Oil weight and options- 100K miles

[AlanS]

2006 xc70- 100k miles. I have always used M-1...either 10-30 in the summer and 5-30 in winter. I have a case of 5-30..which is readily available. Should I be considering other weights (0-30)? or...if it ain't broke, don't fix it!
PLUS...Whats the deal with the 'other' Mobil 1 options- 'high milage', etc. Is there any advantage to using an oil for older engines (although we all know that 100K is not 'old').
Costco has their brand at quite a discount...anyone tired it? I really don't want to change companies in mid stream, unless you provide me with info to the contrary. Thanks, A.

[chris11211]

I use Walmart's Supertech high mileage full synthetic 5W-30 for close to 3 years and I'm at 170k miles, and I also change every 5k with city driving. I'd just stick with 5W-30 because unless you get weather extremes then you have a good all around and it is available everywhere.

Hear me out; all oils are now on the ILSAC GF-6A standard and it is leagues ahead of what Volvo had to deal with back in the 90's-00's. And it also means that it makes sense, logistically, to have oil be made at a plant, and to have that plant sell or even make the products for different companies. Whether or not they have their own additives; well, it doesn't matter because they all have the same standard GF-6A, so their is an almost guarantee that your Mobil 1 is made from the same plant that sells Supertech oil to Walmart and the Costco oil you are looking at.

In my opinion just get the cheapest oil you can get. it should be between Walmart, Costco, or Amazon at any given point. But if you want fancy oil just go to FCPeuro and buy the liquid moly oil. Those are made in Germany so it's guaranteed a different factory and you'll also get FCP's lifetime replacement for free forever.

[darylrobert]

yes agreed same oil different packaging. See if there is an address you may find its the same factory address, found this situation alot here with car paints. Its better to see a choice of oils, paints or any product on the shop shelves.. i think its a marketing trick so see what products sells better.

[vtl]

Depending on the engine's health, good oil can actually kill it.

I was using Red Line for a couple of years before the engine decided to burn an exhaust valve in the middle of nowhere. So make sure you don't use oil with high level of additives if the engine consumes considerable amount of oil. Red Line, for example, has 2-3 times higher calcium content than most of other oils, it all got trapped in the combustion chambers because I was lazy with replacing old degraded valve stem seals. Otherwise Red Line is a superior oil.

Anyways, after rebuild I decided to switch to Mobil 1 0w40 European Car Formula year round. The mechanical wear had probably worsen now, but it does not mean the engine will live less before the next rebuild.

[vtl]

I use Walmart's Supertech high mileage full synthetic 5W-30 for close to 3 years and I'm at 170k miles, and I also change every 5k with city driving. I'd just stick with 5W-30 because unless you get weather extremes then you have a good all around and it is available everywhere.

When I wrapped my XC around a boulder, I got the donor for chassis swap: same year, color, serial number was +157 apart from my. The engine had 220k miles when I shelved it for a rebuild. I took it apart a couple of years ago to asses the wear.

My engine died at 220k miles, it was dealer serviced up to 80k, most likely Castrol 0w30 every 10k, then me doing Amsoil SS 0w30/5w30/10w30 every 5-7k miles and, later, Red Line 10w40 strictly at 5k intervals. Topping up with 15w40 diesel oil while driving to wilderness, 10 hours/day, for a week... For the most part of engine's life, it saw a thicker oil than the donor.

I took my engine apart for rebuild and did all the measurements. Mechanically it was in a much better shape than the donor. The bore wear was about twice lower than the donor's, the rod bearings barely had any wear signs, the crankshaft I left alone, because even in the donor the bearings were like new.

Plus the head was not warped. It had two minor depressions around cooling channels that are typical for alu heads, but I could barely squeeze 0.05 mm feeler gauge under straight edge. Means, the engine was heating less. Donor's head was warped more.

So, while Volvo recommends 0/5w30, I'd go with 0w40. Engine dynamics and oil consumption will stay about same, but the wear will be reduced significantly.

[SuperHerman]

Stick with what you are doing if your selection matches OE specs. Change it every 5k and you should be fine. The new oil blends are not as good as the original. For environmental reasons certain helpful additives have been removed - I assume newer engines design around this change.

Volvo did move from a blend to full synthetic as a recommend oil for the better.

[darylrobert]

mobil 1 5w-50 has really good reviews