2005 Volvo V50 oil rec

[coachditka]

I did a search but could not find much on Volvo oil.

This is the 2.4, not a turbo. The car only has 31k and is the wife's daily driver. We only put about 5k per year on it. The dealer has been doing the oil changes as part of the scheduled maintenance. I paid a little extra each time for synthetic. He said they used Castrol Syntech, not German.

On the oil cap it says "Volvo recommends Castrol."

I have been a loyal Mobil 1 user since my first car...my dad worked for Lubrizol and he used it in his car...so I picked up that habit from him.

I was thinking Mobil 1 5w30 EP. We live in Houston...so it's hot and never really freezes.

I am open to suggestions.

 

[Quattro Pete]

What does the owner's manual say about the type of oil that should be used (specs, grades, etc.)?

How frequently are you planning to change it?

M1 EP 5w-30 should work fine, as well as a ton of others, I'm guessing.

 

[coachditka]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
What does the owner's manual say about the type of oil that should be used (specs, grades, etc.)?

How frequently are you planning to change it?

M1 EP 5w-30 should work fine, as well as a ton of others, I'm guessing.


Manual says usual 10w30 or 5w30. I plan on changing it every 6 months. Time will exceed mileage, no doubt.

 

[Quattro Pete]

It's a waste of perfectly good synthetic oil if you're going to change it every 6 months and 2.5k miles. In this case, I would either run mineral oil (PYB 5w-30) or if you want synthetic, run it 1 year. My 530i gets 1 change a year on GC.

 

[coachditka]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
It's a waste of perfectly good synthetic oil if you're going to change it every 6 months and 2.5k miles. In this case, I would either run mineral oil (PYB 5w-30) or if you want synthetic, run it 1 year. My 530i gets 1 change a year on GC.


Good point. I plan on using the M1 5w30 EP. I will change it every year at Christmas.

I am not new to changing oil, but am new to low mileage oil changing. I have always changed on mileage, not time because I put on about 2-3k per month in my Titan.


Also, in case anyone cares, I checked with my local independent Volvo repair shop and they use only Valvoline. That came from a Swede. I asked why and they said just a preference.

 

[Quattro Pete]

FYI, Volvo dealers in Europe use Castrol, and of course as thick as they can get - my dad's '03 V40 (2-liter turbo) gets Castrol 10w-60 when he takes it in for service... heh. Standard OCI is 20k km or 1 year, whichever comes first.