Oil recommendation for Volvo B230E engine

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Hi All

First post here looking for some help choosing correct oil for my car. It's a 1989 Volvo 745 with the B230E engine. The car has just over 100k miles on it and runs very sweet with none of the noises these engines sometimes have. The PO who is a Volvo guy has been using 15w40 mineral with a Volvo filter and has recommended that I don't use anything too thin or fully synthetic. I've been considering going with plain old Castrol GTX 10w40 as it's getting close to wintertime and I feel 15w40 may be a bit too thick for the cold months. The car does a lot of short journeys so my OCI will be 2500 miles.

One other thing to note is that the engine has good torque at low rpm and will pull cleanly from 1000 rpm. This is great for lazy driving but I'm concerned about stressing the bottom end. Would a thicker oil provide better protection?

Any advice much appreciated
 
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I'd think that GTX 10W-40 would work just fine in this engine.
If I had one, it would get either Maxlife or Defy 10W-40.
 
5w-30, 10w-30, and 15w-40 are listed in the owner's manual depending on temperature.

Are Valvoline Maxlife, Quaker State Defy, or Mobil 1 High Mileage 10w-40 available to you? That's what I'd go with.

My first car was a 1990 740. It was a tank, and I do miss it.
 
Unfortunately most of these oils aren't available in my area or maybe they are sold under different names. There is one supplier who carries Maxlife in 5w40 FS and 10w40 semi - slightly spendy but I don't mind paying for good oil.

I was browsing in Costco recently and they have Mobil but only 0w40. Also a good range of Castrol. They had 20 litre containers of Chevron Supreme semi syn 5w30 for gasoline engines and 10w40 for diesels. Both the Chevron oils were a great price and the diesel version is also rated for gasoline engines. I was tempted by the Castrol Edge FST 5w40 but decided to heed the warning from the PO about thin full syn oils.
 
The Mobil 0w40 works out at 30 GBP inc tax which is a great price for that oil over here. Castrol Edge works out about the same.

The engine is currently using a small amount of oil - about half a litre every 1k miles. It doesn't appear to be leaking so I assume it's getting past the rings or stem seals. No blue smoke though even on the first start of the day. I can see a bit of varnish looking through the filler hole but nothing serious.
 
This is one of the red Engines and they are sturdy.
- use any xW- 30/40 oil that are of a known brand and let
it be in the Engine for 7000 miles or so.
I would not hesitate to use a HDEO of 5/10W- 40 flavour.
 
Originally Posted By: contrarian
The Mobil 0w40 works out at 30 GBP inc tax which is a great price for that oil over here. Castrol Edge works out about the same.

The engine is currently using a small amount of oil - about half a litre every 1k miles. It doesn't appear to be leaking so I assume it's getting past the rings or stem seals. No blue smoke though even on the first start of the day. I can see a bit of varnish looking through the filler hole but nothing serious.


1/2 liter every 1k isn't too terrible. That's about on par with my girlfriend's winter car. Usually I'll just top it off once it's down a quart, then change it when it's getting low again.
 
I've ended up with 5w30 longlife dexos 2 from a GM dealer. I think this stuff is full syn and is rated SM/CF. I used to buy 10w40 semi from the dealer a few years ago but it's being phased out now apparently. I got the longlife stuff for a similar price so definitely a bargain, quality oil at a very cheap price. Hopefully it will be ok in my engine.
 
I had a 1986 Volvo 740 Turbo. It used a small amount of oil from new. Nothing to worry about.

I wasn't able to change the oil on that particular car (the only car ever) because the oil filter was above a motor mount and below the turbo. I had the oil changed every 3 months to protect the Turbo. I put on 285,000 Km in 18 years, which works out to every 4,000 Km on average.

I used a variety of dino and designated "turbo" oils, mostly 10W-30, with 5W-30 at least once. I think 5W-30 may have been too thin as it developed a number of oil leaks right about then.

Your climatic conditions will be much more benign. 10W-30 sounds just about right to me.

Any modern oil (SM or SN) will be massive overkill for that almost indestructable engine. Great car by the way. Wish I still had it.
 
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