ACEA oil specs.
 

I have just read an interesting thread on the V70 P3 forum about oil specs.
My 2004 AWD V70 Petrol covers about 3k/5k miles per year, with most journeys from 2miles to 20miles, and is serviced each July, by myself. Last year to try and counter what I perceived as a slightly increased oil consumption, I changed from Shell Helix Ultra A5/B5 5W-30 to Shell Helix Ultra A3/B3 5W-40. The thicker oil appears to have helped oil consumption which appears to have improved from approx. 1500-2000 miles/litre to 2000-2500 miles/litre.
The car does suffer from a very minor oil leak, but nothing on the drive, most of the loss coming out of the tailpipe after a period on the overrun - poss rings/valve oil seals/ through the turbo....a job for the future....

Since the oil was changed last year I have read that V70's ( usually diesels mind you) work much better with A5/B5 oil than other grades, which can cause problems and are not recommended.( a Volvo peculiarity??)

So my quandary is when I change the oil this July, do I revert back to the A5/B5 5w-30 and suffer increased oil consumption or continue to use the A3/B3 5W-40. ??? Due to the low annual mileage I'm tempted to sit pat....

Despite web searches I have been unable to find a A5/B5 5w-40 oil from any manufacturer that is fully synthetic.

Cheers

Bob.

They dont 'Run better' on A5/B5 than A3/B4.
The euro 4 diesel onwards are better on A/B spec oils than C spec oils as contrary to popular belief and general wisdom, the full saps oils give less trouble with dpf's.

See here https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=283503 for plenty of oil info based on nearly 10 years of studying facts, rather than the sheer amount of misinformation and misunderstanding found on general forums, facebook, etc.

In your case, you'd be as well using 0w40 A3/B4 though the shell will be fine, its an extremely light 5w40, I wouldnt recommend other 5w40 though unless you know your engine is very worn for sure.
The mileage is irrelevant.

I know we all want our cars to be "perfect" but a litre of oil per 1500-2000 miles isn't exorbitant at all.

In 2004 the A3,B3 oils were specced for turbos in No. America so I believe wrestling between them and the A5,B5 oils is unnecessary.

I'd stick with the oil which got you to 2,000-2,500 miles per litre.

Such negligent consumption in a 15 year old car. There's no smoke, right?

How much time/money are you planning to spend?

The oil that got me 2500miles /litre is 5w-40.

There is smoke but only after the overrun.

When I can identify with some degree of certainty the cause money will be found to sort it. - just all options ate labour intensive and might be a bit beyond my abilities now.....
Cheers
Bob.

what engine is it. some are supposed to run 0w-30......

My 2004 AWD V70 Petrol 2.5 turbo 300bhp

Cheers
Bob

Pretty certain the high pressure turbo models are 0w only I've had two t5s with sticker in bonnet that says use a5 b5 0w-30

0w30 A5/B5 probably is the recommended oil, A5/B5 isnt great for powerful engines though, A3/B4 has better stability in the bearings etc. However there are only 2 0w30 A3/B4 available to buy, and one of those is technically not actually up to A3/B4 spec by a whisker. The jump to a 0w40 keeps the cold circulation required and is not vastly different when hot, so it should be fine.