Grade for an 88 Volvo 740 24TD

[Euro]

Hey guys, I did a search before posting but I couldn't find anything so here goes.

Just aquired a Volvo 740 with the 2.4 six cylinder VW turbo engine. Its covered 250,000, rebuilt 230,000. The sump takes six litres. I have no idea what it has previously been run but have been 'recommended' 15w40 dino (not sure about that..) or 10w40 syn-blend.
Where I live we see summer highs of about 96 (one day a year...) and winter lows of maybe 45.

I was thinking maybe a 5w40 diesel fully synthetic? what do you reckon on that? Or Mobil 1 0w40 turbo diesel is always cheap at Costco near me.

 

[Atesz792]

15w40 dino with a modern ACEA A3/B4 rating would work great in that climate. It's good down to -15°C, so you would have no problems with it, also an economical choice.
May I suggest Mobil Delvac MX 15w40, just look at the list of approvals, it's a great oil for a great price.
5w40 would suffice, too, but is unnecessary and expensive IMHO.

 

[Astro14]

That Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel would be a great choice. You don't need to spend a lot, but those older Volvos worked well on a -40. 0w40 would be ideal.

The turbo on my 1985 240 (2.4 liter inter cooled red block SOHC) coked up and eventually failed. So an oil that can take the heat would be a good choice. To be fair, I was not the original owner, and my turbo was not water cooled (until I rebuilt it and retrofitted a water cooled bearing block and plumbed it in.). A bit of idling after a hard run to allow the turbo to cool would also be good for longevity.

When I was at the shop in Golden, CO that did the rebuild, we talked oil. The guys at the shop raced Subarus in addition to all their turbo work. They were sold on using a diesel-spec oil, that was on the heavier side, for its ability to handle the heat in the bearing housing. In fact, they were big on Rotella 15w40. But I think your choice of the Mobil is ideal.

 

[HerrStig]

Can you get Rotella T6 in the 5w - 40 grade?

 

[BobFout]

Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Can you get Rotella T6 in the 5w - 40 grade?


Internationally, Rotella here is the Rimula line of oils.

 

[Euro]

I have thought about HDEO's like Rimula but they are not easy to get and pretty prices when you find them, in fact the Mobil 1 TD is cheaper and easier to find.

 

[Popsy]

Where I live I can get Rimula R6M in truck/boat shop in bulk, or any sympathetic Shell distributor can order a box of 3x5L for ~85-90€, if you are ready to wait a few days/weeks. I know a shop ready to ship to UK but with shipping I think it will be prohibitive unfortunately...

I was advised to use Rimula R6M in the Marea TD in my sig, and it did good indeed. I think I'll use it again next time.
I bought the Selenia oil almost as a joke (the exact oil recommended for my car! It even has a Selenia Turbo diesel sticker under the hood, thought it was hilarious at the time - my wife didn't, especially since the jug started leaking right away in her car), and yesterday finally used it, will report how it did in a few months.

More seriously, I had mixed experience with Shell helix HX7 10W40 and HX5 15W40 in the past, and with Total/Elf 10W40 semi-synth. All these oils sheared very quickly (in 4/5000Km in my car) and it resulted with a buzzy/noisier engine (I haven't done UOA so can't talk about wear, don't think it it an issue). It was before I discovered BITOG and I thought it was normal to drain black water after "only" 5000K OCI, because it was a diesel and has a turbo, etc.

The Rimula I drained recently was still thick (considering you can appreciate the viscosity of an oil at a unknown temperature of course), let's say thicker than what I saw before, and the engine was not much noisier than after an OC.