The G5 oil I have been using since October 2017 and 146K is Redline 5W30 which is Ester oil. Ester is added to most G3 and G4 oils as additive to give cleaning and multi grade properties. Redline being Ester is naturally clean and multi grade so they don't add group 4 or 3 to it. This is what I understand from all the reading I have done on the subject.Sommerfeldt wrote: ↑03 Dec 2018, 04:01The cleaning properties come from additives in the G3 oil, as well as the processes it's put through. I think it's plausible that aside from the "excessive" cleaning, those may have had a detrimental effect on seals in the early days, though like I said, I've seen far less of those "I switched to synth and now my car's a ball of fire at the roadside" claims the last couple of years.June wrote: ↑03 Dec 2018, 03:36Is it safe to say over there in Sweden all synthetic oil is group 4 or 5 100% synthetic? So those two 5cyl 200k cars actually ran 100% synthetic oil?Rattnalle wrote: ↑03 Dec 2018, 01:58 Synthetic oil and leaks isn't only about seals failing. It's as much about better cleaning properties and less buildup of the solid crud that's kept an already worn out engine from leaking by plugging the holes.
The two Volvo fives with 200k plus miles that I've owned both used very little oil, a litre or so every 10' miles at most. Both using synthetic. Neither was serviced excessively but rather by the book once a year or so.
My engine is a testimony that even with 3K oil changes group 3 "fully synthetic" crap we are sold over here creates deposits inside the engine which clearly is visible under the oil cap of my car. I find it criminal that the oil companies were allowed to change the product without posting a warning label on the bottle or at least change the label enough that the difference is noticeable.
After reading endless debates on here then noticing the crud under the oil cap back in 2016 I researched the subject and realized I could have saved a ton of money and simply let the dealer put in GTX and probably ended up with the same crud at half the price! So I finally made a informed decision 13 years late and switched my engine to Redline a group 5 oil which gave a noticeable difference immediately as the engine is noticeably quieter. Amazingly enough you are correct in that slowly the crud is dissolving under the oil cap now that my engine is actually running a real synthetic oil. June
Swedish (and Norwegian) oil is basically the same as you get in the US. The fluid in a bottle of Mobil 1 5w-50 isn't different here, at least not according to the MSDS's that I've seen. I'm curious about the G5 oil though - how do you know what that is? I can see switching to a G4, like Motul, but the G5 is just a "various other stuff", mostly additives as far as I can tell (though my knowledge base on this is far more lacking than I thought).
- S
So my car new to 146,019 miles, December 2003 to October 2017 ran 3K oil changes with G3 dealer full synthetic Castrol and nasty crud built up under the oil cap and shining a bright flashlight through the grates the head looked nasty with build up. I am not impressed at all with G3 oil. May as well go cheaper with dino in my opinion and save your money after all dino is G3's base.
Thinking about what you and others have said about synthetic oils cleaning gunk I was curious to see what actual 100% synthetically made oil has done in 27K and one year still 3K oci. So peaking through the grates today all viewable head surface is bare aluminum silver color. The bits of the cam also looks clean. I am shocked! Last year everything viewable was brownish with gunk and no metal could be seen. Also cam was completely covered with gunk streaking to silver on the lobe tips. Now looks clean... The only change was going from G3 Castrol to G5 Redline, dealer still changes it for me so same genuine Volvo filter used. Impressive! June
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