Hello, I have a Volvo XC60 2018. The last few days the warning sign “engine, check oil pressure and stop the car”. When removing the oil cap it’s all smudgy and clumpy. We haven’t had it serviced in a few years (I know that’s bad). The car says the oil level is full as I guess it’s counting the clogged bit at the top so the sensor believes it’s full. See imagine. Can anyone advise? Is this a simple oil change?

 

yikes. How far do you drive the car on a typical day? its possible you have some condensation and if the car isnt driven long enough, it won't heat up enough to dry that out. First thing is go and get the oil changed and use a brand name full synthetic in the correct weight per the owners manual (something like Castrol Edge). Also use an OEM filter like Mann - some filters actually can restrict the oil flow too much. You can measure the amount that drains out to determine what the real level was. If you are having a shop or a dealer perform the oil change, ask if they'd recommend a flush using a product like Seafoam. Seafoam is a detergent product that you can add to your oil to dissolve the sludge then do the oil change about 100 miles later. After that, keep looking to see if the oil stays clean for a while. Any other symptoms?

In general you should change your oil as spec'd in the owners manual. If you don't drive that many miles you should change the oil at least once a year. For synthetics the mileage should be something like every 7500 miles but some cars will note every 10K miles.

 

Oil and filter change right away!

And again within 1000 miles. That is a dangerous amount of sludge, and will not clear out with just one oil change. If you oil pump/sump gets clogged, your engine is totaled.

I would have mechanic drop the oil pan and clean it and the oil pump/sump.