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Oil...

8.2K views 39 replies 22 participants last post by  thesternowl  
#1 ·
So I know I'm gunna catch some Flak for this buuuut....

When I bought my Car it had written on the air filter cover 10W-30 conventional... Soo I listened and have been running conventional oil for all oil changes since I bought the R. Now I'm starting to wonder should I have switched to Synthetic? which will be more cost effective in the long run? which will be best for my caRs longevity? etc etc etc....

so let the :saber: begin
 
#2 ·
I've run synth since new but still change it at 5K so no it's not more cost effective.
The synth is just a better oil and gives me a better feeling. :)
 
#3 ·
I've ran 5w-30 synth oil since I got the car, still have been every 4000-5500 miles
 
#6 ·
A jug of Mobil1 at WalMart costs less than $30. Why cheap out?
Just make sure you go with the Extended Performance as it is 100% synth. Also that's the only time I go into Walmart.
 
#11 ·
Run synthetic. Running anything but can be detrimental to your vehicles lifespan. A high quality synthetic oil has much better heat resistance than conventional oil. This means when the oil is ran through the very hot turbo it doesn't degrade nearly as fast and leave burnt oil deposits in your engine.
I run Royal Purple but I'm sure most fully synthetics should be fine.
 
#13 ·
That engine bay needs a serious bath. If I took my car to a mechanic and they wrote on my air intake I would make them buy a new one.

Also, there's really nothing wrong with conventional. The word on the street is that synthetic is more stable under harsh driving conditions. Also oil life is definitely longer with synthetic. That's about it.
 
#21 ·
Also, there's really nothing wrong with conventional. The word on the street is that synthetic is more stable under harsh driving conditions. Also oil life is definitely longer with synthetic. That's about it.
Agree, absolutely nothing wrong with conventional. Yes, true synthetics have 'better' properties such as higher film strength, higher flash points, lower pour points, better stability due to more uniform molecular structure, usually come with better additive packs etc etc etc. But its really a question of whether more is really better, if conventional is already enough. And what kind of synth are you talking about--group III, IV, etc. There is a good amount of debate whether some of the popular group IIIs are really better than conventionals, and even the folks that work at the used oil analysis places (i.e. that see lots of data points regarding use of all kinds of engine oils in all kinds of environments) aren't always sold on the premise that any synth really gets you anything other than an extended interval.

A better oil might help hide inferior design like motors that have a reputation to sludge (like say a VAG 1.8T) or have say poor topend oiling (like say a Ford Cologne V6). But better properties don't add anything if they aren't needed. I'm not overly concerned with any element of design on the R engine other than the PCV. The turbo is water cooled so it shouldn't experience coking issues; I'm not aware of any other problem areas on these & they are known to run 200K+ with regular maintenance. Basically, running conventional oil is not a bad thing by itself.

But even knowing all that, I still run synthetic since it doesn't really add much cost to the regular maintenance. So at the end of the day, do whatever makes you sleep the soundest...
 
#16 ·
For the record, a buddy of mine with a mazdaspeed6 running the first E85 built motor with compression raised from 10:1 to 12.2:1 and boosted by a GT37 is running conventional, because he says what he uses is supposedly better. I'll find out more if you're interested.
 
#18 ·
Appreciate it, I'll end up switching to conventional so I don't to poke around looking for High quality Conventional. Also when I bought the car the writing on the air intake and after market wheels where the two things that sketched me out and I Immediately was confused it wasn't running Synthetic. I dunno why but I assumed maybe it was a weird R thing to run conventional (because of High compression). Glad I now Know.

Oh an I know My caR is begging for some Spring cleaning!!!! especially the engine bay.
 
#19 ·
Synthetic is a good idea not only for the engine, but maybe even more important for the turbo. Since the vanes spin at a terrific rpm, treat those bearings to a high flash point oil which is synthetic. There are many arguments as to which is the best, but I think any is better than conventional. My $.02.
 
#22 · (Edited)
If you've been running conventional oil and changing it at 7500 miles, your breather is almost certainly clogged if you have over 60K miles!
You MUST run synthetic on a 5 cyl Volvo engine with 5K mile oil changes, no higher!

By design, these are sludge engines. (Dr. B you are incorrect here). These engines DO NOT LIKE DINO OIL!
I can't tell you how many lower mileage 5 cylider Volvos I have bought that the breathers are clogged.

My own 07XC70. It had EVERY single service record stamped, oil changed at 7500 miles without fail but with conventional oil...
Breather was completely clogged at 110K when I bought it!

The 06 White XC70 I have in the classifieds, 58K LOW miles.
Serviced properly until about 42000 miles, then only one oil change was skipped.
Owned by a woman who drove slowly, FULLY clogged at 58K (I installed a complete breather)
 
#23 ·
You know what's good oil? Amsoil...it even has "oil" in the name...and is knowingly one of the only TRUE Synthetic Motor Oils....not to mention I happen to know a dealer pretty well that would hook you up with a killer price of wholesale.
 
#24 ·
#27 ·
Ya know...I've been running mine on whatever 10~30 non-synthetic Costco has on special, in my perfect world it got changed every 5k, but certainly by 10k, now @212,000 or so, and just about the only part on this car I never had any trouble with is the engine. Including the turbo. Never been apart. Go figure.
 
#29 ·
Nice! that makes me feel better about being a little late to the synth game. Volvos are resilient. My buddy in High School had a like 93' 740, he had no idea how take care of a car. One day I asked him when his last oil change was he responded "whats that?" so I assume it went at least 30K without a change and still kept chugging until 260K+ with the only thing that killed it being a cracked radiator. The car was very much a POS an had been fixed with plexiglass and duct tape more then once, but testament to an unloved Vovlo still treating its owner right
 
#28 ·
Wow. I was sure IPD's was a bit jacked up, but thats alot. I need to go to a stealership to have codes pulled on thursday so I may ask them to take a look at the breather... this will be my first time going to this particular Volvo service center as I just had a horrific experience with the one local to me. Big Dee (please No One ever go there!).

so I assume tasca and or FCP are the places to source OEM paRts?
 
#30 ·
I would not take what he says as a go ahead and not change your oil sooner so I would not feel better!
He is one of the VERY lucky ones. He also doesn't mention his type of driving.
If he does mostly highway, that's his saving grace
 
#31 ·
Jim, you're right, this car saw almost daily highway driving (50~100 mi/day) for it's first 7 years or so, and was never beat on. My other toys that see more intense use, both cars and bikes, all get synthetic at much more regular intervals. I would say the greater point is to keep the oil level up, go easy on a cold engine, let a hot one cool down,(esp turbo!) and keep it fresh relative to current operating conditions, which as you point out, make a huge difference.
Can I add that I just love driving this car- It's been 10 years and still fun to run.
 
#33 ·
I run Mobil 1 5-30w on the street and Redline 30WT or 40WT Racing oil on the track.
 
#35 ·
I think that real issue is the 7500 mile change interval combined with the conventional oil. I think it's just too long for non-synth. The real way to find out is have your oil tested. Road tractors (which easily go 3 million miles) get few oil changes. Most of the time they send a sample off and have it analyzed. Then they just add in the additives and it goo to go. They also have filters that make ours look like a filter embryo. I thought I saw FCP do an article on oil testing. I think I heard it was around $35, but I forget who it was with.