My wife's 2004 XC90 with 62,000 miles got this message the other day: No oil pressure stop the vehicle safely

We called the dealer immediately. They said that if the engine wasn't running rough and there was oil on the dipstick, it was probably ok to drive it to the dealership (about 7 miles.)

We brought it in and the Volvo mechanic told me that he thought that the oil pan gasket might be bad. That is an $1,100 fix (gotta pull the engine.) YIKES! Ok. What choice do I have?

After replacing the gasket, the mechanic calls and tells me that he has some "sorta bad news" - the gasket wasn't the problem. Basically, he's telling me that the only thing that it could be is bad rings. He's hoping that thicker oil will help, but that's not going to cure the problem, just mask it. Basically, we need a new engine for $12,000.

Seriously. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

I don't need to say that we did ALL of the recommended maintenance, religiously. (We did.) And I insisted on doing all recommend maintenance at the dealer - because we planned to keep the car for 200,000 miles. My S80 ran like a top until 130,000 when I sold it.

Can that really be the only option?

One other datapoint, the oil level was not low - it was actually a little high. Higher than that hash marks. How does the oil level go up?

Can car be worthless with only 62,000 miles (book value equals the repair cost)?

Any thoughts, help, or suggestions are sincerely appreciated.

Eric

 

Kinda hard to believe they gave you this line of BULL. Where did they come up with that pan gasket crap?
Two items will Cause a low oil pressure warning: low oil pressure from dead oil pump/ low oil or a bad pressure sensor.
Did they actually check the oil pressure?
Did the car make any more noise than normal?
These guys are real morons and thieves.
Find a real mechanic and also get your money back for the "pan gasket".
Ed

 

I'm not familiar with the motor in the xc90 but if it's like the inline 5 in my s60 the oil pan doesn't have a gasket. There are some o-rings that seal the oil pump pick-up that dry out and crack. They should have replaced them when they had the pan off. Piston rings don't have anything to do with oil pressure. Worn rod and main bearings will affect oil pressure but they shouldn't have considerable wear at the mileage you have unless they ran dry on the drive to the dealership. The first thing you need to do is check the oil pressure with a manual gauge. The dealers gave me the same 12,000.00 price then offered to by my s60 for 1,000.00. I doubt their "techs" know what the inside of an engine looks like.

 

One thing that is completely obvious is that these guys ARE on commission. (I previously spent $3,600 on my S80 to fix an alarm issue that turned out to be a short in a cable.)

It's my wife's car. So, I rarely drive it. With regards to funny sounds: when my wife drove it to the dealer yesterday morning, I was in the garage. It sounded like the engine was running loud. No clanking, banging, thumping, or squealing. It just sounded loud.

I just asked and my wife says that it has sounded loud lately - but cannot describe the sound. We both attributed to the arctic temperatures here lately - lows in the signal digits. It was 4°F / -16°C this morning.

I didn't even ask if they checked the oil pressure. A bad sensor is the first thing that I thought of... I just assumed that they would too. It is a Volvo dealer (Lisle IL) and they are supposed to be an experts. I would love to find another mechanic. How do you find a good Volvo mechanic - other than the dealer?

Another point worth mentioning is that the mechanic noted that that is was "gunked up." I also noted that when I checked the oil yesterday. We are religious about changing the oil. However, it might be worth noting that my wife only drives 4 miles each way to work. So, she may only change the oil twice a year.

The technician said "Ah, see that's the problem. She doesn't give the engine enough time to warm up." So, I am supposed to believe that because she drives the car like a little old lady from Pasadena, that caused the a blown engine. Right!

Believe it or not, the technician even told me that they see that all the time with "old lady" cars. (My wife was not very happy when I told her that. She is my "old lady," but she's not an "old lady.")

Thanks for the help and suggestions.

 

Look in the phone book.
Look here: http://www.cartalk.com/content/mechx/
Ask others.
There's got to be a decent independent mechanic that can handle it.

IF they had the pan off, they would have seen the gunk that was occluding the oil pick-up and saved it to show you.
While they were there, they would have checked out the oil pump.
While they were there, they would have checked a few bearing caps to look for damage from low oil pressure.
They would have checked the oil pressure relief valve.
I doubt they even pulled the pan. They didn't even verify oil pressure or delivery of oil.
Did they change the oil and filter?
Louder than usual is NOT a good symptom.
Look for a real mechanic.
Ed

 

I heard exactly the same bs. It's sludge- we need to flush it out. Well they put something in the oil. Then they called and said it died during the test drive. I sent a rollback to the dealer, paid $600.00 for 8 quarts of oil and brought it home. When I dropped the pan there wasn't a drop of oil in it. The #5 rod bearing cap was hand tight and black from no lubrication and heat. The #4 main bearing was chewed up and the intermediate block was cracked at the bearing web. The turbo wheel on the exhaust side was broken off and was in the downpipe. My question was "why would you put an oil pan back on without cleaning it first?" I don't see how you could miss the black connecting rod if it was like that before they test drove it. Thinking that they are experts is unfortunately not the case. I would drop the pan, have it hot-tanked and pull a couple of rod caps to check for wear and clearance. The oil pump is not in the pan its on the front of the block. Only the pickup is in the pan. If your engine is like the inline 5 the head is poorly designed for oil drainback. The oil just sits under the cams and cooks. Especially the side over the exhaust manifold. The engine may be louder due to the belts being cold and hard. I live south of Houston were we think 45 is cold so I don't have alot of experience with cold weather. Good mechanics are hard to find. They also get paid a flat rate according to book and they don't slow down to look at anything. We had a boatyard for years and the mechanics that came out of car dealerships were parts changers at best.

 

l-6's motors are bulletproof basically longest lasting engines there are and oil pan gasket? sounds like horse S***T and monkey buissness to me. its probably your oil pump or a bad sensor most error messages these days are almost always caused by some faulty electronic sensor of some sort. perfect example i had a 2002 Ford Explorer and it has the oil pressure gauge right in the instrument cluster rather than an idiot light that tells you low oil pressure yeah i prefer those cars with the gauges for everything. anyway my oil pressure gauge was point at L one day instead of between L and H as it should. her v-8 was idling prefectly as it should on high test gas and i checked the oil dipstick. i was 75 miles away from home. i basically stopped every 5 miles to check my oil a few times when nothing was changing i drove right nhome no problems went to my ford dealer adn guess what faulty oil pressure sensor. anyway my point is its probably electronical rather than mechanical if i were you i'd go get a second opnion. only time i had the low oil pressure message come up on my volvo xc90 was when i was messing around in a parking lot doing very sharp immidate turns but once the car leveled out it dissappeared.

 

I have the same error message but my car is running fine. We are in the middle of the Mohave desert trying to get to mammoth Lakes. I just had my car serviced 2 days ago. Does anyone know if this could just be a computer malfunction?

 

possibly a computer mailfunction but it could also be an oil filter clogged with sand from the desert.

 

Check the oil level and check the oil pressure with an analog gauge are the first things to do. Check to see if the lead came off the oil pressure sender.
Ed

 

bought the 3545696 from swedishparts, the oil pressure switch for my XC90; need replace the engine oil pressure sending unit switch, mine is 06 XC90 T6, 2.9T; i was told by the dealership mechanics that differing from newer model year XC90s which have two oil pressure sensors, and installed near the oil filter underneath; the 06 model has 1 oil pressure switch only, and is locate somewhere in the engine compartment..., anybody could help advise the exact location of this switch, so that i can DIY... thax in advance

 

the air filter shouldn't let sand in, and most oil filters have a bypass which will allow flow when filter is clogged.

I would go on the alldata website and get a subscription (few bucks) and hopefully it will tell you where to find the sender.