What did you do to your P2 Volvo today?

[vtl]

You shouldn't rely on tin solder for use in vibrating environment. There's a tin pest thing: regular solder just won't make it too long living outdoors. All soldered joints in cars are either a special solder, or tack welding.

[XC70Rider]

That's why I crimped on the butt connectors. Soldering wires before crimping on butt connectors will do no harm.

[P80GLT]

When I bought the V70 I was told the car had an oil and filter change a couple of weeks earlier and was shown & given the invoices. Sure enough a genuine Volvo oil and air filter were fitted and I was more than impressed that they didn't cut corners with the oil, they had filled it with Shell Helix 0W-30.

What I didn't know at the time was the oil was the wrong type for my engine, they had filled it with ACEA C2/C3 instead of the more expensive ACEA A5/B5

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So today was oil and filter change time.

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I don't have the correct 86mm-16F tool for removing the filter housing as the XC90 was the 36mm type (I've ordered the correct tool today and will be with me tomorrow) and was unsure how I was going to remove it but just my luck it was finger tight (should be torqued to 25Nm) The car had full Volvo history up until it was laid up in 2012 so I would hazard a guess that a Volvo dealership will have the correct removal tool and the filter housing looks like it's been attacked by the mechanics teeth...

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5 litres of Castrol 0W-30 A5/B5 and engine run to check for leaks, will let the level sit for a while then re-check

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[vtl]

What I didn't know at the time was the oil was the wrong type for my engine, they had filled it with ACEA C2/C3 instead of the more expensive ACEA A5/B5

A5/B5 is a long life eco marketing BS. I was driving ~50k miles with a lot of harsh overlanding on a mix of anything from 5w30 to diesel-spec 15w40. Mostly 10w40. CAT was not damaged, engine wear was about 1/3 of tolerance after 220k miles. Yeah, the engine eventually died, because of worn valve stem seals, but running any good synthetic oil (preferably thicker than 0w30) with short oil change intervals makes no harm.

Also I am personally staying away from anything Castrol makes.

[BlackBart]

Also I am personally staying away from anything Castrol makes.

Why is that? I've always been a pretty loyal Castrol customer, from their days as one of the best racing oils. My Alfa has always had 20-50 Castrol.

[P80GLT]

When I started driving I followed my father and used Duckhams oils and had big end shells go, I spoke to the engineer who was grinding the crankshaft he told me not to use Duckhams but use Castrol and in 50 years using Castrol I've never ever had a problem. One car I owned for new done over 300k miles in the ten years I had it and never used a drop of oil between services at the recommended 15k intervals.

Volvo recommend A5/B5 for my engine, I'm more than happy to stick with what they recommend.

[vtl]

Also I am personally staying away from anything Castrol makes.

Why is that? I've always been a pretty loyal Castrol customer, from their days as one of the best racing oils. My Alfa has always had 20-50 Castrol.

Their 0w30 at Volvo-mandated intervals is what sludged engines and ruined PCVs.

[Blacklab467]

Since were on the topic, whats the consensus on Mobil 1 synthetic 5W30 for a 2.5T? I use it because it goes on sale at Canadian Tire every few months.

[vtl]

I run Mobil 1 0w40 European Car Formula now. Don't like my clean engine (hot bathed during rebuild) is yellowing inside.

[br0dy519]

I get the 0w40 at crappy tire. Same price when they all go on sale. You missed last week they had a promotion where you got a $10 gift card when you bought a jug of mobil1 for $35.99 - I bought 2.