Hi all - Is there any historical / anecdotal tales of the oil level sensor giving false readings on these engines? Assuming level ground / level vehicle of course.

I have a mildish oil leak under the motor (possibly front cover / front oil seal) @ 95K miles, and was advised at the last service that based on the oil volume drained from the engine, the oil level was a little low. However I am pretty sure I had checked the level in the cluster with a full / near full read-out.

Since the service I've covered ~ 2000 miles and now keeping an eye on things regulary, the reported level has not dropped at all. I am suspicious!

Is there any way at all to physically check the oil level short of draining it out and measuring volume?

Many thanks.

 

If you have access to a vacuum oil removal system(they are relatively cheap on ebay/amazon) you can pull out about a litre of oil and then check the level using the oil level sensor. I have found my oil level sensor to be as accurate as an oil dipstick over the 4 years I have had the car.

 

Agreed - or drain a litre from the sump. Bit of a waste.

With regards the oil leak - is a front cover / crank seal leak common at highish miles? If not anywhere else that's known to leak?

Thanks.

 

More common I think is the vacuum pump which is down on the left of the crank pulley when looking from the FRONT of the car. Depends what you can see. You can search for "Vacuum Pump Oil leaks" above.
By the way good luck pulling the oil plug on the sump and only draining one L!!

 

Hi. Spotted the vac pump issue while searching yesterday. Will check. Thx.