Volvo Engine Oil Requirements

[sprintman]

Dealership did a BMW engine at 44,000 kms about two years back I was told by my indy owner, sludged to failure. Missed it's first oci by 7,000 kms or so and failed about 10,000 kms later. Think carefully about 30,000 kms oci's.

 

[ktm_525]

Originally Posted By: KLowD9x
Originally Posted By: SL8R
Do you know if it is the oil level or the oil quality that is causing your oil light to come on? The R has a dual level/quality sensor, so if either the level or the quality crosses its respective threshold the oil lamp gets lit.

If it's the level, what is you consumption rate like per 1000 miles?

Cheers,

J

04 V70R owner


I'm sure he means the service reminder indicator light.



I sure hope so.

 

[Whimsey]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
I have personally used LC20 and have mixed feelings about it. Another words, I can't really tell if the use of LC20 has helped or not. Early on, I did a UOA on my car at about 5k miles. The lab recommended that I use LC20 to extend the life of the oil. So I ran the next interval with LC20 for about 5.5k miles, and the oil appeared to have taken a pretty good beating as well. It didn't look like LC20 helped it stay in shape. But who know, maybe the UOA would have been even worse if I didn't use LC20. All in all, I don't use it any more.

There are plenty of oils out there that can go 10k miles without help from any aftermarket additives such as LC20. M1 0w-40 that you're using is certainly one of them.


4 years ago I was using LC20 and FP60 in my wife's 2002 Explorer with the SOHC 4.0 V-6, with Schaeffer's Supreme Blend 5W-30. I ran a 10,000 mile OCI, no oil added. The UOA came back with good wear numbers although with the TBN usually at or slightly above 1. But with Schaeffer's Blend the TBN dropped quickly but held steady then. And Blackstone's TBN testing method produced lower numbers than other labs.

Terry saw a spike in iron on one TBN and surmised we were cursed with the all too common timing chain tensioner's failure. He was right.

I use LC20 and FP60 in my 1996 Contour and it actually does run smoother and better with it than without it. I have not run 10,000 mile OCI's, I'm just coming up to 7500 miles for 18 mo. I am doing an UOA and will post. For my 2002 F-150 with the 4.6 V-8 I thought I had the dreaded exhaust manifold leak stud problem. But after using the LC20 and FP60 as directed, the ticking disappeared and other cold temp pinging problems dissappeared. I read afterwards that the new PI 4.6's suffered stuck rear valves due to poor rear cylinder head cooling. It looks like the LC20 gently unstuck and KEPT the rear exhaust valves unstuck.

I only do 5,000 mile OCI's, sometimes longer than 12 months using Motorcraft 5W-20 and Motorcraft FL820S oil filter. I don't think my mpg is much or any better using the LCD products but I'm getting other worthwhile benefits I feel.

Whimsey

 

[jesbo]

Originally Posted By: Volvohead
Where the spec gets problematic is with the turbos. Particularly for the higher pressure T-5 and R engines, running a conventional for 7500 miles is not a good idea, even though VCNA allows it and dealers do it. These engines are much harder on oil. Depending on conditions, even a full synthetic at 5k can be stretching it. For the turbos, I wouldn't go much longer than 5k on any oil without confirming UOAs. Although many should be able to do so on the more robust synthetics.


I owned a Volvo S70 T-5 Turbo and ran Mobil-1 5w30 in it for over 100K miles, religiously changing it at right around 7500 mile OCIs. When I sold the car, the engine ran perfectly, no sludge, and I could still go 3-5K miles on an oil change and the dipstick came out clean with only a slight amber color. If I had it to do again, I'd be using either the M1 0w40, or Castrol 0w30 in it as I believe they are superior oils to the 5w30 M1.

Personally I'd never go 10-15K mile OCI's with any oil regardless of what the MFR recommends. 7500 miles seems about right to me with high quality synthetics, and its cheap insurance since I like to keep my cars for 8+ years.