Oil query

[Peter86]

According to the castrol site your engine should be 0w30 A5/B5 oil.
Just go on yourself and double check with your reg number or call volvo and ask them. If they have put the wrong oil in go back and get it changed and with a new oil filter.

[AndyV7o]

'Synthetic blend' does point toward a semi, though most synthetics are hydrotreated mineral oils, so it depends on the amount of processing as to whether it constitutes a semi or fully.
To somewhat of a degree, what matters more is the additives/polymers and oci.
A3/B4 is not going to cause any trouble in this engine, infact it will most likely protect better.
It is in debate as to whether volvo changed the internal tolerances going from euro 3 to euro 4. If they did, it wont hurt, if they didnt, A3/B4 is the better oil to use. A3/B4 and A5/B5 are essentially the same other than the ''stability' of the oil under pressure', A5/B5 being less 'robust' than A3/B4 (easiest way to word it to the layman).

[AndyV7o]

Originally Posted by Peter86

According to the castrol site your engine should be 0w30 A5/B5 oil.
Just go on yourself and double check with your reg number or call volvo and ask them. If they have put the wrong oil in go back and get it changed and with a new oil filter.

It would be better to replace it indeed, but so long as it is changed early (8k max) it shouldnt do any harm, unless driven pretty hard.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by AndyV7o

It would be better to replace it indeed, but so long as it is changed early (8k max) it shouldnt do any harm, unless driven pretty hard.

I think driving it hard ( on public roads) does oil more good than harm :-) By driving condensation out ..

[AndyV7o]

Originally Posted by Clan

I think driving it hard ( on public roads) does oil more good than harm :-) By driving condensation out ..

Getting it hot does that! 😉
Driving it hard provdes greater load intervals to the oil in the bearings (as does towing etc) meanng an oil with a lesser hths and/or loss of viscosity will allow metal-metal much more readily, plus, greater combustion byproducts and higher sustained temps kill the add-pack and oxidise the oil more.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by AndyV7o

Getting it hot does that! 😉
Driving it hard provdes greater load intervals to the oil in the bearings (as does towing etc) meanng an oil with a lesser hths and/or loss of viscosity will allow metal-metal much more readily, plus, greater combustion byproducts and higher sustained temps kill the add-pack and oxidise the oil more.

volvo engines and probably most other modern engines NEVER make metal to metal contact at the bearings , as you would realise if you examined a 150,000 mile crankshaft :-) to do so would be death within a short period of doing so :-)

Remember the engine has a heat exchanger for the oil so it rarely drifts from the temperature of the coolant even when pressing on it won't go over 120C which is well within even cheap oil limits . as high rpm is never used these days . Extended periods at 6000 rpm will rapidly heat the oil of course but with the high efficiency heat exchangers it wont rise far ..

[AndyV7o]

There are parts of an engine which exceed the 'overall' oil temp, and the harder an engine is pushed the hotter these areas, this is where the oxidisation occurs. Cylinder walls, valves, and turbochargers to name but a few. Yes the oil temp post cooler might be 120° but elsewhere it can waaaaay exceed that, which is why oil cooling is used.
If you use the right oil in the right engine and drive it in the right way, no, you shouldnt get notable contact, but use the wrong oil (such as A5/B5 in an engine designed for A3/B4, or certain C spec oils in engines designed for A/B spec, etc) and/or push the engine hard, especially a diesel with slugs of torque, and yes you can get contact where you didn't ought.
To maintain the oil cushion within the bearings requires the correct hths, flow rate, oil pressure, clearances, rpm, viscosity, and balance of rotational mass. As the combustion pushes down on the crank, it disturbs the oil cushion and effectively tries to squeeze the oil away, the bigger the 'bangs' the harder the oil cushion tajes a pasting. An old big petrol volvo engine lazing around in a 240 will give little bother to this equilibrium, a turbo diesel being caned or towing a heavy load, fully laden, maybe both, puts one hell of a load on this oil cushion, so you dont want to tip the apple-cart where possible. Of course the D5 is still a well built and relatively lazy lump compared to summat like a 1.6d so is pretty tolerant at the end of the day.
Try running std 10w40 semi non vag spec in an early pd and see how long the camshaft lasts, or use the psa 1.6d dpf with cheap oil at 18k oci's switchng engine off immediately every time never giving turbo time to lose some heat, see how long until the oil turns to tar and clogs everythng up... 😉

[Clan]

Originally Posted by AndyV7o

There are parts of an engine which exceed the 'overall' oil temp, and the harder an engine is pushed the hotter these areas, this is where the oxidisation occurs. Cylinder walls, valves, and turbochargers to name but a few. Yes the oil temp post cooler might be 120° but elsewhere it can waaaaay exceed that, which is why oil cooling is used.
If you use the right oil in the right engine and drive it in the right way, no, you shouldnt get notable contact, but use the wrong oil (such as A5/B5 in an engine designed for A3/B4, or certain C spec oils in engines designed for A/B spec, etc) and/or push the engine hard, especially a diesel with slugs of torque, and yes you can get contact where you didn't ought.
To maintain the oil cushion within the bearings requires the correct hths, flow rate, oil pressure, clearances, rpm, viscosity, and balance of rotational mass. As the combustion pushes down on the crank, it disturbs the oil cushion and effectively tries to squeeze the oil away, the bigger the 'bangs' the harder the oil cushion tajes a pasting. An old big petrol volvo engine lazing around in a 240 will give little bother to this equilibrium, a turbo diesel being caned or towing a heavy load, fully laden, maybe both, puts one hell of a load on this oil cushion, so you dont want to tip the apple-cart where possible. Of course the D5 is still a well built and relatively lazy lump compared to summat like a 1.6d so is pretty tolerant at the end of the day.
Try running std 10w40 semi non vag spec in an early pd and see how long the camshaft lasts, or use the psa 1.6d dpf with cheap oil at 18k oci's switchng engine off immediately every time never giving turbo time to lose some heat, see how long until the oil turns to tar and clogs everythng up... 😉

can't say running bearings is an issue on any volvos they are generously sized and case hardened too . The old 240 / 940 would run for ever as long as it was wet with oil in there , pressure or no pressure and have been fine with as little as one litre in there . I have seen it before my very eyes on many occasions with neglected ones ...:-)

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Clan

It should be 0w/30 A5/B5 quality for the long 18000 mile service life it needs ...

5w/30 is for pre 2005 petrol engines with 12000 mile intervals

I wouldn't do 18,000 miles without changing the oil anyway, but that's just a personal preference. The owners manual says 0w-30 oil should be used, but I don't do any towing or what I'd consider to be 'hard' driving. When searching on Halfords & Euro Car Parts for oil, both 0w-30 & 5w-30 come up. I can only presume people use 5w-30 oil because its cheaper.

[Kev0607]

Does anyone know what these codes are that come up on the diagnostics report?

CEM-B111513 High mounted stop lamp control - General Electrical Failures - Circuit open (DTC is found active)

ECM-P201500 Intake Manifold Runner Position Sensor/Switch Circuit Range/Perf (Bank 1) - (DTC is found active)