C5 warning message

[swiveleyedgit]

Hi all, can anyone tell me the meaning of a warning message that appears for a few seconds after I've started the engine on my 2004 2 litre hdi auto? A line of zeros appears along the bottom of the lcd display in the speedo with the word 'max' flashing on the next line up. The car has done just over 100,00 miles and after reading through some old threads I was wondering if this message is something to do with the gearbox oil needing to be changed. Cheers.

[mooseshaver]

Think that's the oil level indicator. Either it's overfilled or something wrong with it. I think wrong type oil can cause it.

[swiveleyedgit]

Think that's the oil level indicator. Either it's overfilled or something wrong with it. I think wrong type oil can cause it.

Thanks for that, the oil is just under the full mark. It's had a service within the last month, prior to me buying it, I'll have to dig the handbook out and see if there's a list of warning message explanations in it....

[myglaren]

Probably slightly overfilled, doesn't take much.
When I changed mine back in April I couldn't see the oil on the dipstick, despite running the engine a bit in an attempt to mucky it up and make it more visible, resulting in me overfilling it slightly.
It is still almost invisible and hasn't gone down at all. as I expected it to
Time for another oil change now anyway.

There is a condition where diesel gets into the sump and increases the volume of oil to the point where the engine starts burning the oil and can't be shut off, with devastating results. Many YouTube videos of this, predominantly Land Rovers.

[swiveleyedgit]

Oh, I'm getting worried now!

[myglaren]

Don't be. just keep an eye on the level (dipstick, not dash indicator)

[Northern_Mike]

There is a condition where diesel gets into the sump and increases the volume of oil to the point where the engine starts burning the oil and can't be shut off, with devastating results. Many YouTube videos of this, predominantly Land Rovers.

I thought diesel runaway (I believe this is the term you're looking for) is usually caused by worn engines and knackered breathers causing oil mist to be chucked into the intake where it then has the same fuel properties as diesel, and the engine will happily rev to destruction. Stalling it usually stops it. Did on our diesel Uno . Changed down into 2nd doing about 35 to go round a bend and it went into runaway. Hadn't a clue about it then. Had to call the AA out, had it towed home.

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[Northern_Mike]

Oh, I'm getting worried now!

Use the dipstick to check it. It never lies. The electronic gauges can. My Berlingo insisted that it had no oil at all in for most of today after I serviced it yesterday. Now indicating normally again. Weird.

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[myglaren]

Stalling it would be the obvious thing to do Mike but unfortunately this simple procedure seems beyond a lot of drivers.
Sheer panic may be a contributing factor of course.

[Northern_Mike]

Stalling it would be the obvious thing to do Mike but unfortunately this simple procedure seems beyond a lot of drivers.
Sheer panic may be a contributing factor of course.

Sheer panic definitely set in for me! It did it for about 30 seconds before I thought to stall it. Had no idea why it had suddenly gone mad.

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[SwissSPEC]

There is a condition where diesel gets into the sump and increases the volume of oil to the point where the engine starts burning the oil and can't be shut off, with devastating results. Many YouTube videos of this, predominantly Land Rovers.

I thought diesel runaway (I believe this is the term you're looking for) is usually caused by worn engines and knackered breathers causing oil mist to be chucked into the intake where it then has the same fuel properties as diesel, and the engine will happily rev to destruction. Stalling it usually stops it. Did on our diesel Uno . Changed down into 2nd doing about 35 to go round a bend and it went into runaway. Hadn't a clue about it then. Had to call the AA out, had it towed home.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

Nope, its when an injector decides to pour loads of fuel into the cylinder, a mate had an astra 1.7 cdti which was less than 4years old, it was a sight to see with white smoke pouring out of the exhaust & a horrible engine knock when it was shut off The unburnt fuel ends up in the sump, if you're worried smell the oil on the dipstick, if it smells of diesel, then start worrying. It will also make the oil much less viscous.

[swiveleyedgit]

Thought I'd post an update now that I've had the car for a while. The warning message that was appearing was indeed the engine oil warning. The oil level was dead on the high mark of the dipstick when parked on level ground but I realised the message was only appearing when the car was parked on an incline, I've lowered the oil level slightly with my trusty vacuum drainer and this has stopped the message appearing.

I also splashed out on a Lexia kit from Vehicle Diagnostics and spent a couple of very tedious evenings getting it running on an old laptop which is running Windows Vista. The program seems to work ok although it takes ages to get going, that's probably the laptop though, there's so much rubbish on it I'll probably try wiping the hard drive and re installing it sometime. Anyway, there were several fault codes showing so I reset all except 2 which are flagged as permanent and left it for a few days to see which ones reappeared. None of the one's I'd reset have come back so that's a bit of a result, the permanent faults are the steering wheel angle sensor and something about the radio aerial not working (it sounds alright to me). I can see it's going to take quite a while to understand all of the menus and procedures so I'm not expecting to become an expert in the near future, it's fascinating going through all of the sub menus though and seeing what can be done with the software. One thing I can't find so far is how you save the data so if anyone can help me with that I'd be very grateful.

I spent last Sunday taking the air filter assembly out in an effort to find the gearbox oil filler as I want to change the oil soon, I gave the MAF a clean, it was filthy, and tightened the throttle cable up, it was very slack. The car goes like stink now, I had been wondering if it was running in limp mode, no kick down and a leisurely increase in speed when trying to overtake, but I guess that could just have been the slack throttle cable now.

It was all going so well until I went into a massive puddle down an unlit road on my way to work this morning, which has ripped off half of the nearside undertray between the front and rear arches and snapped all of the fixings that hold the offside wheel arch liner on. It swallowed some water as well and spent a couple of minutes coughing and spluttering before settling down again. The good news is the bodywork under the ripped off panel looks in really good condition, I'll have to get a replacement quickly I think to keep it that way..

[myglaren]

Be sure to clean/dry the induction system and change the air filter which will be sodden or very soon you will need a new MAF.

Steering angle sensor fault is very common.
Radio aerial fault may well be the same as mine. Although I never use the radio I do know it works as my son always leaves it on.
On mine the part that is U/S is the RDS system. I can live without it as I know full well what CD is playing.

[THELABMAN]

The electronic display is extremely sensitive and my oil level is spot on yet it can flash the Max message or even slightly under filled depending on where in my driveway I park and I'm only talking about a difference of about 12 inches on a reasonably flat and level drive .

[swiveleyedgit]

Thanks for the tips, I replaced the air filter today, it was absolutely filthy and the paper element swollen. No water in the bottom of the airbox though, I was expecting to find a puddle in there. Found a new underbody panel on eBay as well so that will keep me occupied this weekend.

The guy in the carspares shop tells me he's got a load of goodies that will fit my car, he's recently broken one, including a tuning box. Now I'm not familiar with these devices but here says it's a plug and play job that can be adjusted for either power or economy. Any thoughts on this? Will do a search later although I don't know what make or model this box is yet until he brings it into the shop.