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200 Series General Forum for the Volvo 240 and 260 cars |
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Engine oilViews : 1812 Replies : 8Users Viewing This Thread : |
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Jun 19th, 2018, 12:22 | #1 |
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Engine oil
Since owning my 240 (B230F) I have been changing the engine oil twice a year
I put in 10W40 in the summer (Volvo's recommended oil) and I put in 5W30 or 0W30 in the winter (and yes I change the filter, the sump plug and sump plug washer too) You might say overkill, especially given the low mileage I do and the stressfree life the car leads - that's not my question In my head, using a lower viscosity multigrade oil in the winter is surely a good thing? The oil will flow easier at lower temperatures and so lubricate the engine quicker starting from cold. Clearly in the summer, you need something that will cope with higher ambient (and possibly operating) temperatures So, why wouldn't I run with 0W40 all year round? In that case, given my annual mileage of about 5k miles, I'd probably only change the oil annually Thoughts fellow 240ers please |
Jun 19th, 2018, 14:28 | #2 |
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Im not a 240 owner, but 0w40 all year should be fine in terms of viscosity (I wouldnt use a w30) as 0w cold is still thicker than 40w hot, which is what you have at full temp.
However, what is the year? If its between 70's and 90's you dont want to be running modern oils in it, they dont have necessary additives which are needed in older engines, thus will shorten the life as wear will increase. In older engines you need an old spec oil to properly protect them, the most modern you ought to use is a basic A3/B4 with very few other, older approvals/specs, otherwise investigate 'classic oils' for cars of that era. You should also be ok with a basic 5w40 synth such as Gulf formula G, Fuchs Titan Supersyn, Shell Helix Ultra, which have older specs, a 5 still flowing better than a 10 when cold, but correct vis when hot. Last edited by AndyV7o; Jun 19th, 2018 at 14:54. |
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Jun 19th, 2018, 20:27 | #3 |
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Oil
I have A b200f and B230f and i use 15/40 mobile....as you cant get Duckems anymore.....never had any problems with oil...
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Jun 19th, 2018, 20:44 | #4 |
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15w40 will have a fairly appropriate spec, so yeah you shouldnt have any real issues. So long as 15w is permitted otherwise the oil pump will be overloaded and circulation too low when cold.
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Jun 21st, 2018, 22:48 | #5 |
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oil
yes i agree,,,but mine have had 15/40 for the past 14 years with no problems......yet,,,lol
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Jun 22nd, 2018, 08:59 | #6 |
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I use a 10w40 and change annually (with filter) and have done for the past 11 years. This grade is recommended for ambient temps of -20 to 40C and and UK almost never gets outside of that range. My understanding has always been that the wider the operating range of a multigrade, the more viscosity modifiers it has to have added and the less stable it is at higher temperatures. So it seems to make sense (to me anyway) to stick with the 10w40 as it does everything I need in all UK temperatures. The only note that Volvo make is that at higher workloads, a 15 or 20w40 is recommended (probably because of the possible breakdown of viscosity modifiers I guess).
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Jun 22nd, 2018, 10:13 | #7 |
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Not quite.
A more basic base oil would need more VII's to stay in grade, but generally 5w40, 5w30 0w30 etc are fully synthetic with a more stable base oil, and, importantly, better quality VII polymers thus are very stable. Also it isnt about staying in grade when hot, its shearing dowm to lighter 'weights' due to the vii's becoming 'broken', this is why you avoid cheap oil and/or wide ranging semi's. So no, a 10w40 isnt more stable than say 0w40, but a high quality 10w40 might be more stable than a cheap/semi 5w40. A cheap 10w40 would be less stable than a high quality 0w40. Basically, avoid cheap oil, stick to the big names, use the right spec. 👍 |
Jun 26th, 2018, 02:45 | #8 |
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Gents - you lost me there a bit!
Ok, the Andy - to answer a couple of points you made: a 230F is a red block 4 cylinder so it's lineage dates back at least to the 70s (my car is 1991) I think that what you have said is that I should never compromise on the upper figure regardless of time of year. Volvo recommend 10W40, so stick with the 40. But I think that you have said that (as it is generally available), 0W40 will do no harm and will flow better at lower temperatures and so is a good thing especially in the colder months - am I right? I don't buy cheap oil and if what we've said above is correct, I'd go to annual changes rather than twice annually as twice a year is a bit overkill That about right? |
Jun 26th, 2018, 09:06 | #9 |
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Thats kind-of it yeah...
Given the tolerances and wear within that engine you'd pobably be bettee with a 5w40 if moving from 10w40, but 10w40 will do the job more than adequately. Make sure you stay away from lots of modern specs, dont go newer than A3/B4, Api SL, and an oil designed for older engines such as Castrol Gtx, Valvoline Maxlife, etc would work well. Otherwise if you wish to go fully synth 5w40 the ones I listed are good for older engines, in particular the Fuchs. |
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