I recently picked up two Volvos (see sig). They will allow me to keep miles off my prisine '83 Mercedes and will be used for commuting (13 miles each way) and general running around duty (few long trips, if any). Plus my 17 year old daughter is driving now, so the extra car will come in handy for keeping mom and dad at home, if you know what I mean.
I put a bottle of AutoRx in each one prior to driving them home. The turbo was 1,250 miles from home, the 240 was 1,500 miles (you'd think I would look closer to home...). So both got good long highway runs during the clean phase. Both are now on rinse with Supertech 10W-40.
The '89 has visible varnish looking at the cam from the filler neck. There is also a little nasty black junk...not sure I'd call it sludge....fairly small patches in nooks and crannies. Maybe the beginnings of sludge. Ok, it is a little dark in there!
PO records for the '89 turbo indicate the owner was careful to get regular oil changes, but he didn't give much thought to what oil was being put in (bulk junk at the local garage near Ole Miss where the car lived most of its life).
The '91 is very clean under the cover and is no doubt easier on the oil being normally aspirated. It sure shows in the cleanliness difference.
So, once the rinse cycles are done, I need to decide how I am going to treat these two. I have a supply of Mann filters, but am undecided on oil.
I have a decent stash (maybe 40 quarts left) of $1 SL Trop Artic syn blend 10W30 and thought that might be good for the 240. I seem to remember reading somewhere though that these old Volvos tend to like 14 - 15 cSt.
For the turbo, I am seriously considering at least a group III oil, maybe even a group IV. The turbo is water-cooled, but I don't want to be adding to the varnish and junk. I even thought about maybe using Schaeffer's S-9000 5W40 diesel oil...I use it in my Mercedes and it would certainly be convenient. Might not be too good for my 18 year old catalytic converter though?
Oh, and I am ready to do a second AutoRx on the turbo if after the rinse it still looks groty.
What do you think? What would you use? Fire away, I am all ears!
Tim
I put a bottle of AutoRx in each one prior to driving them home. The turbo was 1,250 miles from home, the 240 was 1,500 miles (you'd think I would look closer to home...). So both got good long highway runs during the clean phase. Both are now on rinse with Supertech 10W-40.
The '89 has visible varnish looking at the cam from the filler neck. There is also a little nasty black junk...not sure I'd call it sludge....fairly small patches in nooks and crannies. Maybe the beginnings of sludge. Ok, it is a little dark in there!
PO records for the '89 turbo indicate the owner was careful to get regular oil changes, but he didn't give much thought to what oil was being put in (bulk junk at the local garage near Ole Miss where the car lived most of its life).
The '91 is very clean under the cover and is no doubt easier on the oil being normally aspirated. It sure shows in the cleanliness difference.
So, once the rinse cycles are done, I need to decide how I am going to treat these two. I have a supply of Mann filters, but am undecided on oil.
I have a decent stash (maybe 40 quarts left) of $1 SL Trop Artic syn blend 10W30 and thought that might be good for the 240. I seem to remember reading somewhere though that these old Volvos tend to like 14 - 15 cSt.
For the turbo, I am seriously considering at least a group III oil, maybe even a group IV. The turbo is water-cooled, but I don't want to be adding to the varnish and junk. I even thought about maybe using Schaeffer's S-9000 5W40 diesel oil...I use it in my Mercedes and it would certainly be convenient. Might not be too good for my 18 year old catalytic converter though?
Oh, and I am ready to do a second AutoRx on the turbo if after the rinse it still looks groty.
What do you think? What would you use? Fire away, I am all ears!
Tim
