than it should have from when it was originally made. So in essence, they're fooling the car into thinking its full of oil when it really isn't. Less oil in the engine means it compensates for failed DPF regenerations, so if the oil level does rise, it won't trigger dash warnings.

Oil capacity varies between models/engines. If its a 5 cylinder diesel that you have for example, it should only take 5.7 litres. Add any more than that & you'll get a warning on the dash.

Also, if you do drain the excess oil, it may take a while for the warning on your dash to disappear. Drive the car as normal & it should go after 20 miles or so.

[BurnsieUK]

Thanks for the reply

It's a 2011 D3.... But I can't work out how we've over filled it

[Kev0607]

Quite easy...

You said it was 0.5 litres low & your Dad added 2 litres. So that's 1.5 litres too much.

[BurnsieUK]

Originally Posted by Kev0607

Quite easy...

You said it was 0.5 litres low & your Dad added 2 litres. So that's 1.5 litres too much.

No. I had a warning saying less than 0.5. I put in 2. That should be right in the sweet spot

[Deck1ng]

I’d be taking out about a 1.5 litres of oil. The mistake was putting 2 litres in when 1/2 litre would have done the job. Mistakes happen, all a part of life, and helpful dads!
Drop in out of the sump plug. On the electric dipstick the manual says it’s full when showing around 4/5 full of there abouts.IIRC

[Zebster]

Originally Posted by BurnsieUK

No. I had a warning saying less than 0.5. I put in 2. That should be right in the sweet spot

It appears that you may have misunderstood the warning message?

[TeamG]

Do you not have the stubby Technician’s dipstick at the front of the engine? Easy enough to siphon a bit from there.

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by BurnsieUK

No. I had a warning saying less than 0.5. I put in 2. That should be right in the sweet spot

You said your dad add two litres to the engine. The warning on the dash said the car was 0.5L low (half a litre). That means 1.5L over what was needed was added to the engine.

It needed 0.5L, 2L was added = 1.5L too much.

You need to drain 1.5L from the sump.

[bomberfr0g]

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=99249

shows where the stubby dipstick is to suck out some, much better than dropping it from the sump unless you are going to change it all