What Brand of oil does everyone use on their P80 Volvo.

[amblerman]

Mobil1 causing sludge? Yeah right

I've heard of it before, but never experienced it. I've used M1 for years without any issues. Occasionally with very long intervals.

I think it's even tough to have this kind of discussion when just stating "Mobil 1"
Mobil = company
Mobil 1 = product line with a LOT of sub brands. (14 on the US site.)
For example, regular Mobil 1, Mobil 1 High Mileage, Mobil 1 extended performance, etc

Some of their sub brands are probably just marketing based (Truck and SUV for example) but several are created for specific uses cases (fuel economy, extended drain intervals, manufactures specs, etc)

On another site, there have been people who have tried to obtain information that would show what each variant/sub brand is made up of but that is tricky.

The only conclusion is that there are differences and the more expensive Mobil 1 variants are a blend of Group III and IV (and maybe V??) base stocks (ie: group IV/V being "true" synthetics.)
-A
I would be surprised if any Mobil 1 product used at a reasonable change interval would cause any sludge issue.

[amblerman]

Yeah, things called synthetic in the USA are abysmal as maybe only 10% truly are by definition synthetic.

This turned out 10x longer than I planned.


I fully admit that what is labeled as Synthetic isn't what people think it means.
However, I don't think what is labeled as Synthetic are "abysmal".

All the major/store brand "synthetic" oils you find at retailers will meet or exceed the specifications that are listed on back of the bottle. And those specs are continually evolving and making for better and better oils.

What is synthetic supposed to mean? Made in a lab? Not from crude oil? If so, does that mean Pennzoil's natural gas-> oil process is synthetic because it's not made from crude oil ?

Does it matter to most people that the oil is a blend of Group III and IV/V oils or a "true" synthetic (group IV/V only) so long as it meets the specs AND it's changed at a reasonable OCI? (oil change interval).
I don't know. It used to matter to me that the bottle said synthetic on the front. Then I learned what that meant.


I will again reference June on this board ( I hope she's ok with that. ) She found a lot of value using a true synthetic for cleaning purposes. But for merely meeting manufacture's requirements, the pseudo synthetic oils achieve that criteria. in fact, this is being discussed on a sub-forum for cars that originally spec'd SG (93 850) oil. Any of the current SN/SP oils out there are better than what our cars originally called for.

I will admit that I was shocked when I learned synthetics in the US weren't...

I really was. But the more I researched this topic, the more I was confused as to what Synthetic is supposed to mean. My conclusion is that it most people would want it to mean an oil that is mostly from Group IV/V stocks. I said mostly because I don't know if that is defined as. 100%....yup, 99% sure... , 95% ... i'd say so... . 50% um no.. When does a Synthetic stop being one?
Why would a manufacture use 100% group IV/V oil if their users change oil at 5K miles and there are oils out there that meet that use case as a blend of Group III/IV/V oils.? They have to make their product as price point that will sell.

Manufacturers won't actually list %s of base stocks because anyone could copy them. Heck a lot of oils are probably already the darn similar as there are only so many actual manufactures of the base oils. A lot of brand name oils are just blended from purchased stocks.

Blended in their own way to meet specs (SP, A3/B4 , DexOS 2, Volvo RBS0-2AE etc) and use cases (High mileage, Extended Drain intervals, etc). They can do this with various options and often with a blend of different base stocks form the Group III/IV/V oil groups.

I wish there was a good way to know what is in the bottle. Very few manufactures give out that info.

Heck I just checked Motul's site and it's confusing:
their 8100 X-cess 5W-40 is listed just as 100% synthetic but their MOTUL 300V POWER 5W-40 states "E TECHNOLOGY
For decades MOTUL has developed high performance synthetic Ester based lubricants."

One specifically calls out ester based oils and the other doesn't. why? No idea.

Switching to LiquiMoly...
The SDS for LiquiMoly Longlife III SAE 5W-30 oil that is "100% Synthetic" reads:
Mixtures
CAS No..........%[weight] ..........Name
64742-54-7.........>60...............paraffinic distillate, heavy, hydrotreated (severe)
64742-65-0...........1-10........paraffinic distillate, heavy, solvent-dewaxed (severe)
36878-20-3............<2..........nonylated diphenylamines

And when you google, those CAS numbers, you get petroleum distillates.. I thought "Wait. that's off of LiquiMoly's US site.. maybe they sell oils in this country based on our lame definition"

I then went to LiquiMoly's european site and found different oils with the same confusing language.
Synthetic... or "based on synthetic technology" but with SDS listings of "Lubricating oils (petroleum), C20-50, hydrotreated neutral oil-based"

Heck I even went to RedLine's website to find an example of what a SDS would look like with a true synthetic and it says:
Chemical Name........................ CAS RN
Synthetic Lubricant Base Oil ........Various.

Not very helpful


They do however say "Full-synthetic ester formula " and "Blended with polyol ester base stocks....." but no indication of what %.


This really is a tough topic to understand. It really is.

That is why I have moved to making sure the back of the bottle has the specs I need for my vehicles.
-A

[bmdubya1198]

I think it's even tough to have this kind of discussion when just stating "Mobil 1"
Mobil = company
Mobil 1 = product line with a LOT of sub brands. (14 on the US site.)
For example, regular Mobil 1, Mobil 1 High Mileage, Mobil 1 extended performance, etc

Some of their sub brands are probably just marketing based (Truck and SUV for example) but several are created for specific uses cases (fuel economy, extended drain intervals, manufactures specs, etc)

On another site, there have been people who have tried to obtain information that would show what each variant/sub brand is made up of but that is tricky.

The only conclusion is that there are differences and the more expensive Mobil 1 variants are a blend of Group III and IV (and maybe V??) base stocks (ie: group IV/V being "true" synthetics.)
-A
I would be surprised if any Mobil 1 product used at a reasonable change interval would cause any sludge issue.

Yeah, I'd be interested to know which product specifically caused problems. I also have a hard time believing and of their Mobil 1 line sludged.

[MoVolvos]

*
$16.67 per 5 Quarts

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JGQLYP4?ps ... yp_imgToDp

Castrol Edge 0W-40 A3/B4 Advanced Full Synthetic Motor Oil, 5 Quart, 3 Pack

4.9 out of 5 stars 7,064 ratings

Price: $49.99 ($0.10 / Fl Oz)

[hausmeister]

Yeah, I'd be interested to know which product specifically caused problems. I also have a hard time believing and of their Mobil 1 line sludged.

Look, it's just my experience. I also don't remember the exact product, but is was mobil1 0w40. What I remember I wasn't happy with it (lifter noises, oil was looking a bit strange when draining, probably not really what people call sludge). But don't read too much into it. Not saying mobil1 is bad, but for me its definitely not what I will be using

[bmdubya1198]

Look, it's just my experience. I also don't remember the exact product, but is was mobil1 0w40. What I remember I wasn't happy with it (lifter noises, oil was looking a bit strange when draining, probably not really what people call sludge). But don't read too much into it. Not saying mobil1 is bad, but for me its definitely not what I will be using

I've actually head a lot of people complain about excessive lifter noise with 0w40. I've never dealt with it on my several 5 cylinders I've run on 0w40. Believe it or not, I've found that 10w30 causes the most lifter noise on these engines.

[bmdubya1198]

*
$16.67 per 5 Quarts

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JGQLYP4?ps ... yp_imgToDp

Castrol Edge 0W-40 A3/B4 Advanced Full Synthetic Motor Oil, 5 Quart, 3 Pack

4.9 out of 5 stars 7,064 ratings

Price: $49.99 ($0.10 / Fl Oz)

Thanks for posting! This is a great deal.

[Chuck W]

*
$16.67 per 5 Quarts

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JGQLYP4?ps ... yp_imgToDp

Castrol Edge 0W-40 A3/B4 Advanced Full Synthetic Motor Oil, 5 Quart, 3 Pack

4.9 out of 5 stars 7,064 ratings

Price: $49.99 ($0.10 / Fl Oz)

Thanks for posting! This is a great deal.

Looks like it might be time to buy another 3-pack. This is the stuff I use in our whiteblocks.

[amblerman]

*
$16.67 per 5 Quarts

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JGQLYP4?ps ... yp_imgToDp

Castrol Edge 0W-40 A3/B4 Advanced Full Synthetic Motor Oil, 5 Quart, 3 Pack

4.9 out of 5 stars 7,064 ratings

Price: $49.99 ($0.10 / Fl Oz)

Thanks for posting! This is a great deal.

Looks like it might be time to buy another 3-pack. This is the stuff I use in our whiteblocks.

That also seems to be the same price at Walmart in case people don't have Amazon Prime (the 49.99 3/pack price seemed to be tagged as Prime for me).

But this does get to a good point. There does seem to ways to find decent oil for our cars for ~ $3-$4 qt without going to the extremes I have.

[MoVolvos]

Yeah, I'd be interested to know which product specifically caused problems. I also have a hard time believing and of their Mobil 1 line sludged.

Look, it's just my experience. I also don't remember the exact product, but is was mobil1 0w40. What I remember I wasn't happy with it (lifter noises, oil was looking a bit strange when draining, probably not really what people call sludge). But don't read too much into it. Not saying mobil1 is bad, but for me its definitely not what I will be using

My Service Manager at Pepboys introduced me to Mobil 1 in the mid 90's. Showed me how clean the oil cap and the inside of the valve cover was on his 150K Mustang. Usage led to at least 3 headgasket leaks over a period of several years. Since all the cars were used and with higher miles it didn't click. Met someone from GM and was told that the thin Mobile 0W was needed for the Vettes to pass EPA mileage ratings.

Fast forward last year or the year before. Costco started carrying the Mobil 1 0W-40 and had a sale . At least in 3 cars and all didn't like it. Engine felt anemic, slight valve train noise and lower end groan badly on WOT.


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