Semi to full synthetic oil change? Topic is solved

Mikele82 · Post by **Mikele82** » 14 Mar 2021, 12:45

2004xc70
Currently on the IPD semi synthetic total oil.
Would this be a good upgrade choice ? (Also budget wise)
Castrol 03084C Edge 5W-30 Advanced Full Synthetic Motor Oil, 5 Quart

Or the IPD
‘Total’ Brand?

Or
What would be a great oil for my car?

Do I need to do something when switching from Synthetic to semi synthetic?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ICSWGJ0/re ... UTF8&psc=1

https://www.ipdusa.com/products/12048/O ... Mann-12552

chris11211 · Post by **chris11211** » 14 Mar 2021, 15:51

Look, the reality is oil is oil. The engine isn't gonna give a damn what brand you get it, but only the weight and viscosity matters, and all but the cheapest of oils will meet the basic certifications. Also the newest certification is "ilsac gf-6a", so you'll want to look for that now when buying oil.

The way I see it, you can either get the 'Super Tec Full synthetic' from Walmart, or if you live in the north east, then you'd get oil from FCPeuro and return every other oil you get from them for the lifetime replacement guarantee. They'll refund you for the oil when you buy the same oil and return the old oil.

The only thing you are hurting with these two options you got is your wallet. And no you don't need anything when you switch to synthetic - just switch to synthetic and sleep better with a few extra bucks.

Post by **SuperHerman** » 14 Mar 2021, 17:20

I will add my 34.5 cents - The oil spec'd for your car when it was produced is what is most likely optimal. I say most likely b/c I would switch to synthetic if that was not spec'd.

Almost all new oil formulas are being driven by environmental concerns and/or fuel efficiency. Many times the new formulas are actually worse for the engine.

Mikele82 · Post by **Mikele82** » 14 Mar 2021, 19:55

Thanks for the tips.
Ok, so the XC70 specs say A5/B5.
I see this one is good.

: 09502C54-2703-4107-9464-9F100FBD3418.jpeg (256.08 KiB) Viewed 1306 times

But for my c30
It says A3/B4
But would a 0-40 be fine? Like does it have to be 5-30?
Say this one:

: 6C35BFD5-0770-4070-BDF8-98C322CE5F26.jpeg (222.74 KiB) Viewed 1306 times

chris11211 · Post by **chris11211** » 14 Mar 2021, 20:34

If I could clarify; what I'm trying to tell you is that at the end of the day it doesn't matter. Almost all motor oil today has already exceeded the required specs from the 2000's and the only thing you should be worrying about is the oil weight and the price. Now if you want 0w-40 then yes you can either get the Castrol or go with liquid moly from FCP - the engine is not going to care only your wallet.
If you want 5w-30 then you can literally get the cheapest one such as 'Super Tech' from Walmart or 'Amazon Basics' which is about the same price. I have been using Super Tech 5w-30 for over 2 years; the engine is fine.

Portland Oregon ain't ever gonna experience Scandinavian weather; your engine will never struggle with the super cold or heat so both 5w-30 and 0w-40 will be fine for the car, but the only issue is that 5w-30 is significantly cheaper.

XC70 is already gonna be a pricy car down the road especially since it's an AWD car with fancy suspension, so if I were you just get a bang for buck Super Tech oil. Also, the most important thing you should do in any car is to change the oil regularly, in the P2 Volvo's case every 7500k miles or every year - whichever comes first.

Post by **- Pete -** » 14 Mar 2021, 22:26

Fancy suspension? The standard XC70 suspension is no such thing; 4C or Nivomat XC70 suspension is pricy to replace but very few cars were equipped with either of those.

Buying high quality oil when it is cheap is a great thing. In fact, it almost becomes a game. Recently, Fleet Farm had a sale on Shell Rotella & their 5-gallon buckets of full synthetic T6 5-40 was $40 after mail in rebate. The max allowable quantity was only 4 buckets per household, but heck, 20 gallons will last a little while. Rotella T6 5-40 gets put in just about every single 4-stroke engine (diesel or petrol) vehicle we own. I add a little to my coffee in the morning too. Feel free to do your own snooping, plenty of information out there.

For your interval, what you need to factor into consideration is your driving type and how long the engine is being run between long cool-down periods. If you only drive a few miles to and from work & then the car sits for several hours at a time between runs the best thing you can do it throw that 7,500 mile interval straight out the window! Short drive cycles + long cool-downs & a 7,500 mile oil change interval (regardless of oil type (syn, Dino, semi) & weight) will result in an almost guaranteed plugged up PCV system, engine sludge & a great possibility of engine damage. This is another topic with P2 Volvos that is very thoroughly discussed & for the most part “common knowledge”.

On the other hand, if you drive for longer stints (15+ minutes) you shouldn’t need to worry as much. Not to keep kicking the dead horse, but the PCV system on these cars is easy to overlook & can cause major problems of not rectified.

In a nutshell, if you are getting semi at a price you are comfortable with, no sense in changing your course. If you can get a higher quality oil for the same or less, by all means do so!
In the long run use the best lubricant you can afford to at the time.

I like to change oil at 4K mile intervals on our P2’s, tire rotations are every 2k so less times putting the car in the air.

Post by **oragex** » 15 Mar 2021, 06:27

.
The Castrol 0W-40 is a very good oil. Only the 0W-30 is better in my opinion, but it's not sold in 5l jugs. These are the best oils in North America, unless you want to spend on oils such as Amsoil or Redline

Post by **vtl** » 16 Mar 2021, 05:02

How much oil does the engine burn? If it's more than, say, 200 ml per 1k mile, I would use oil with lesser calcium content.

I've been using thick Red Line 10w40 for a couple of years after like 6 years of Amsoil Signature 5w30 or 10w40. The engine developed an appetite for oil, it was mostly escaped via badly worn valve stem caps. Nothing too criminal for its age and mileage. While the bore wear was found about twice lower than on the similar donor engine with similar mileage, my engine had one exhaust valve burnt and heavy pitting on the rest of the exhaust valves. The reason was high calcium in Red Line: calcium was laying crumbly deposits one the pistons and combustion chamber, chunks were flaking off and get trapped between valve face and valve seat.

No problem like that was in donor engine that had other problems because of bore and piston rings wear accelerated by use of cheaper oil in higher intervals.