Oil for Volvo B230 Turbo endurance road race

[El_Macho]

Hi all:

We race a Volvo station wagon in Lemons/Lucky Dog out here on the West coast. We're raging our B230 motor -- 2.3L 4cylinder turbo -- at maximum load for not less than six hours at a pop. I highly suspect that our oil temperature is really high, despite an oil cooler. I'm thinking of running Redline 60wt race oil in order to maintain viscosity at those higher temps. Thoughts?

Impetus behind the switch would be a seized cam that happened last race, likely due to an oiling issue, and I suspect likely because the oil thinned out too much at high heat. 10w-30 Mobil 1 is what was in it.

Thoughts?

 

[Ramblejam]

Previously owned a B230 turbo.

They make a fine product, but that particular Mobil 1 is entirely wrong for your application...I can't emphasize that enough!

Mobil 1 15w-50 is inexpensive (when purchased at Walmart in 5 quart jugs), and of the correct viscosity/additive package (specifically recommended for flat tappet/racing, which covers you here).

Mobil 1 V-Twin 20w-50 (1600ppm phosphorus, 1750ppm zinc) is available locally at a price far below that Red Line, but I don't see the need for anything beyond what I recommended above.

 

[BrocLuno]

You're racing. Run track oils. That may not be detergentless oils like pure race oils. But at least with enough "body" to face what you are doing ...

Mobil 15W-50 would be my minimum oil spec. Castrol RS 10W-60 might be more fitting...

You're driving in a Lemons race. You're not driving a $200K spec build racer. You could go Redline (and I would use MTL in the tranny), but you may get away w/o going that radical or expensive ...

Synthetic brake fluid - sure. Same for clutch fluid. Gotta ward off boiling either. All the coolant you can muster. My older Volvo turbo's all got Z Core radiators using the Volvo tanks (made a HUGE difference).

But the motor oil, just get it up there to 50 or 60 grade at op temp. Run good oil. pure race oils are maybe not your wallets friend here... Run the biggest oil filter that will fit.

 

[A_Harman]

Was it a cam bearing that seized? Was it the bearing that was at the rear of the oil gallery? Probably would be good to put a port there and see what the oil pressure is. Cam bearings are normally very lightly loaded. The only way they would seized is if no oil was getting to them.

 

[Superflop]

Considering everything. I would personally run the /60 redline. The mobil1 15/50 if I really couldn't get the redline in time.

I know if it were me running my 2.3 saab that way, 15/50 would be my bare minimum.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: A_Harman
Was it a cam bearing that seized? Was it the bearing that was at the rear of the oil gallery? Probably would be good to put a port there and see what the oil pressure is. Cam bearings are normally very lightly loaded. The only way they would seized is if no oil was getting to them.


Yeah this, maybe oil starved on the corners? I'd run a quart or two over.

 

[The_Eric]

Redline 60 grades would be an overkill for that application and would likely run hotter than a comparative 50 grade oil. All Redline oils tend to run heavy (really heavy) for grade, so a 60 would be ridiculous. If you wanted Reline, a 40 grade of some sort, otherwise Mobil 1 15w-50 should do wonderfully.

 

[Skid]

Was the head ever warped and merely resurfaced? If so, the bottom would have been flat, but the cam bearings could have been all over the place and the cam could have been binding. OHC heads need to be straightened sometimes before they're resurfaced.

 

[El_Macho]

Turns out, not an oiling issue. Valve spring broke, which meant the shim was no longer in pressure contact with the cam lobe, cam nose wiped the shim off to the side, then the shim (they're substantial in Volvos) stopped the cam at some point.
Nevertheless, there's much room for oiling improvement here.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: The_Eric
Redline 60 grades would be an overkill for that application and would likely run hotter than a comparative 50 grade oil. All Redline oils tend to run heavy (really heavy) for grade, so a 60 would be ridiculous. If you wanted Reline, a 40 grade of some sort, otherwise Mobil 1 15w-50 should do wonderfully.


Their (Red Line's) 20W-50 actually has a higher HTHSV than their 10W-60, although the 50's cSt @100*C is lower.

 

[The_Eric]

Interesting, thanks for pointing that out.