Questions about oil changes on a car that's hardly driven

[oragex]

I'm not selling the car, not for a long while at any rate. There's no public transportation here so I'd be dead in the water without it. I don't drive it much because I work from home and do most everything over the internet.

When you say "oil filler neck", you mean the opening you pour new oil into? I don't remember there being much of a neck there to secure anything to, I'll have to look at that.

> has the vastly more economical 5 cylinder engine
Did american 07's even come in any other option?

I assumed it was a second car likely kept rather than traded in.

Yes they are talking about the oil fill opening under the cap. A glove will fit.

I would use a light weight full synthetic oil. Thinner oil will circulate faster since you don't run the interstate much and have short distance trips. Also a oil filter designed for extended change interval as oil filters are known to break down.

Also from another post to run the car hard to warm it up. No, keep rpm low until temperature gauge is to normal spot on the gauge then tack it up and run it as hard as you want. These engines don't do well without a good higher rpm run every so often. June

Keeping the rpm low is what makes these engines take long time to warm up, and you want the engine to warm up the faster, in particular when the car is doing short distances. Not saying to rev the engine after start up, but after 1 min driving, it's better to shift the gears near the 3500-4000 rpm mark to warm it faster. By then the oil is fully fluid and warmed enough.

[June]

2000 rpm

Idle

Just fitted glove engine off

Lip to install glove on

What you see when hood is first opened

This is the pcv test talked about above by others. Very important the pcv always works properly otherwise expensive seal replacement will result.


Open hood
Remove cap
Notice lip has room to put glove over the lip
Next photo is the glove placed over the lip engine off
Next photo is started at idle
Last photo is 2000 rpm.


This is what the glove test on pcv should look like if all is ok. This is my 2004 S80 T6 2.9L twin turbo engine at 145K this morning. There should be a grate to prevent glove from going into the engine. My car has had 6 month 3,000 mile change interval full synthetic changed at Volvo and my pcv is completely original. I bought my car new and when my children were in school I did 1 mile trips twice a day causing black carbon buildup under the oil cap and likely internal as well. Wish I had been a little more on top of it. My car still runs and drives like new however. Your 5 cylinder should have the same oil cap and filler neck. My dipstick seats firmly with tight seal so I just left the dipstick firmly in. My photos are in reverse, sorry. June

[Georgeandkira]

OP asked, "Did american 07's even come in any other option?"

I was referring to the high desirability of your car vs. an '08 or later with the 3.2l I6---other things being equal.

Now that I read it's your only car, I can confidently predict you're going to keep it a long time. Best o' luck with it.

DO NOT let your car decay into a state of "uncatch-upable maintenance neglect" because you don't rack up miles.

[93SCMax]

Nice glove test photos. Thanks for sharing.

[erikv11]

...
So yearly with synth seems to be the agreement. Can I get away with mixed-synth stuff like Magnatec or should I really stick to full? Should I go with the default 5w30 or something else? I still need to replace the filter with each change, right?

5w30 full synthetic is a good choice in general, but your location (climate) could make a difference that's why others have asked where you are located. Fort example, 0w40 Mobil1 full synthetic might be a good choice especially if you are in a region with true winter; it is like $23 for a 5 quart jug.

Yep, still replace the filter with every oil change. The filters are about $5.50 each from an online retailer like FCP.