07 S550: Check oil at next fuel stop
Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2021 9:09 am
The previous owner told me it does this, before I even took the car home. However, she also told me it's because the oil was overfilled and since it doesn't use any, the message is actually because it's overfull. Fun fact: my E55 told me to add 1 qt while driving it home and I have NEVER seen a message while driving since then, and the oil has been low multiple times. This wasn't on my drive home with the car but it was the next day and the first highway drive I did with it. So this is now a thing.
By some miracle this engine has a regular oil dipstick. But you are supposed to check the oil level on a hot engine (because it may look low on a cold engine AND I also read that the dipstick O-ring can push oil out of the tube and lead to a false low oil level so you can remove it temporarily when checking if unsure). I checked on a warm engine and saw the oil level was between the min/max on the dipstick. Certainly no cause for concern. The oil sensor is a simple float-based system on this car. Nothing fancy. And I'm not sure it is even capable of indicating high oil level. Just low. And it also only checks when driving.
So I need to check on a hot engine on a flat surface. One piece of info is that the previous owner added multiple labels indicating the oil capacity. He wrote 8.5 qts. Well, the capacity is actually 8.5L. That equates to 9 qts which is exactly what my E55 takes, for my convenience. I have no idea if the mechanic filled it with 8.5 or some other number.
I think the plan is to check on a hot engine, flat surface. See what that reads. If it's down from the max, I may try adding like 1/2 quart just to see if the level sensor is just really sensitive.
If the level sensor seems to be malfunctioning, I did find out they are extremely cheap.
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/merced ... -008891011
However the lower oil pan has to be removed to change it. Before I flipped the table I read up on that and it actually looks like they made it really easy to do. Also requires this RTV:
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/merced ... 3989982010
Attached various WIS instructions.
Anyway, in conclusion, this could all turn out to be nothing. At a minimum, it SEEMS like the low oil level warning is coming on prematurely (because it seems like it can't be much more than 1/2 qt low based on the dipstick). Or I could just do an oil change, add the proper 9 qts and go from there. So just documenting stuff here since I did all the research already.
Furthermore, if it turns out to be an overly sensitive or, worst case, faulty oil level sensor, I could also just ignore the warning and check the oil once in a while manually. This car has 4k on this oil and if it is still halfway between min and max, this is probably the lowest oil consumption of my entire fleet.
By some miracle this engine has a regular oil dipstick. But you are supposed to check the oil level on a hot engine (because it may look low on a cold engine AND I also read that the dipstick O-ring can push oil out of the tube and lead to a false low oil level so you can remove it temporarily when checking if unsure). I checked on a warm engine and saw the oil level was between the min/max on the dipstick. Certainly no cause for concern. The oil sensor is a simple float-based system on this car. Nothing fancy. And I'm not sure it is even capable of indicating high oil level. Just low. And it also only checks when driving.
So I need to check on a hot engine on a flat surface. One piece of info is that the previous owner added multiple labels indicating the oil capacity. He wrote 8.5 qts. Well, the capacity is actually 8.5L. That equates to 9 qts which is exactly what my E55 takes, for my convenience. I have no idea if the mechanic filled it with 8.5 or some other number.
I think the plan is to check on a hot engine, flat surface. See what that reads. If it's down from the max, I may try adding like 1/2 quart just to see if the level sensor is just really sensitive.
If the level sensor seems to be malfunctioning, I did find out they are extremely cheap.
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/merced ... -008891011
However the lower oil pan has to be removed to change it. Before I flipped the table I read up on that and it actually looks like they made it really easy to do. Also requires this RTV:
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/merced ... 3989982010
Attached various WIS instructions.
Anyway, in conclusion, this could all turn out to be nothing. At a minimum, it SEEMS like the low oil level warning is coming on prematurely (because it seems like it can't be much more than 1/2 qt low based on the dipstick). Or I could just do an oil change, add the proper 9 qts and go from there. So just documenting stuff here since I did all the research already.
Furthermore, if it turns out to be an overly sensitive or, worst case, faulty oil level sensor, I could also just ignore the warning and check the oil once in a while manually. This car has 4k on this oil and if it is still halfway between min and max, this is probably the lowest oil consumption of my entire fleet.