So, I replaced the alternator in my Volvo 2 weeks ago. It’s a 98 S70, anyone who’s worked with anything to do with the serpentine belts knows that the dipstick location is a nightmare to work around. I pulled out the housing bolt that is underneath the backside of a bracket off of the dipstick. Now my car won’t start this morning, I went to investigate and as I was checking out the oil levels, first off, I noticed I had almost no oil in my car, second off, I noticed that the dipstick tube seemed loose, and upon inspection the bolt was missing. I am sure that I put the bolt back in, but apparently not tight enough. What I’m wondering, is there a mechanism that stops the car if it has no oil/low pressure or prevents it from turning over, or is it all mechanical past the ignition? If I fill it back with oil should that fix the problem if I can seal the dipstick hole.
Very few cars were ever made with the low or no oil pressure sender which would would disable the fuel pump. GM used this for a few years but no others that I’m aware of.
Whether there will be continued problems I have no idea as “almost” is not defined.
You might elborate on the non-start part of this a little more.
Do you mean the starter motor physically cranks the engine over but it will not run or even sputter?
If the engine will not crank over is there a solid clunk sound when you turn the key?
@manss2001 - It sounds like you are not checking oil on a regular schedule. If not check every two weeks so you will not get any low oil surprises.
My Rivieras had a low oil pressure shut off that would shut the fuel pump off. It was an extra switch on the oil sending unit. Whether a Volvo does that or not is unknown but you could look up the sending unit part and see if there is an extra pair of wires, or the factory service manual would have that info and the schematic for it. So, no start-check for fuel pressure or listen for the pump running.
I doubt a 98 Volvo has an automatic shut-off function for low oil pressure. But no need to guess, easy enough to fix the leak, top off the oil, and give it a test cranking.