Oil for a 2002 Volvo S40?

[d00df00d]

My mom drives a 2002 Volvo S40 (1.9L turbo I4). She puts maybe 10k a year on it, if that, and it's almost all city/suburban driving. Her daily commute is 5-10 minutes each way, she makes a lot of similarly short trips, and she can't be bothered to let the car warm up or cool down on each short trip.

IIRC, the manual calls for 10w-30 or 5w-30. We live up in PA so our winters are relatively mild.

I was thinking Amsoil ASL (5w-30) or AFL (5w-40 Euro formula), and something like a 7k OCI. Thoughts?

 

[Eddie]

Skip the 5w40 and go with a 5w30 synthetic like Amsoil or my favorite 5w30 Mobil EP.

 

[Pablo]

ASL or AFL will work fine. I lean toward the ASL because your mom probably doesn't torture the oil on the hot side. Both would be fine with the turbo, the ASL would allow faster spin-up.

 

[Tones]

I run the Mobil 1 10W-30 in mine, but the Amsoil 5W-30 would be an excellent choice. The 5W-40 will just cost you gas.

 

[The Critic]

ASL. But the engine has a decent sized sump so I'd use 10W30 dino oil instead and pocket the savings.

 

[Pablo]

Mom doesn't allow turbo to cool down. Sump size irrelevant. Synthetic if the turbo is to last.

 

[The Critic]

I know of quite a few Volvo turbos with 150k+ on the clock, and they all run of dealer bulk 10W30 @ 7.5k OCIs...no problems.

When are you guys going to lose this mentality that synthetic is a MUST if you want a turbo to last?

 

[Pablo]

I'll bet a bunch of them have new turbos. Have you ever replaced or even seen a Volvo turbo on conventional oil?

Take my real life evidence word on it. I have seen the exit tube on many Volvo turbos. Synthetic run units are clean, conventional run units look like black atherosclerosis.

 

[d00df00d]

Thanks for the responses!

Any more non-Amsoil recommendations? M1 0w-40, M1 5w-30 Truck & SUV, Redline 5w-30, GC...?

 

[d00df00d]

Sorry, can't find the edit button... I just realized the last post might give the impression that I'm looking for a reason to get away from Amsoil, which is not the case. I just want to make sure that other potentially good candidates aren't excluded.

 

[Pablo]

All those oils you listed are good oils and would do fine.

 

[buster]

Amsoil ASL 5w-30 gets my vote.

 

[simple_gifts]

Buster, did you get fired from the Redline marketing team?

 

[Pablo]

I think I just hurt myself....

 

[sxg6]

Quote:

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I'll bet a bunch of them have new turbos. Have you ever replaced or even seen a Volvo turbo on conventional oil?

Take my real life evidence word on it. I have seen the exit tube on many Volvo turbos. Synthetic run units are clean, conventional run units look like black atherosclerosis.

---

I agree 100%

 

[The Critic]

Perhaps with API SG oils. With the SL/SM oils (and better), the problems you mentioned are history.

Heck, some of you guys even said that I'd have a major sludge problem with 10k dino OCIs and short trips. And my engine was cleaner than some of yours.

 

[JEL]

El Formula 1 racing blend. No just the cheapest Group III is ok

 

[Volvohead]

GC gets my vote in the little turbo four banger. As long as it is NOT bulk tank conventional. Pablo has it correct; you run a full syn if you want the turbo to last.

Start with 5k, and stretch it out from there with a couple UOAs, as her driving habits may make longer intervals more problematic.

 

[d00df00d]

Does anyone think M1 0w-40 or GC would be too thick on a cold start? It's really tempting to choose something I can get locally...

 

[Volvohead]

Both will be fine. But I think the GC a little more robust in this particular situation.