I have a 1996 Volvo 850 turbo. It consumes a bit of oil so I check it every now and then. I checked it this morning and it was 3 quarts low. There was no warning light on the dash to alert me of this. In fact, a light has never come on when the oil is low. What can I do to fix this? Thanks

 

first is to check the bulb. when you turn on the key to position 2 before starting, all the warning lights should go on. Next, just note the warning light is low pressure not low level. Your car takes about 6 quarts so you had some oil going through the system where you may have only noticed a light going around a sharp turn or hard breaking (sloshing the oil away from the pickup). You can test the oil pressure sending unit or replace if concerned but I'm thinking you were just low but not enough to drop pressure (a good thing). The big question is where is the oil going? if you have leaks around the cam seals etc, you may have a clogged PCV system.

 

Does that specific light come on at startup ??

3 qts low ?? Best find your leak or be hunting for a good used motor

 

When you turn on the ignition (not running) the oil pressure is zero, and the oil pressure light will come on. No special testing process is necessary for the oil pressure light. It just turns itself right on when the engine is not running.

The switch is on the front of the engine right in the middle of the car. If you ground that wire the light should come on. The switch is "on" and provides the lamp with a connection to ground where there is Zero oil pressure (or actually oil pressure below about 4 psi or something like that).

Now. Waiting for that light to come on is not really the proper way to determine whether you need to check your oil. When that light comes on, oil pressure has been lost.

 

hi so thank you for all replies