Oil Level Indicator - Vehicle MUST be PERFECTLY Level

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txfromwi

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2016 LR4 HSE, 54K miles

I know that there is little confidence in the indicator in this community - this might help.

OK, so I had a big long question but I have figured it out myself and here is the conclusion and another trick for us...

The vehicle MUST be PERFECTLY Level, and I mean PERFECTLY!

Back wheels down by 1" INCREASES the oil level indicator by 1 bar/line.

I did this experiment back and forth several times and these results are reproducible.

My suburban garage has a slope that turns out to be exactly 1" over the distance of the wheelbase of the LR4.
So it's really easy to use the 1" leveling blocks.
Because I had some strange readings - I eventually checked oil level off the blocks, on the blocks, off, on.
Always the same result.

Back wheels down by 1" INCREASES the oil level indicator by 1 bar/line.

In my opinion that's just too sensitive to be useful, because in the real world - i.e. pretty much everywhere - I never know if it's PERFECTLY level or not!

Yes, I know it's aggravating but I hope you find this useful !
 

Ellior

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Hi I’ve got a discovery 5 2017 and I couldn’t get an oil level reading so I took it back to Landrover and they had to take to sump off the engine as the oil level sensor and wiring loom had failed luckily the vehicle was in warranty so it’s not just as issue with LR4.
 

jlglr4

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@txfromwi: It seems the other factor here is that the oil level might have been very close to the value dividing one “tick” from the next, such that a minor deviation in level made a difference of one “tick” on the gauge. I’ve had times where my level varied by one “tick” in subsequent checks without even moving the car or doing anything at all - probably because I was right on the edge of whatever that value was. They can only make the sensor so precise, then you lose a degree of precision in converting that to the gauge.

In any event, one tick on the gauge is not much oil, if my recollection is correct. I think the whole length of the gauge is only about a liter (or is that half the gauge?). Either way, the variation of one “tick” is probably not enough to worry about.

Don’t get me wrong - I hate the electronic dipsticks mainly because I find it more of a pain in the **** to push all those buttons just to check the oil. But I actually think they are much more accurate than trying to read a dipstick with oil slathered up the side.
 

ar077

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Hi I’ve got a discovery 5 2017 and I couldn’t get an oil level reading so I took it back to Landrover and they had to take to sump off the engine as the oil level sensor and wiring loom had failed luckily the vehicle was in warranty so it’s not just as issue with LR4.

Ditto!
 

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