Hi Guys. Thought I’d check my oil level and it’s showing as underfilled.

Did some Google searching, and it bought up info from here to indicate that I shouldn’t trust the reading!

So what do I do? I’ve topped up by half a liter. It’s about 2-3k miles since my last oil change. No problems or warnings. In the absence of the bodge to create a distick is there no way to reliably check oil level?

Thanks in advance. 2012 SDV8 Vogue SE

I had the same issue with my L322 2012.
The yellow warning light went on so I checked the electronic level which showed underfilled. I put in 2 litres and the light went off but it was still showing under filled.
I rang up my Indy where it was booked in for a service a few weeks later. They said the only way to 100% check the oil level is to see how much comes out at an oil change.
They told me to keep an eye on it. I was wary of putting more oil in if the gauge was faulty and there seemed no sign of an oil leak.
It turned out the oil filter gasket had gone and it was leaking and burning off the hot engine somewhere.The level was very low.
I suppose the moral is drain the oil and see how much is in there so not to cause damage with too little or too much oil.
What was wrong with a dipsticK????!

I would start by Buying a vacuum pump (Sealey 10L suits me) and extract the oil and measure the quantity, you will know then that the oil sensor is correct. Replace with new oil (C1 presume its a 4.4 diesel?) I usually put in 9.3L of new oil (it will be different if it's a 3.0 diesel) and change the oil filter and then reset the service indicator.
Plenty of threads on here on changing oil and filter change @Baltic Blue is a good thread. 2018 SE SDV8 4.4 Byron Blue

Think I'll do this, I've been trying to find a C1 or C4 5W40, but think I'll have to admit defeat, and stick to 5W30 C1! 2012 SDV8 Vogue SE

Kot wrote:

I would start by Buying a vacuum pump (Sealey 10L suits me) and extract the oil and measure the quantity, you will know then that the oil sensor is correct. Replace with new oil (C1 presume its a 4.4 diesel?) I usually put in 9.3L of new oil (it will be different if it's a 3.0 diesel) and change the oil filter and then reset the service indicator.
Plenty of threads on here on changing oil and filter change @Baltic Blue is a good thread.

In that case use the drain plug! 2018 SE SDV8 4.4 Byron Blue

The pump method gets virtually all the oil out. It starts sucking air when all the oil is extracted.
You will probably get a touch more out than you need to put back in because of oil dilution.

I did a test on a 4.4 and 3.0 SDV, first took all the oil out with a vacuum pump and then took out the sump plug. In both cases there was hardly any more oil coming from the sump.
It shows that the vacuum way is very effective and thereby a whole lot cleaner and quicker then the sump approach.

It helps to loosen the oil filter cap first before the oil removal start, so that the filter housing content can drain in the sump before taking the oil out.

I’m in the same boat. Recently serviced by Stratstone and it’s showing underfilled on the gauge but bang on the minimum. Guess if they always do this they can save nearly 2 litres in every oil change the savings to them will add up over a year! I’m a sceptic and a pessimist!!
My thought would be to extract and see how much oil I can get out.
Previously on another 4.4 tdv8 I’ve managed to extract nigh on 10litres. I topped up carefully with new oil and bit by bit it took again nigh on 10litres - I ended up with some spare oil out of the 2 5 litre containers I used. I’d guess it was marginally over 9.5litres.
I love the idea of the drip stick option if anyone develops one
Best regards
Mark L405 2016 4.4SDV8 Autobiography Corris Grey/Pimento - Current
L322 2011 4.4TDV8 Vogue SE Alaska White/Charcoal - Gone
and lots of other none LR stuff…..

I have the opposite to most, using the vacuum method I get 8 and a bit out so I put 8 and a bit back in. The electronic indicator on the dash reads full, I wonder if it’s reading under and I should add another litre, would it do any harm if it was overfilled anyway? Or for that matter what if it did only have 8L in? Geoff

bozmandb9 wrote:

Think I'll do this, I've been trying to find a C1 or C4 5W40, but think I'll have to admit defeat, and stick to 5W30 C1!

Just a recommendation..used this for years in the D4, now in the L405 V8.

Click image to enlarge