Should I run synthetic oil in my '92 240?

I have been pondering switching it over. It has 145K miles on it, and I
bought it at 65K miles. Good car. I change the oil every 3 to 4 thousand
miles. It uses a half-quart or so between changes, though I did just have
the front seal done with the timing belt, so that may go down.

Would switching to something like Mobil One do any good? Any harm? I'd
probably extend the service interval out to 5K miles to offset the cost.
I've been told that's fine with sythetic oil. Thoughts...?

-jeff

 

I run synthetic in my turbos, but the N/A cars get ordinary oil, there's
simply no significant benefit of using synthetic in them, the engines will
already last until the rest of the car crumbles so long as you keep up
reasonable maintenance. 5k oil changes are fine with normal oil if you use a
quality filter and do a lot of highway driving.

 

This question generates so much "religious" discussion that my best answer
is "I changed to synthetic to keep the crankcase ventilation and intake
system deposits down, but to each their own."

Mike ('85 765T, 236K miles)

 

I use full syntetic oil in my cars, no one is turbo.
I do not buy anything as expensive as Mobile one.
My Volvos are:
140 -71, 480 000 km, not in use
740 -85, 480 000 km, full synt since new
V70 -00, 190 000 km.

One reason full synt here in Sweden is the winter, big difference when
temperture goes down to -25 C.

 

With regular oil changes (using dino oil) and maintenance (coolant flush
once a year or once in two years), these engines have been known to be
good for well over 200,000 miles. There are several examples of red-block
engines going over 300,000 miles. These engines are basically bullet-proof,
and the year of your car indicates it has the last version of the B230 that
Volvo made.

My suggestion would be to continue using dino oil, and use the money you
save to keep the rest of the car in good repair.

I personally think that synthetic oil is of greater value in the newer
allow engines.

Beverly

 

Yes, I switched my Jeep to synthetic for just that reason: it gets really,
really cold up where we hunt elk in October/November, and it just killed me
to think of how thick my oil must be when I was starting the thing up one
morning at 4:30 am at -22 degrees F!

I am getting mixed reports on the benefit of switching the Volvo, though. I
have a case of dinosaur oil in the shop; that'll last me a couple more
changes...

-jeff

 

With regular oil changes (using dino oil) and maintenance (coolant flush

I have never used coolant flush. Is this very bad? Havent experienced any
problems.

/aw

 

I have always flushed my coolant every 2 years or 20,000 miles. I think
this is a good practise. You don't want corrosion picked up by the coolant
to deposit in the cylinder head or engine block. Also, coolant does
degrade over time, which is more a problem for alloy block engines than
the old red-blocks.

This is not an expensive service, or very difficult to do.

Beverly

 

Extreme cold is one thing that might give you a benefit to synthetic, it's
something I hadn't considered given the mild climate where I am.

 

_____
Yes. Mobil-1 5W30 or a heavier grade will be fine. I have now used
this product for one year and i have not noticed any adverse effects.
My 1989 240 sedan has 235,000 km on the clock. You will extend engine
life dramatically, and change intervals (oil and filter) will be 40,000
km (25,000 miles) ! I also put Red Line's products in the tranny and
differential. If you want more details, contact Mr. Bryant
<tbryantATsuscom-maine.net>.

/ jch

 

I use Red Line 10W30 Synthetic in my 81 245. When I switched to
synthetic it developed a couple leaks, I fixed them and it runs better
than ever now. Acceleration is better, there is less engine noise and
mileage is better by more than 10%. Red Line is available from IPD.
The downside is the $7.95/Quart price.

 

It's available at a local autoparts store here called B&B too, cheaper but
still not cheap.

 

I switched over synthetic oil as soon as we got our Volvos its quieter use
little oil between changes but its $64.95 for 5 litres @ 5w 50w the good
stuff 10 w 30w is in the high $80s Australian dollars

 

Mobil one $63.95 AU for 5 litres