[wayfarer]

I recently bought a Mahindra MM550 and have been using it for around 3 months daily urban commute.

When I checked my oil level in the morning after having parked overnight, the oil level was above the second notch on the dipstick. When I cold start the engine, the oil pressure in idling is just above 3.

Off lately I have been noticing that in stop and go conditions of city traffic, the temperature gauge steadily rises above 80 degrees. At the same time the oil pressure falls below 3 while idling. This usually happens after about 1 hour of stop & crawl traffic through Bangalore's overcrowded roads, in 1st and 2nd gears.

The highest temperature I have seen is close to 100 degrees after being stuck in traffic for almost 2 hours. I started panicking as the oil pressure gauge also fell to the red line!

Once I'm out of the crawling traffic and cruising around 50-60kmph, the temperature falls to just under 80 degrees. However the oil pressure doesn't go up above 1.5 or 2 (well under the recommended 3).

My questions:
1. Should the oil level be between the two notches on the dipstick?
2. Is it OK if the oil level is above the second notch?
3. What is the recommended oil level on the dipstick?
4. When the oil level is above the second notch on the dipstick, what should be the barometric reading on the oil pressure gauge?
5. Any suggestions on how to fix the overheating & oil pressure falling problem?

[DirtyDan]

Take a look at your coolant. Does it have motor oil in it? Take a look at your motor oil. Does it have any tan or whitish scum in it or appear to be watery? Upon acceleration do you see any whitish smoke coming out of your tailpipe? Do you smell the sweet smell of coolant around your tailpipe with the motor running? Do you seem to be losing coolant? If so, you have a head gasket leak. This would account for both your low oil pressure and over-heating. You may also have just a tired engine that needs an overhaul, rings, bearings etc. You need to get a compression test at a bigger mahindra dealer that has the equipment to do the test. Head gasket leaks can be hard to diagnose. They may be very small and only open up when the engine is hot. Maybe some of the other guys have more tests and ideas on this but I am afraid this sounds expensive. You should not drive it until you know what the problem is. (maybe very slowly to the dealer if he is close by) You could do some real damage.

[wayfarer]

DirtyDan: I don't have coolant in the radiator -- only water. I normally top this off once a week and it takes around quarter liter of water to top it off. I have not noticed any motor oil in the radiator (at least what I can see with the radiator cap off). The motor oil doesn't show any trace of whitish scum and it is definitely not watery. With the engine temperature at just below 80, there is no smoke from the tailpipe although there is a grayish smoke on cold startup and that too only during idling which goes away once the engine has warmed up.

[ex670c]

Originally Posted by wayfarer

I recently bought a Mahindra MM550 and have been using it for around 3 months daily urban commute.

When I checked my oil level in the morning after having parked overnight, the oil level was above the second notch on the dipstick. When I cold start the engine, the oil pressure in idling is just above 3.

Off lately I have been noticing that in stop and go conditions of city traffic, the temperature gauge steadily rises above 80 degrees. At the same time the oil pressure falls below 3 while idling. This usually happens after about 1 hour of stop & crawl traffic through Bangalore's overcrowded roads, in 1st and 2nd gears.

The highest temperature I have seen is close to 100 degrees after being stuck in traffic for almost 2 hours. I started panicking as the oil pressure gauge also fell to the red line!

Once I'm out of the crawling traffic and cruising around 50-60kmph, the temperature falls to just under 80 degrees. However the oil pressure doesn't go up above 1.5 or 2 (well under the recommended 3).

My questions:
1. Should the oil level be between the two notches on the dipstick?
2. Is it OK if the oil level is above the second notch?
3. What is the recommended oil level on the dipstick?
4. When the oil level is above the second notch on the dipstick, what should be the barometric reading on the oil pressure gauge?
5. Any suggestions on how to fix the overheating & oil pressure falling problem?

Hi Wayfarer,

I have similar experiences while driving my MM540XD in city traffic.

1) The minimum oil pressure for XD3P is 3 Bar @ 3000rpm.
2) Oil Level should be up to the second notch on the dip stick.
3) Donot idle (900rpm) the engine for more than 5-8 mins, or increase the engine speed to fast idle (1100rpm) (there is a knob under the dash board or GENTLY tap the accelerator pedal)
4)Have your radiator and engine block flushed.
5) If you regularly drive in city traffic conditions (as mentioned above) use the Oil recommended for the scorpio & add and engine oil treatment (STP/Duron/Slick50)

Regards,

Arka

[wayfarer]

Originally Posted by ex670c

Hi Wayfarer,

I have similar experiences while driving my MM540XD in city traffic.

1) The minimum oil pressure for XD3P is 3 Bar @ 3000rpm.
2) Oil Level should be up to the second notch on the dip stick.
3) Donot idle (900rpm) the engine for more than 5-8 mins, or increase the engine speed to fast idle (1100rpm) (there is a knob under the dash board or GENTLY tap the accelerator pedal)
4)Have your radiator and engine block flushed.
5) If you regularly drive in city traffic conditions (as mentioned above) use the Oil recommended for the scorpio & add and engine oil treatment (STP/Duron/Slick50)

Regards,

Arka

Thanks for this very useful information, Arka!

In response to your list:

1. This clears up a basic doubt that I had. I was under the impression that 3 bar should be at idling. But when I rev the engine under normal acceleration, the pressure does go up to above 3 (not too sure if I'm at 3000 RPM though as the Jeep lacks a tachometer).

2. Is it bad if the oil level is even a few millimeters above the second notch? Should I drain the sump a bit to bring the level down?

3. I didn't know there was a knob for fast idling. I'll try to locate it under the dash today.

4. Will do.

5. I topped off the oil by adding 2 liters of Shell Super Helix 15W40 [This is what brought the oil level to just above the second notch]. Is this a good oil? What would you recommend?

Thanks,
Dhwanit

[DirtyDan]

Originally Posted by wayfarer

I started panicking as the oil pressure gauge also fell to the red line!

Once I'm out of the crawling traffic and cruising around 50-60kmph, the temperature falls to just under 80 degrees. However the oil pressure doesn't go up above 1.5 or 2 (well under the recommended 3).

Originally Posted by ex670c

I have similar experiences while driving my MM540XD in city traffic.

1) The minimum oil pressure for XD3P is 3 Bar @ 3000rpm.

That's good news on the "no oil in the radiator" and the fact that you are not losing coolant (water). No scum or watery motor oil also means your coolant and your motor oil are not mixing therefore no head gasket leak. Maybe, probably.

Arka knows his sh*t. You might think about adding an electric fan for those stop and go sessions. You are are just cooking your motor oil when you do that and damaging its lubricity and you are not doing your engine much good either. If it were me I would want a compression check done, too, maybe. Arka, how much does a compression check cost? Worthwhile?

[GTO]

How many kms has your engine covered? I suppose this is the 2.1 IDI that we are talking about?

Originally Posted by wayfarer

Off lately I have been noticing that in stop and go conditions of city traffic, the temperature gauge steadily rises above 80 degrees. At the same time the oil pressure falls below 3 while idling. This usually happens after about 1 hour of stop & crawl traffic through Bangalore's overcrowded roads, in 1st and 2nd gears.

You need to have your fan, fan cowl, radiator & cooling system (in this order) checked up. Overheating is a common problem with M&M Jeeps, but is easy to resolve, given the right hands. Has this overheating problem recently surfaced, or has it been around since you've had the Jeep?

The oil pressure will fall with a rise in temperature / as driving distance increases. Let's first solve your overheating problem.

[Spitfire]

@wayfarer: Where are you located in bangalore? We can have a quick look in.

[DirtyDan]

Originally Posted by GTO

How many kms has your engine covered? I suppose this is the 2.1 IDI that we are talking about?



You need to have your fan, fan cowl, radiator & cooling system (in this order) checked up. Overheating is a common problem with M&M Jeeps, but is easy to resolve, given the right hands. Has this overheating problem recently surfaced, or has it been around since you've had the Jeep?

The oil pressure will fall with a rise in temperature / as driving distance increases. Let's first solve your overheating problem.

It's a mm550 so it's a xd3p motor, right? In any case, for your reading pleasure take a look at

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...blem-jeep.html

We do not know if you really have a problem or not. Since the consequences of over-heating a motor are severe, you had better find out. The above link covers just about everything you can check even though it is on the 2112cc Peugeot.

Two liters is a LOT TO HAVE TO ADD!!! Saw this and am now editing my post. This is a lot to add. Why so low?

[wayfarer]

Originally Posted by GTO

How many kms has your engine covered? I suppose this is the 2.1 IDI that we are talking about?



You need to have your fan, fan cowl, radiator & cooling system (in this order) checked up. Overheating is a common problem with M&M Jeeps, but is easy to resolve, given the right hands. Has this overheating problem recently surfaced, or has it been around since you've had the Jeep?

The oil pressure will fall with a rise in temperature / as driving distance increases. Let's first solve your overheating problem.

GTO, when I bought the jeep, the odometer reading was 94000 km and it wasn't even working. So its hard to say how many kms the engine has done. I've driven around 2500 km after I got the jeep around 3 months back. The engine is an 2.5L XD3P.

Few dumb questions: how do I check the fan (it rotates with the engine just fine!) and what is a fan cowl? As for the radiator, there is no leak... so what needs to be checked there? Cooling system checkup? When I went to a few mechanics all they see is how to get the maximum money out of me rather than helping me understand my jeep and its problems!

I have faced the overheating problem only when stuck in traffic. Once traffic is moving and the engine is revving above idling RPMs, the engine starts cooling down within a few minutes. Last week, a 30 minute drive on the NICE road from Banerghatta road intersection to Mysore road intersection at 70-80 kmph brought the engine temperature to around 70 degrees.

Originally Posted by Spitfire

@wayfarer: Where are you located in bangalore? We can have a quick look in.

Spitfire, I work in the Whitefield area and stay in Marathalli. I will PM you my mobile number.

Originally Posted by DirtyDan

It's a mm550 so it's a xd3p motor, right? In any case, for your reading pleasure take a look at

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...blem-jeep.html

We do not know if you really have a problem or not. Since the consequences of over-heating a motor are severe, you had better find out. The above link covers just about everything you can check even though it is on the 2112cc Peugeot.

Two liters is a LOT TO HAVE TO ADD!!! Saw this and am now editing my post. This is a lot to add. Why so low?

DirtyDan: Yes, its an XD3P engine. I'll read up on the link you sent me -- thanks. As for the two liters, it was recommended by the mechanic who categorically claimed with a deadpan serious face that the jeep had 2 liters less oil. Being a newbie to jeeps, I took his comment at face value and added 2 liters. Just that now the dipstick level is around 2-3 mm above the second notch from the bottom!

Thanks again for all your inputs! Its great to be part of the Team-BHP community

[nitrous]

Do you have an electric radiator fan?

[wayfarer]

Originally Posted by nitrous

Do you have an electric radiator fan?

Nitrous: No, the jeep doesn't have an electric radiator fan.

[sreerajunnithan]

@wayfarer I own a 1998 MM550, In my Jeep, it never touched 80, in Traffic or Rock Crawling in 4L. Once i start the engine, the oil pressure indicator jumps to the maximum and stay there. There is no swing on oil pressure gage.

First thing you need to do is, find a sincere mech, If you want i can help you for that. I stay very close to Marthahalli. Arka recommended this Mech, whom Suresh knows from 10 years. And i must admit that i never found such a genuine mech who knows Jeeps very well. You can call me on 9342134583

I am not technically sound enough to give you the reason for these problems. The first thing i do after seeing an issue is, call Arka, Suresh or UBS and test their patience :-)
But trust me, they are so helpful and willing to help you any time.

Thanks
--Sree--

[jango]

Originally Posted by sreerajunnithan

Arka recommended this Mech, whom Suresh knows from 10 years. And i must admit that i never found such a genuine mech who knows Jeeps very well. Thanks
--Sree--

Are you referring to Sudhee here ?

[sreerajunnithan]

Originally Posted by sreerajunnithan

@wayfarer Once i start the engine, the oil pressure indicator jumps to the maximum and stay there. There is no swing on oil pressure gage.

My mech just told me that its coz i have an electronic oil pressure sensor.
In your case it may be normal to swing that needle according to the throttle.

Thanks
--Sree--