A5/B5 0w30 oil brands

[dunnydave]

In my case however it's not my opinion ,As stated I have access to spectrographic fluid testing through my job i've had numerous top brand oils that i've used tested and i'm talking top brand as i'm a bit anal over all things lubrication

Results were consistent, In all cases after around 10k miles they were all showing quite serious degradation

Interestingly BMW have now scrapped their 18 k oil intervals and have returned to the old 10k interval ....they won't say why for some reason ...


You crack on however as i'm sure you know better than the manufacturers

Not volvo specific but interesting

https://blog.modbargains.com/15000-m...l-change-myth/

[Leyburn]

The author of your link states:

">
Our Full-Service Install Shop in La Habra can change your oil with Motul or other synthetic motor oils
<"

A financially-driven vested interest in more frequent oil changes.

The link you provided also refers to an engine that continued running for 60k miles with no oil changes, how does that work if oil shows "serious degradation" after 10k miles as you claim?

The same link also explains the reduction in mileage intervals for BMWs: battery issues.

If quality oil shows "serious degradation" after 10k mainly motorway miles then all my daily drivers for the last 30+ years should have suffered engine problems, but none did, strange that.

I know my driving habits better than any manufacturer, this enables me to be confident that a D5 is capable of 25k miles between oil changes, with the right oil. Amsoil market a 25k oil, might give that a try.

[skyship007]

Originally Posted by Leyburn

You have your opinion, I have mine, supported by several hundred thousand miles of extending the manufacturer's extended mileage intervals on a variety of vehicles.

A quality fully synthetic oil shouldn't show meaningful degradation after 10k miles unless short journeys and/or fuel blow-by.

If you want to know what the condition of the oil is, get a used oil analysis done. Many diesels with an older DPF system contaminate their oil with diesel very quickly if short tripped a lot.

My old V40 likes long OCI's and the Iron per KM figures are lower after 20K than 10K km. The Lead figure is also better, but the Alum and Copper are not, so it's just the main bearings that like the longer OCI's, not the top end.

Volvo list Edge 0w30 for most of their diesels for fuel economy reasons. Once the engine has fully run in (100K plus), it's better to use an 0 or 5w40.
Shell Helix is often the cheapest full synthetic and check to see if you can use an A3/B4 post warranty, as it is a slightly better spec than A5/B5 and often cheaper.

SAE ratings are ranges and Castrol Edge 0w30 is near the top when warm, so if you use another oil, it might be better to use an 0 or 5w40. There is not much difference for example between Edge 0w30 and Mobil 1 0w40, as Edge is a thick 30 and M1 a thin one at the lower end of the 40 range.

[skyship007]

Originally Posted by Leyburn

The author of your link states:

">
Our Full-Service Install Shop in La Habra can change your oil with Motul or other synthetic motor oils
<"

A financially-driven vested interest in more frequent oil changes.

The link you provided also refers to an engine that continued running for 60k miles with no oil changes, how does that work if oil shows "serious degradation" after 10k miles as you claim?

The same link also explains the reduction in mileage intervals for BMWs: battery issues.

If quality oil shows "serious degradation" after 10k mainly motorway miles then all my daily drivers for the last 30+ years should have suffered engine problems, but none did, strange that.

I know my driving habits better than any manufacturer, this enables me to be confident that a D5 is capable of 25k miles between oil changes, with the right oil. Amsoil market a 25k oil, might give that a try.

There is no difference between Amsoil and any other group 3 full synthetic oils, part from an excess of detergents and a higher price in some cases.

High detergent levels increase main bearing wear rates slightly.

In technical terms both Shell and Liqui Moly both make better oils than Amsoil, as Ultra is made from natural gas, so lacks any contamination and Synthoil is made in a German chemical factory.

[skyship007]

Originally Posted by dunnydave

In my case however it's not my opinion ,As stated I have access to spectrographic fluid testing through my job i've had numerous top brand oils that i've used tested and i'm talking top brand as i'm a bit anal over all things lubrication

Results were consistent, In all cases after around 10k miles they were all showing quite serious degradation

Interestingly BMW have now scrapped their 18 k oil intervals and have returned to the old 10k interval ....they won't say why for some reason ...


You crack on however as i'm sure you know better than the manufacturers

Not volvo specific but interesting

https://blog.modbargains.com/15000-m...l-change-myth/

BMW were slightly nuts to recommend a max interval of 18K miles without doing a UOA!

[phil1968]

Just to add my 2 cents worth, a previous company van I had, a 2007 Merc Vito 2.2 turbo-diesel, cracked it's cylinder head at 5 years old & 170,000 miles which rendered it beyond economical repair. When it was in the dealer workshop with the engine in pieces i had a look just for my own interest. The camshafts had no appreciable wear & the cylinders still had their honing marks visible. Not only that but the crankshaft & big end bearings were still well within service limits. And that was with a variable mileage service indicator which meant that the oil was changed on average every 25,000 miles. And when I occasionally needed to top it up between oil changes I used a cheap generic engine oil.

[Just Drive]

Originally Posted by skyship007

Volvo list Edge 0w30 for most of their diesels for fuel economy reasons. Once the engine has fully run in (100K plus), it's better to use an 0 or 5w40.
Shell Helix is often the cheapest full synthetic and check to see if you can use an A3/B4 post warranty, as it is a slightly better spec than A5/B5 and often cheaper.

OK, so my D5 is now on 108,000 having used Castrol 0W30 at main dealer 18,000 mile intervals.

I wish I had decided to do this earlier but I've now added an interim 9,000mile oil and filter change myself and used Shell Helix Ultra 0W30 A5B5. Glad I did too because it eliminated a little top end rattle when first cold.

Now you're suggesting using 5W40 beyond 100k? It's just over 50% cheaper but the manual recommend 0w30.

[phil1968]

I use Ford Formula-F in my D5, which is a fully-synthetic A5-B5 5w-30. Ford sell it over the counter, £20 for 5 litres. It's the oil they recommend to use in their engines so that's good enough for me

[skyship007]

Originally Posted by Just Drive

OK, so my D5 is now on 108,000 having used Castrol 0W30 at main dealer 18,000 mile intervals.

I wish I had decided to do this earlier but I've now added an interim 9,000mile oil and filter change myself and used Shell Helix Ultra 0W30 A5B5. Glad I did too because it eliminated a little top end rattle when first cold.

Now you're suggesting using 5W40 beyond 100k? It's just over 50% cheaper but the manual recommend 0w30.

Cold start rattles have a number of different of lubrication related causes. Firstly make sure the oil filter is OEM spec (Volvo, Ford, Mann or Bosch etc), cos some cheap ones can have defective pressure relief valves and if they do not open when the oil is cold enough to result in a high oil pressure, they can cause a rattle and in a bad case blow the oil filter clean off the engine!

Too thick an oil (Can be caused by sludge) can also cause the same problem as a bad oil filter. In the UK there is no need to use an 0wX, a 5wX is perfectly OK.

Hot rattles can be caused by using too thin an oil, OR using the right grade oil for far too long.
Most oil filters are good for the full max recommended OCI, BUT it's nuts to try and run any oil in a diesel engine for more than 10K miles without getting a UOA done to see what the actual oils viscosity is. Many older DPF systems will thin a 30 grade to a 20 well before 10K miles, which is one good reason to remember that the 15 or 18K miles OCI figures are the recommended maximum figures.

In reality the oils viscosity should match the maximum temp limits for both cold starts and hot days. So for example I would use a full synthetic 0w20 in an Canadian winter, but change to using a 10w60 for heavy towing in a hot desert area.

For an older block it also makes sense when it starts to wear to beef up the anti wear additives, so I use half a bcan of Liqui Moly Ceratec which contains both Moly (Mo) and Boron Nitride (Ultra fine particle ceramic) to coat the bearings and other moving parts. The extra Moly is not needed if you use a real good full synthetic that already contains it, but coating the old bearings and filling any tiny voids with Boron Nitride particles reduces corrosion and wear rates by aroundhalf in many cases, BUT don't use it in a newish engine cos it can cause running in problems.
Ceratec was developed for VW to overcome cam lobe wear issues caused by diesel fuel contamination from DPF systems when the oil is used for too long and is one of the few oil additives that really works. Alas it's not cheap.

[skyship007]

Originally Posted by phil1968

I use Ford Formula-F in my D5, which is a fully-synthetic A5-B5 5w-30. Ford sell it over the counter, £20 for 5 litres. It's the oil they recommend to use in their engines so that's good enough for me

That oil is probably too thin when hot, cos Edge 0w30 is right at the top end of the 30 grade range and most Ford oils are mid range. Oddly enough there is very little difference between Mobil 0w40 and Edge 0w30, because M1 is near the bottom of the 40 grade range.
Shell Ultra is a mid range, so Ultra 0w30 would be kind of thin.

Some of the newer Volvo desiels list both A5/B5 and A3/B4. Odd enough A3/B4 oils provide better wear protection than A5/B5 and far better than Acea C2 or C3 oils.

Nearly all diesels except constant RPM hybrid units in modern cars have an SAE 0 or 5w40 as design spec. The only reason they recommend 0 or 5w30 oils is to help achieve the fuel economy figures. Most of the OEM gearbox oils are also on the thin side for fuel economy reasons.