<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ColourPhil:<BR><B>My 02 2.4T has done about 2500 mls. Is running really well. In the UK the first oil change is done at 12K for '02 cars, which to me is way to long. My questions are: is about 4000m OK; when should I change to synthetic (I was thinking of changing to synth at about 12K); what type of oil do the factory use from new?<BR>I've seen the info for S80 on Bay 13.<BR>Many thanks<BR>Phil</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Change to the synthetic any time you like; Porsche, 'Vette, and many other cars use it as the factory fill and they break in just fine.<P>It's my understanding that Volvo uses the Castrol semi-synthetic as their factory fill.<P>Switch to a full synthetic, put in a K&N air filter to trap the small particles in the air, and you should last the full 12,000 km (7,500 mi) between oil changes on a full synthetic without problem. If you use Amsoil you could stretch that to 20,000 mi between changes if you wanted to.<P>Don't forget that a full synthetic has pretty much iso-dimensional molecules, unlike the petroleum based oil which has a blend of long and short molecules. The short ones boil off faster, leaving the long molecules behind. The long molecules are the ones that coalesce and form the deposits (like shellac) in the engine. Switch to synthetic and that problem goes away.<P>Best of luck. Enjoy your new car.<P>P.S. The oil change on an S60 is trivially easy: 1) drop the lower engine cover, 2) remove the oil drain bolt, 3) remove the filter & housing (I did it by hand the first time, but bought a filter removal tool from <A HREF="http://www.ipdusa.com)" TARGET=_blank>www.ipdusa.com)</A> 4) install new filter (torque to 18.5 ft-lb if you're anal about that kind of thing like me.) 5) Install drain bolt (26 ft-lb) with new aluminum crush washer, 6) reinstall lower engine cover, 7) add oil. It is the <I>easiest </I> oil change I've ever done, bar none because the filter and drain plug are so accessible and the oil filter actually removes <I>straight down </I>.