Volvo S-60 2.5T oil recommendation

[fred0803]

03 AWD Volvo T5 (turbo) S-60 and has been getting dino oil changes every 3500 miles since birth. Milage is now 38,000 and I will be taking ownership in March (friends lease expires and I will purchase the car)

What should be in the car? I think they are now using like Valvoline 5/30 dino (ugggh).

 

[Willy_G]

Use what the owner's manual states.

If within spec's, Mobil 1 15w50 or 5w40 and Rotella 5w40 are some good choices.

If an Xw30 is needed, maybe one of the Mobil 1 products.

I would stick with the 3500 OCI and a good group IV oil that meets factory spec's.

 

[williar]

I use either Syntec 0w30 (GC) or Mobil1 (M1) 0w40 in my '02 Audi 2.7 twin-turbo. I prefer GC. Both oils are ACEA A3. My oil change interval (OCI) is 10,000 miles, per factory specs.

I would think your S-60 would have similar oil requirements and that GC or M1 0w40, both available at AutoZone, should suit it well.

 

[wavinwayne]

I'd ARX it first, then use either:

Castrol Syntec 0w30
Castrol Syntec 5w40
Mobil 1 0w40
Mobil 1 5w40
Amsoil 5w40
Pentosin 5w40
Redline 5w40

 

[Volvohead]

First, get that turbo over to a full synthetic ASAP. Before that, you may want to cleanse out the crankcase and turbo lines with an ARX treatment. I would. Your intervals are not bad. But I am now very wary of dealer bulk dino in the P2 turbos, as sludging has been reported just outside warranty on several. And a 5W-30 dino is one of the last things I would put in one.

If price is no object, if it's modded, or you drive it hard regularly, then I recommend Redline 10W-30. The turbo white blocks run terrific on it.

But if price is relevant, then the candidates I would consider (in order) are Delvac1/M1 T&SUV 5W-40 at longer OCIs, M1 0W-40 at shorter OCIs, and M1 10W-30 at average OCIs. All are excellent. Otherwise, note that the white blocks do like 40 weights best and the lighter manufacturer recommendations are more for mileage considerations.

Don't run a 15W oil in these in the winter. In fact, you don't want to ever get too thick, as you will compromise turbo spool up.

And don't scrmp on filters. Either a Volvo/Mahle or a Mann are perfect.

This, from an S60R owner.

 

[sebring01]

get and keep the records from that volvo stealership....that dino 5w-30 may or may not have done some damage...there was another volvo on here recently that was badly sludged from just this thing!

 

[Winston]

ARX first.

Then use one of Waynes recommended oils.

Use the Volvo filter, it is a good filter and they give you the free drain plug gasket.

5k OCI.

 

[The Critic]

I'm going to disagree with the rest of the people here.

Let's see...this is an 03? I'm assuming that this car has run API SL oils from day 1? 3500 miles...that's a reasonable OCI for a turbocharged 2.5L engine with a 6qt sump. If this car normally runs on dino at 7500 mile intervals, and the previous owner changed it at 1/2 the recommended service interval, there shouldn't be any problems with excessive buildup or cooking.

I would continue using an API SM conventional at a 3-4K interval or switch a full syn and change it every 7500 miles.

 

[wavinwayne]

Michael,

Stop being so danged logical!

 

[The Critic]

 

[Pablo]

I just like the way these engines purr on Amsoil 5W-40.

I am tempted to try the ACD (10W)-30, though!

 

[fred0803]

I have bought GC 0/30 anticipating this purchase of the Volvo. AutoRX is going to be done.

I think getting this car to synthetic is needed and will tell them to do it immediately.

 

[Quattro Pete]

quote:

---

If this car normally runs on dino at 7500 mile intervals

---

I remember of a few Volvo stories where this factory recommendation actually lead to sludge/coking/turbo failure. Similar to VW/Audi, where they weren't specific enough in mandating synthetic oil.

IMO, with turbo engines, it's not the issue of OCI, but rather the issue of mineral oil that's more prone to coking than synthetic. For that reason, I'd recommend synthetic in any turbo application, regardless how short/long your OCI is.

Has there been much improvement in dino oil coking resistance between API SL and SJ?

 

[ALS]

Unless you are using Synthetic change at 5K miles.
Almost every FWD white block car at my dealer on conventional oil has a sludge problem. I don't care what Volvo says 7,500 might be ok with a synthetic oil but not if your using conventional.
The techs feel that Volvo should go back to 5K OCI's
My 87 745 Turbo has used up the 10W30 M1 additive package by 5,000 miles.
The M1 in my 97 960 I6 still has a TBN of 3 at 6K miles.

 

[Volvohead]

There was a UOA a few months back from a fellow R owner running M1 0W-40.

The M1 was completely shot after 4K. I can't imagine any dino doing any better, let alone a bulk 5W-30.

These little 2.5s produce upwards of 300hp, an extraordinary hp/displacement ratio. Even the NA version produces relatively high output. While they are very durable engines, it is not a low-stress design as regards lubrication.

While the T5 is no R, and neither is a 1.8T, that should still give an idea about why to use full synthetic in the white block turbos. And why few oils can safely run a full 7,500 in them. I refuse to run ANY oil that long in my R.

Sadly, there are a lot of turbo white blocks, including most Rs, running bulk dino for the full 7,500.

 

[The Critic]

I think we need bruce381 to chime in here. IIRC, he mentioned something about API SL or SM having a requirement in terms of resisting ring sticking...

 

[Volvohead]

fred0803, one other thing. Do the complete ARX treatment BEFORE switching to a full synthetic. This will reduce the leak risk if the dino deposits are already heavy.

I'd use a premium dino HDEO for both clean and rinse. The OCIs will be very short to allow this. But if you want, a semi-syn on the clean phase will also work fine.

Afterwards, except if running M1 0W-40, a little LC added will keep the whole thing spotless. I recall Terry suggesting a while back that the 0W-40 and LC aren't always a good pairing.

 

[Tones]

Majority use Amsoil or Mobil 1. With your climate, I would use 5W-30. If it is convenient, run a 10W-30 for the summer. My opinion is that xW-40 is overkill for this new of a car. If consumption is a problem or increases with age, you can change to it later. The Mobil 1 "classic" is now formulated a little thicker than in the past and should be a good fit vs the EP. With 38k miles in 3 years or less, there probably isn't much crud built up. Instead of ARX, you might run a couple short 3.5k OCIs to clean the engine out before extending. There are other oils that will work, but try to stick with an oil that has a higher HTHS for the turbo, such as synthetics.

 

[Pablo]

MW - both SL and SM have a "ring sticking' portion in the sequence testing.

http://www.amsoil.com/lit/g1916.pdf

 

[John_E]

No one is asking the most important question, i.e., what type of driving do you plan to do? Fortunately, your sump is bigger than the measly 4.2 qt. of my VW 1.8T, but I would still suggest something like 3k mi / 5k km for city driving, up to twice that for highway, with synthetic oil.