Best Oil For new-to-me 2004 Volvo XC90

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road1will

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Feb 17, 2011
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Atlanta, GA
Hi All,

I just purchased a used 2004 Volvo XC90 with the 2.5T. The vehicle has 67,000 miles on it. I do not have detailed service records, but i do have some documentation where the previous owner had oil changes done at the dealer (its a Volvo specialist). It had conventional 5w30 oil changes every 3000-5000 miles for the last 30,000 miles. Before that, I do not know what was done.

The vehicle is my daily driver and sees an 8 mile commute to work each way plus short trips around town for errands. I do sit in traffic a lot, my 8 mile commute takes me about 30-40 minutes in the evening because of traffic.


The first thing I did when I bought the car was bring it home and perform an oil change with Mobil 1 10W-30 and a Volvo filter. I do see some varnish on the underside of the oil cap, but no sludge.

What should I run for oil/ and what should my OCI be? I was thinking ?I would do the MB1 10w-30 every 5000 miles.

Anyone have any recommendations for me?

Also, what should I do to clean up the varnish??

Thanks in advance!

Will
 
Put "old Syntec" 5W-40 in i like a VW

nothing else

... happy engine.
smile.gif


You mybs xouls fo GC, but just use 5W-40.

Im cleaning up an enigine too and am fearful of stuff that isnt motor oil in it. The oil wll clean it up too, juat alower.

What do u like the moat about the XC?
 
you are goin to want a euro oil for sure. just look for a good euro syn like castrol, Pennzoil Ultra, or mobil 1. read the manual to see what grade and interval you need, then use severe service intervals.
 
Originally Posted By: Pablo
Best oil for that engine?

Amsoil HDD 5W-30

It's a dual rated super HD oil. It remains on the upper end of the SAE 30 range. It will keep your engine clean and begin to remove some of the varnish from the conventional oil.



This.
 
Thanks, Will that oil be good in the hot atlanta climate with sitting in traffic? The owners manual reccomends 5w30 for temps below 86*f and 10w30 for temps above 86*f. Also, it says that is a diesel oil, does that matter?


Should i look at any of the engine cleaners? Or will a good synthetic oil be good enough?
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: road1will
Thanks, Will that oil be good in the hot atlanta climate with sitting in traffic? The owners manual reccomends 5w30 for temps below 86*f and 10w30 for temps above 86*f. Also, it says that is a diesel oil, does that matter?


Should i look at any of the engine cleaners? Or will a good synthetic oil be good enough?



86° Makes no difference to a 0W, 5W, 10W on the hot side. What they are saying is a 10W CAN be used for warmer climates, and 5W should be used in cooler climates - but again the 100°C viscosity (the SAE 30 part) is the same in a 5W or 10W.

As I stated it's a dual rated oil:

Quote:
AMSOIL Synthetic 5W-30 Heavy Duty Diesel Oil is recommended for diesel engines, gasoline engines....


You can throw in some MMO at the end of this next change (won't clean much) or do an Amsoil flush before you change (again won't clean much). Both products more or less help swill the old oil out. Frankly I wouldn't bother.
 
thanks for the advice. I like sticking with Mobil 1 since I can buy it around $4 a quart through work.

Should I run the MMO or ARX to clean up the varnish or will the MB1 take care of that?
 
Originally Posted By: road1will
thanks for the advice. I like sticking with Mobil 1 since I can buy it around $4 a quart through work.

Should I run the MMO or ARX to clean up the varnish or will the MB1 take care of that?


XM does not reccomend any additives added to their oil.
 
road1, There are many knowledgeable people on this website; Doug Hillary is one of them. Listen to Doug. Listen to Tig1 too. He's put a gazillion miles on different engines using M1 without ever using any additives. Ask how many engines he's had fail. Ask how many have gotten sludged up or had any kind of problem. And that's been consistently following a 10k oci.
 
I just got a 2006 Volvo XC90 with the 2.5t and AWD, 85k miles. One-owner. Interior is like brand new, as compared to every other Volvo XC90/XC70 I have looked at in the last year. Will definitely be a keeper. Looks like it will get my stash of PP 0w40 SRT, and once that runs out - M1 0w40. Thankfully the PCV system has just been replaced with updated style.

This Volvo replaced a 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid. Even though the Highlander was more powerful and more fuel efficient around town - it had around $9k worth of repairs coming up for the Hybrid Inverter+Batteries at only 130k miles. So instead of investing $9k into the hybrid we got this XC90 for $8100. Not a single regret. This Volvo has more features, more space, more comfort, at the expense of couple MPG and a few HP.
 
You'd be hard pressed to find a better oil (and value) than Castrol or M1 0W-40 for your application. The latter can be had with a rebate that makes it a no brainer.
 
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I'd run a flavor of amsoil, the 5w30 HDD is a good choice, coupled with the amsoil engine flush which I run it through my 6.0 PSD every 3 oil changes and I'm sure I'll catch flak about it being over kill but it's my truck 🤫
 
Originally Posted by BigShug681
I'd run a flavor of amsoil, the 5w30 HDD is a good choice, coupled with the amsoil engine flush which I run it through my 6.0 PSD every 3 oil changes and I'm sure I'll catch flak about it being over kill but it's my truck 🤫


For the average person, paying 3x more for oil changes for no objective benefit is generally a hard sell.
 
I pay maybe $20-$30 more for my oil changes with amsoil then what I was paying for similar oils. Usually there prices come very close to others. I do have an account though so I can see why people think it's way more pricey
 
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