“No Oil Pressure-Stop Safely” message.

[AKAMick]

Ramps leave the work area clear to do the work, jack stands get Volvo's nervous and they might refuse to let you crawl under them, LOL! Really?

[BenF]

So I did it all as prescribed, and weird **** is going on ! Firstly I think this job had been done before. I don't think the old o rings were 18 years old and I didn't come across a single seized bolt. The oil pick up screen had a couple of bits of debris but wasn't clogged. However the oil light still flashes at me. The symptoms are a bit more consistent. The oil light and message flick on for less than a second when i do a low speed sharp right turn, pulling into a side street or parking lot. Any ideas WTF can cause that ?

[Xfingers]

It may or may not be related but I did a quick review of the posts on this thread and a little surprised none of us thought to mention this:
Do you know the condition of your PCV system?
You can get a basic idea by removing the cap and putting a rubber glove over the oil filler on the crankcase. When you start the engine, you should get a little suction. If the glove inflates, you've got a plug somewhere and will need to replace PCV asap to avoid blowing cam seals and losing your oil. For some, doing the PCV service includes dropping the oil pan and cleaning out engine block passages!
What is the mileage on your car? If it's 120k or more and the PCV hasn't been replaced...

[Astro14]

First - since you say the sump is now clean, and o-rings are in good shape, I’m going to presume that the pickup is OK.

The next guess: is the light accurate? Since it happens in sharp turns, I’m going to, again, presume, that the light is accurate. Ordinarily, I would say to put a good gauge on it (this is still a prudent check, but I think a gauge will reveal normal idle pressure).

What I think is happening: oil quantity in the sump is low when the engine is running. Hard turns slosh the oil away fro the pickup, starving the pump. You are doing damage every time this light comes on.

You say the oil level is good. What’s the difference between level immediately after shut down, and after sitting for five minutes? Plugged/sludged oil passages and returns could cause oil to be trapped in the head while running and the level to be low in the sump.

I generally advise against additives and flushes.

However, in your case, I would check that level immediately after shutdown, and if it’s very low initially, but comes up eventually, you may have plugged oil returns. In which case, I would try something like this:

https://products.liqui-moly.com/engi...sh-plus-3.html

Available on Amazon. Follow the directions on the can.

Use a good quality synthetic afterwards, change it more often to continue cleaning up this engine internally.

For more discussion on oil see this from a few years back: http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showth...19629-Oil-Rant

And yes, do a complete PCV system replacement.

[AKAMick]

Since you think the pan has been dropped before, are the pan baffles still in place and complete?, was the pickup sealed and tight to the crankcase?.

[BenF]

Since you think the pan has been dropped before, are the pan baffles still in place and complete?, was the pickup sealed and tight to the crankcase?.

I THINK so, the pick up wasn't loose, apart from that I didn't look at it that closely ( kicking self )

[BenF]

It may or may not be related but I did a quick review of the posts on this thread and a little surprised none of us thought to mention this:
Do you know the condition of your PCV system?
You can get a basic idea by removing the cap and putting a rubber glove over the oil filler on the crankcase. When you start the engine, you should get a little suction. If the glove inflates, you've got a plug somewhere and will need to replace PCV asap to avoid blowing cam seals and losing your oil. For some, doing the PCV service includes dropping the oil pan and cleaning out engine block passages!
What is the mileage on your car? If it's 120k or more and the PCV hasn't been replaced...

Did the rubber glove test all good !

[BenF]

It may or may not be related but I did a quick review of the posts on this thread and a little surprised none of us thought to mention this:
Do you know the condition of your PCV system?
You can get a basic idea by removing the cap and putting a rubber glove over the oil filler on the crankcase. When you start the engine, you should get a little suction. If the glove inflates, you've got a plug somewhere and will need to replace PCV asap to avoid blowing cam seals and losing your oil. For some, doing the PCV service includes dropping the oil pan and cleaning out engine block passages!
What is the mileage on your car? If it's 120k or more and the PCV hasn't been replaced...

Did the rubber glove test all good ! Car has 97K.

[BenF]

First - since you say the sump is now clean, and o-rings are in good shape, I’m going to presume that the pickup is OK.

The next guess: is the light accurate? Since it happens in sharp turns, I’m going to, again, presume, that the light is accurate. Ordinarily, I would say to put a good gauge on it (this is still a prudent check, but I think a gauge will reveal normal idle pressure).

What I think is happening: oil quantity in the sump is low when the engine is running. Hard turns slosh the oil away fro the pickup, starving the pump. You are doing damage every time this light comes on.

You say the oil level is good. What’s the difference between level immediately after shut down, and after sitting for five minutes? Plugged/sludged oil passages and returns could cause oil to be trapped in the head while running and the level to be low in the sump.

I generally advise against additives and flushes.

However, in your case, I would check that level immediately after shutdown, and if it’s very low initially, but comes up eventually, you may have plugged oil returns. In which case, I would try something like this:

https://products.liqui-moly.com/engi...sh-plus-3.html

Available on Amazon. Follow the directions on the can.

Use a good quality synthetic afterwards, change it more often to continue cleaning up this engine internally.

For more discussion on oil see this from a few years back: http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showth...19629-Oil-Rant

And yes, do a complete PCV system replacement.

Thanks, the oil level check right after shut down sounds like a great idea, I hadn't thought of that. I'm getting a new sensor tomorrow. My gut says it won't make a difference, and I don't usually like to randomly replace parts, but this is less than $10.

I will keep you all posted. Thank you all so much.

[hoonk]

So I did it all as prescribed, and weird **** is going on ! The oil pick up screen had a couple of bits of debris but wasn't clogged. However the oil light still flashes at me. The symptoms are a bit more consistent. The oil light and message flick on for less than a second when i do a low speed sharp right turn, pulling into a side street or parking lot.

Was the oil pickup tube plastic or metal? I learned after a couple of neverlefts, where we would clean the sludge out of the pan and reinstall the original metal pickup tube - the light would still flash - replacing the tube with the new style plastic pickup tube fixed the flashing oil pressure light. After that every car we de-sludged got a new pickup tube also.

Or if the light flashes in a sharp right turn - are you sure you put 6.5 quarts of oil back in? And is the oil level still ok?