Hi everyone,
I am new-ish to this forum though I have been reading a fair bit on here in the past.
On most forums I would be reluctant to ask for a specific recommendation like this, but it seems this kind of thing is encouraged here, so I'm going to go for it and hope I'm not going afoul of the conventions.
The car is a 1998 V70 AWD. The engine is a 2.4l turbocharged 5 cylinder gasoline engine, and currently has 210k miles on it.
I have had the car about 2 years and I think I'm the 3rd owner. I have no idea what's been used in this car in the past so I have to assume it's been pretty typical as in 5k oil + filter changes with petroleum oil and probably pretty [censored] filters (there was a NAPA filter (not Gold) on it when I got it - don't know much about those).
The engine runs great, and I recently changed the PCV system so it's breathing well. And I started using the Mann oil filter which I can tell is much better than the Fram I /was/ using.
I can see some varnishing in the top end through the filler cap hole. I will provide a picture if someone asks for it.
I live in NB, Canada, so for ~4 months out of the year it's pretty cold (-10C/14F down to ~-40C/-40F on coldest nights), and in the summer the hottest days get up to about +35C/95F with very high humidity. I live in a small city so it's mixed city and country driving.
I do a lot of short tripping to work and back (I only work a few minutes from home so I head home for dinner break, and come back, so that's 4 x ~5km/3mile trips every day, even in the winter) and usually do a decent sized trip (at least 200km/120miles, sometimes up to 1000km/650miles) once or twice a month.
What I'm looking for is a cost-effective and time-effective program to keep my oil changes down (ie: longer drain intervals) without sacrificing in terms of protection.
I'm especially concerned about a)keeping my turbo healthy and b)engine longevity.
The turbo is water cooled, but the oil is of course expected to bear some of that burden as well. It seems turbos have pretty high requirements in terms of lubrication and cooling so I want to make sure I get this right.
These engines are NOT known for any internal diffuculties, top or bottom end. They sometimes have breathing problems, but as I said I replaced the PCV system completely last year and have had no problems since then. I think the lower evaporation rate of synthetic oil would help this system stay clean longer.
I think what would appeal to me most is changing the oil 2 times a year, in the spring and fall.
Of course I don't want to break the bank either.
I can get Mobil1 at WalMart for their pretty reasonable price, and Canadian Tire often has it on sale for a good price. But the selection (viscosities) at both of these places leaves a lot to be desired.
Syntec and the penzoil and QuakerState synthetic products are available at these places too. And yes I understand these are hydrocrack oils and not true PAO/Ester synthetics - I would be all for using hydrocrack (and shorter OCI) if the price was more reasonable... it's just not worth what they charge for it.
The owner's manual recommends a petrol 5W-30 up to 30C/86F, and petrol 10W-30 or 5W-40 up to 40C/104F. It specifies API SJ, SJ/CF, or SJ/Energy Conserving.
I was really upset to learn about PPD and VII to get petro oils into the lower and higher parts of their multigrade specs, and how fast those additives can be used up and/or sheared away. I think the only way to get proper protection is using a basestock with lower pour point and better HT/HS without needing to go to additives to get into spec. Plus the 0W- oils seem to give great cold performance and fuel economy.
I'm inclined to go for a full synthetic 0W-30 or 0W-40. Maybe like 0W-30 for the winter months and 0W-40 for the winter on my proposed spring/fall OCI schedule.
It seems there's a bit of confusion about what's really going on with Mobil 1 - it definitely uses PAO but maybe it's also partly/mainly hydrocrack?
Would 5W-30 Mobil 1 High-Mileage be a good fit for this application? Even in the winter? Too bad they don't make this in a 0W- oil....
What about using a diesel oil like Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck 5W-40? The higher TBN to combat short trip acids really interests me, plus the extra ZDDP in diesel oils seems like it would be a great thing for high mileage engines AND turbo'd engines - and mine is both.
Another option along these lines would be the Rotella T 0W-40 diesel oil.
Petro-Canada seems to have some great products too but I can't seem to find it locally yet...
Anyway, any suggestions for things to look into or products to consider would be much appreciated.
I am new-ish to this forum though I have been reading a fair bit on here in the past.
On most forums I would be reluctant to ask for a specific recommendation like this, but it seems this kind of thing is encouraged here, so I'm going to go for it and hope I'm not going afoul of the conventions.
The car is a 1998 V70 AWD. The engine is a 2.4l turbocharged 5 cylinder gasoline engine, and currently has 210k miles on it.
I have had the car about 2 years and I think I'm the 3rd owner. I have no idea what's been used in this car in the past so I have to assume it's been pretty typical as in 5k oil + filter changes with petroleum oil and probably pretty [censored] filters (there was a NAPA filter (not Gold) on it when I got it - don't know much about those).
The engine runs great, and I recently changed the PCV system so it's breathing well. And I started using the Mann oil filter which I can tell is much better than the Fram I /was/ using.
I can see some varnishing in the top end through the filler cap hole. I will provide a picture if someone asks for it.
I live in NB, Canada, so for ~4 months out of the year it's pretty cold (-10C/14F down to ~-40C/-40F on coldest nights), and in the summer the hottest days get up to about +35C/95F with very high humidity. I live in a small city so it's mixed city and country driving.
I do a lot of short tripping to work and back (I only work a few minutes from home so I head home for dinner break, and come back, so that's 4 x ~5km/3mile trips every day, even in the winter) and usually do a decent sized trip (at least 200km/120miles, sometimes up to 1000km/650miles) once or twice a month.
What I'm looking for is a cost-effective and time-effective program to keep my oil changes down (ie: longer drain intervals) without sacrificing in terms of protection.
I'm especially concerned about a)keeping my turbo healthy and b)engine longevity.
The turbo is water cooled, but the oil is of course expected to bear some of that burden as well. It seems turbos have pretty high requirements in terms of lubrication and cooling so I want to make sure I get this right.
These engines are NOT known for any internal diffuculties, top or bottom end. They sometimes have breathing problems, but as I said I replaced the PCV system completely last year and have had no problems since then. I think the lower evaporation rate of synthetic oil would help this system stay clean longer.
I think what would appeal to me most is changing the oil 2 times a year, in the spring and fall.
Of course I don't want to break the bank either.
I can get Mobil1 at WalMart for their pretty reasonable price, and Canadian Tire often has it on sale for a good price. But the selection (viscosities) at both of these places leaves a lot to be desired.
Syntec and the penzoil and QuakerState synthetic products are available at these places too. And yes I understand these are hydrocrack oils and not true PAO/Ester synthetics - I would be all for using hydrocrack (and shorter OCI) if the price was more reasonable... it's just not worth what they charge for it.
The owner's manual recommends a petrol 5W-30 up to 30C/86F, and petrol 10W-30 or 5W-40 up to 40C/104F. It specifies API SJ, SJ/CF, or SJ/Energy Conserving.
I was really upset to learn about PPD and VII to get petro oils into the lower and higher parts of their multigrade specs, and how fast those additives can be used up and/or sheared away. I think the only way to get proper protection is using a basestock with lower pour point and better HT/HS without needing to go to additives to get into spec. Plus the 0W- oils seem to give great cold performance and fuel economy.
I'm inclined to go for a full synthetic 0W-30 or 0W-40. Maybe like 0W-30 for the winter months and 0W-40 for the winter on my proposed spring/fall OCI schedule.
It seems there's a bit of confusion about what's really going on with Mobil 1 - it definitely uses PAO but maybe it's also partly/mainly hydrocrack?
Would 5W-30 Mobil 1 High-Mileage be a good fit for this application? Even in the winter? Too bad they don't make this in a 0W- oil....
What about using a diesel oil like Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck 5W-40? The higher TBN to combat short trip acids really interests me, plus the extra ZDDP in diesel oils seems like it would be a great thing for high mileage engines AND turbo'd engines - and mine is both.
Another option along these lines would be the Rotella T 0W-40 diesel oil.
Petro-Canada seems to have some great products too but I can't seem to find it locally yet...
Anyway, any suggestions for things to look into or products to consider would be much appreciated.