D5 Service Schedule

[SouthWestWanderer]

Having had my D5 for about 5 months, and about 8,000 miles, I decided it was time to get the service book out and see when it was due an oil change.

To my surprise, there was no service 'matrix' showing what has to be done and when. I was even more surprised to see that the service intervals were 18k!.

I have had a look through, and can't find anything on here that gives a schedule, but I have found a link to this page, which gives 'typical operations' at each service. To summarise (ignoring things like 'inspect air freshener'):

At 18k miles/12 months:

• Oil & Filter
• Cabin Filter

At 36k Miles/24 months:

• Air Filter
• Engine Oil & Filter
• Fuel Filter
• Cabin Filter
• Inspect/Renew Brake Pads

At 54k miles/36 months:

• Oil & Filter
• Cabin Filter

At 72k Miles/48 months:

• Air Filter
• Engine Oil & Filter
• Fuel Filter
• Cabin Filter
• Inspect/Renew Brake Pads
• Inspect/Renew Disc Rotors
• Check Battery
• Inspect Undersealant

At 90k miles/60 months:

• Oil & Filter
• Cabin Filter

At 108k Miles/72 months:

• Auxilliary Belt, Timing Belt & Tensioners. (Mileage dependant, up to 10 year longstop)
• Air Filter
• Engine Oil & Filter
• Fuel Filter
• Cabin Filter
• Inspect/Renew Brake Pads

At this point, it seems to go back to the beginning of the pattern: All well and good.

However, traditional wisdom states that oil & filter intervals are 10-12k for a petrol and 6k for a diesel. Even with modern oils, 18k seems long to me.

I'm tempted to insert an additional Oil & Filter change every 9k miles/6 months as, handily, I do about 18k p.a. Does this sound sensible?

[RPB]

Yes, that's what I do.

[sellxc70]

I think this is a good idea and also tend to change oil and filter every 6 months on my cars.

I would also recommend a fuel filter at least every 12 months. The cartridge diesel filter on my xc70, at 1st service, didn't look too good.

Interestingly I know some Audi cars use long life oil/filter and run to 2yrs between services.

[dme123]

It does seem a long time, but times change. It'll be based on analysis of the oil and I'm quite sure Volvo would have been extremely thorough. The idea of 6K changes on a modern car is laughable, just because old 70s Leyland rubbish filled it's sump with swarf every 6000 miles that doesn't mean a modern car will. I work for a company that makes very large gensets and with modern oils you can run them for a long, long time between changes. We send oil off for analysis before changing rather than hours of service and they look into the metal and contaminant content, fuel content and how much the oil and additives have broken down. We also have many pool cars that are serviced according to the manufacturers recommendations (typically 18 - 20K miles these days) and they all seem to reach 200K+ without engine issues.

That said I found that at about 12K the engine was noisier than I remembered so out of curiosity I performed a quick oil and filter change which settled it down. I'm thinking that what I might do is

12K - oil + filter
24K - oil + filter
36K - oil, filter, air filter and all the other things expected at 36K/2year intervals

and repeat. The Volvo schedule calls for basically oil and filter every 18K and everything else ever 36K (there isn't really much TO service on a modern car). I do 12K in less than 6 months. With a Pella pump and the filter on top changing the oil is very straightforward and only takes 15 minutes with a hot engine.

[SouthWestWanderer]

Ahh, good point - I hadn't factored in the improvements in the engine tech as well as the oil.

The Rover 420 Diesel I had definitely started to sound rough over about 6k miles, but then this was just an electronically controlled 'L Series' engine which in itself was an evolution of an evolution of the original Perkins Prima diesel: Strong as an ox, but very primitive.

The 12k system sounds like a good plan, particularly as the car was serviced when I bought it (85k) and will want the cambelt service at 108k (85k + 24k ish!).

The 108 is going to be a biggie for me: Cambelt, Aux belt, Tensioners, Front wishbones & discs and pads. Thinking about it: I'd better start saving now!

[dme123]

Originally Posted by SouthWestWanderer

Ahh, good point - I hadn't factored in the improvements in the engine tech as well as the oil.

The Rover 420 Diesel I had definitely started to sound rough over about 6k miles, but then this was just an electronically controlled 'L Series' engine which in itself was an evolution of an evolution of the original Perkins Prima diesel: Strong as an ox, but very primitive.

The 12k system sounds like a good plan, particularly as the car was serviced when I bought it (85k) and will want the cambelt service at 108k (85k + 24k ish!).

The 108 is going to be a biggie for me: Cambelt, Aux belt, Tensioners, Front wishbones & discs and pads. Thinking about it: I'd better start saving now!

A lot of it is due to the restriction of sulphur content in the diesel, as it would tend to turn the oil acidic over time. The more precise metering and injection of fuel also means less soot is produced to contaminate the oil, and of course the oil itself is far more sophisticated than it used to be.

If you're in it for the long run it is actually worth considering the Shell V-Power whatever it's called diesel. Most premium diesel is snake oil bull****, but the V-power diesel is a blend of normal refined crude and diesel produced using a Gas to Liquid (GTL) process at a massive plant Shell have built in Qatar. The fuel from the pump smells substantially less than regular diesel and is virtually colourless, and although Shell don't publish what the mix of ratio of GTL fuel to regular is, this suggests it's not a token gesture.

GTL fuel burns far more cleanly and produces substantially less soot than regular diesel. One study that I read found that intervals between DPF regeneration with pure GTL fuel were some 70%+ higher than with regular diesel.

I carefully monitor my fuel use and my mileage is as repeatable as it gets and I consistently get usefully improved economy over a tank from the Shell fuel - this cannot be due to any detergent (marketing) snake oil so I suspect it's due to fewer DPF regeneration cycles. The lower soot content will also make life easier on the oil, another study showed that contamination of the oil on the cars and other vehicles run entirely on GTL fuels was substantially lowered.

If anyone is very interested the relevant studies can be found with the help of Google.

[rowleray]

Thanks SWWanderer
Sadly your link is now broken, however it looks like this non official guide that I have found?

http://www.volvohowto.com/servicing-...-2005-to-2015/

But, my issue, hence I was looking, is the Haldex unit on the rear / all wheel drive.There seems no mention of it anywhere.

I've heard that this needs a service every so often - does anyone have any idea how often that is?

Any more info?

Cheers

[Xc90segt]

Thank you gents,

Very informative. I've just purchased an old xc90 and would like to take it upon myself to give it a long life.

What about transmission fluids?

Thanks

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Xc90segt

Thank you gents,

Very informative. I've just purchased an old xc90 and would like to take it upon myself to give it a long life.

What about transmission fluids?

Thanks

these are optional. I would do them on the 72000 mile service... or now if you are not sure when/if they have been done

[Tannaton]

As said above, best practice would be trans fluid renew at 72k or earlier if towing etc.

What I tend to do is replace the trans fluid when I buy a car if history not known, then drop 3 litres every time the car is serviced (18k). This means 95% will be renewed every 72k....