What engine oil would you recommend?
 

Hi,

my 1997 S40 2.0 (atmospheric engine, B4204S) has now 315'000km and I'm looking at a good yet affordable engine oil for it. I've been running 5w40 in the past but it was burning a little bit oil. At the last oil change, I used a cheap 10W40 at Carrefour in France (I think it is manufactured by Elf but sold under Carrefour name). It's a very cheap oil, like 3euros/l......but the car seems happy and doesn't burn any oil anymore. However of course at 3euros/l I wonder about the quality (I did 10000km on that oil and recently change it again with the same oil).

So basically it seems the car is happy with a 10w40 but...

- I've heard 10w40 is the "worst" grade as it breaks down rapidly: most if not all 10w40 are not fully synthetic ie they have to use a lot of additive to achieve that rating and those additives wear out quickly. Fully synthetic oils appeards better but are found only in 5w40 or lower....oil burning in my engine.

- Castrol Magnatec 10w40 hve bad reviews about sludge buildup...

Considering the age of my engine, what oil would you recommend? I'm looking for an all year round oil with good antiwear properties that will make the volvo engine live for another 200'000km hopefully :)

Actually does Volvo recommend 10W40 for the B4204S engine?

Thanks

I have the same engine (2.0CD V40 1998), but only at a small 148000miles!
Volvo recommend a 10w40 oil for this car, in the uk most garages use Castrol Magnatec.
Personally I have run the car on fully synthetic 0w40 and 5w30 for the last 70,000 miles without problem. I suspect that yours has lasted so long precisely because you use good oil.

I use 10w40 semi-synthetic but do oil changes at 6000 miles. Could probably go longer with fully synthetic but always use the opportunity to do other basic service jobs anyway.

The only car I've ever used anything exotic in was my Mundano which needed a 5W30 and you could only get sem-syth. I subsequently discovered that Jaguar specified a 5W30 for some of their engines and recommended Havoline non synth. Mondeos are really funny about oil and it ran best on that stuff.

I've owned lots of very high mileage cars including a pair of Primeras that had done nearly 300k between them. Neither had seen anything more exotic than cheap 10w40 every 10k and neither used a drop of oil or had the slightest rattle from the timing chain.

Buy a 10W40 made by someone you've heard of, change it every six months/6K, and it'll last forever. Using synthetic might allow you to extend those intervals but an oil change is a good excuse to have a poke around.

BTW, none of this applies to turbocharged engines which are a completely different kettle of fish.

I just did an oil change and i used 10/40 Mobil S, seems to be ok.

@ keithyboy, where in bolton are you?

Stoneclough.

Ok, I got 10L of Mobil Super S 10W40 as well and removed the water-like Carrefour oil from the sump (it was black after only 1 week...). Refilled with the Mobil and added 300ml Liqui Moly CeraTec. I'll let you know my impression about this additive!

Hey kilou, as you have the same car as me, just with heaps more miles. Would you mind sharing with the forum what major repair work has needed doing in your time with the car.
My V40 2 litre runs like a dream, but I am sure that things like wheel bearings and suspension must wear out eventually. I am trying not to be complacent about the robustness of this car, so if you can share whats worn out on yours then I can mentally prep myself as I add on the miles!

Thanks.

Oil additives
 

Are you sure that the additive is a good idea? The consensus on quite a few oil threads on VOC and elsewhere is that oil co's spend millions developing an oil, so why contaminate it with an 'additive'? If the additive you've chosen is special, I would be pleased to learn why?
All the best,
Ben

Oil companies spend millions to earn even more money...just like car manufacturers do! That's the only consensus I belong to :) Most oil co uses the same additive packs to meet API and manufacturer specifications. Specification depends partly on environmental regulations (many efficient anti-wear additives are not used anymore in today's oil because they were not that good for the environment...yet they were very good for your engine). Manufacturers also have absolutely no reason to recommend the perfect lubricant that would make their engine unwearable...look at the difficulty they just have to sell a new car these days :) So oil companies certainly do make huge compromise between these to build a lubricant that's going to bring them $$$$$....not to manufacture the best lubricant for your application. Why then consider an additional additive as a "pollutant" in the oil? Most will answer that the chemistry of oils is so complex and well balanced that an external additive would break this perfect balance. This may be true in some case but actually it's wrong most of the time because the additives already blended in oils come as packs and most oil companies use the same packs. These packs are extremely well known and documented (there is only a couple of manufacturers of additives pack that sell them to the thousands of oil companies we're dealing with). This is why aftermarket additive manufacturers such as Liqui-Moly or others say without much risk that their product will mix with any commonly available oils in the market.....because it is extremely easy to know that for sure since additive packs in oils are known.

Don't get me wrong: I don't recommend anyone to use an additive. I just prefer making my own opinion now and try a few things. Many are snake-oil, some may even be dangerous (ie Militec, chlorinated parafins like or even Teflon) but some are interesting such as the one made by Liqui-Moly. They manufacture a MoS2 additive for engines with is certified to work but I honestly didn't feel comfortable with putting this black "crap" into my engine so I went for their ceramic additive. I certainly wouldn't do this on a brand new car. Personally I trust Liqui-Moly because their products are certified independantly and they are responsive in their replies.

To make it short, I don't know if it is a good idea. It's a trial so it's usually at the end we know if it's a good or bad idea :)