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Anyone use conventional oil in their xc90s

14K views 103 replies 18 participants last post by  R-Pow3R3d 
#1 ·
When I bought my xc90, it already had 135,000 miles on. Unsure of what oil it used, on my first oil change I used castrol syntec 5w30. All was good until temps dropped and I realized it was way too thin of oil and there was a good amount of chatter from the engine. I downgraded to castrol hi mileage, and have been using it since then. I have put another 120,000 miles on it and its run pretty well on the hi mileage oil. Engine is still quiet and smooth to this date. I do occasionally top up when the oil level is low with conventional oil which hasn't caused any issues.

I recently found out that castrol gtx is a synthetic blend, which is same as castrol hi mileage. Of course hi mileage stuff has extra additives.

So, if the oil is changed frequently, is conventional castrol gtx oil ok to use, considering there has been a fair amount of improvement in the formulations of conventional oils these days? I always hear of people putting whatever is cheapest and changing it frequently and their engines last upwards of 350k miles on original engines.
 
#2 ·
An option is to set up sale alerts for Canadian Tire. I get Pennzoil Platinum Ultra for about 30$ /5L. They also have mail in rebates which drop the price another 5$. Pennzoil Platinum meets all the AECA specifications (I've done a lot of research and am very impressed with how it performs in tests). I've switched my fleet to it.
 
#3 ·
thanks for your reply.
Not that cost is an issue, but was just curious about how tolerant these engines are with conventional. I know 2 of my close friends bought volvo xc70s with the 2.5t engines, and them previous being from the Honda/Toyota crowd, failed to check the oil in between oil changes. The both didnt realize that turbo engines normally burn oil and both extended the oil change intervals to the point where the oil pressure light came on.We decided to drain the oil and discovered they were running on only 2 litres of oil! One is still on the road today with over 200k miles and the other sold with a perfect powertrain with over 200k miles.

Its good to know pennzoil is a good oil. I use to use it in my honda days, but now have switched exclusively to castrol.
 
#4 ·
I ran my XC90 on dino oil. Changed at approx 7500 miles. Lot of highway miles on it. I sold it to an employee at >300k miles. I had the 2.5t engine. I sold it because the AWD went out not anything engine related.My employee is still driving it 2 years on.

I ran my V70 up to almost 300k miles. I needed AWD at that point. The v70 was blowing black soot out the tailpipe and I was afraid that it would notb pass the emissions at tag renewal. . That was when I bought the XC90
 
#5 ·
I've used dino on my '05 since I bought it (2005), moved to a Castrol synthetic blend high mileage oil since the last 2 changes (I do mine at 4k) since it seemed like a decent idea and the blend in a 5 gallon container was not that much more expensive than straight-up dino. I did a PCV service at 100k, will do another at 200k. I prefer to do these at intervals rather than wait for a clog and failure although I do a check from time to time (have the Volvo +/- .5 Kpa manometer).

The '08 had synthetic when I bought it at 92k miles, saw no reason to do anything different.
 
#8 · (Edited)
It's probably just a coincidence, but, up until about 150,000 miles* I used conventional Castrol oil and never had to add oil between changes. Immediately upon trying the high mileage variant, I got the low oil warning. Now, at 163K miles I'm adding a quart every 1000 - 1500 miles. :mad:

*I acquired the car with 112K miles. I have no idea what was used prior to that time.
 
#9 ·
did you notice any difference by switching to hi mileage? Did you switch back to conventional or are you continuing to use hi mileage?

I have always had to add oil to mine. probably 1-2 litres between oil changes. Never had an issue with it since all volvos I owned required topping up on the oil at the same rate.
 
#13 ·
My 3.2 was dealer only oil changes until about 55k miles, then switched to Pennzoil 5W-30 Synthetic. Then around 88k miles, I started to use Mobil 1 0W-40. Zero oil consumption and I changed the PCV/cover as a preventative measure around 105k miles.

My cousin has a 2006 2.5t and we are trying to figure out his consumption, now at 116k miles. Mobil 1 5W-30 was used from around 22k miles to 75k miles, then Royal Purple from 75k miles to 100k miles, about 1-2qts consumed by 3k miles. We believe it is being burnt if driven harder and if using more on-boost acceleration. We used Mobil 1 0W-40 from ~100k to 110k miles with 1-1.5qts for every 3k miles on oil and now the current Castrol Edge Synthetic 5W-40 (black bottle). The Castrol Edge helps with reducing consumption in any driving, but you can feel the thicker oil compared to the Mobil 1 and Royal Purple.
 
#14 ·
I think with the 5 cylinder turbo engine, its the nature of the beast. I have owned several of them, 95 850 t5, 96 850t5,99v70t5, 98 s70t5, even a 01 v40 with the 1.9t engine and they all needed 1 litre or more between intervals.

My current xc90 has a minor oil leak which I am trying to chase down, but I'm thinking maybe the seal swelling stuff in the hi mileage oil is causing it. My pcv was just cleaned and suction through the oil cap is good. cam seals were done recently as well. I have learnt to live with a few drops of oil on the driveway :)
 
#16 ·
our 2005 and 2007 XC90 V8's said to use conventional oil, which we did till we changed over at 15,000 miles to synthetic, 100k on the clock now.

It was said to run conventional oil in a car designed for conventional for the first 10-15k miles before changing over to allow for everything to seat properly, not sure if true or not, but more than one car engineer told me that if a car started to burn oil, to go back to conventional for the next change and it typically fixed it.
 
#19 ·
When I bought my xc90, it already had 135,000 miles on. Unsure of what oil it used, on my first oil change I used castrol syntec 5w30. All was good until temps dropped and I realized it was way too thin of oil and there was a good amount of chatter from the engine.
I'm confused.
5w30 is what the manual calls for and is what I have used thus far. Granted, I've only been through a few chilly early spring mornings, summer, and one fall frost thus far. Nothing too cold. But colder temps should actually thicken and make oil less less viscous, not thin it and cause chatter.

As far as using standard oil, stand/synth blend, or pure synth ... given all the benefits of synthetic (longevity, more consistent viscosity, slower heat breakdown, better contaminant containment, longer intervals between oil changes), I can see no reason to use standard oil.
Synth blend is simply half as worse as using standard. Again, I don't see the need or purpose outside of saving a few bucks.
 
#20 ·
I was surprised too at all the chatter from the lifters when using castrol syntec. It was there for a few minutes until the engine warmed up and then it was quiet but too noisy for comfort.

As soon as I switched to hi mileage, I noticed much less chatter and less prolonged.
 
#27 ·
I use M1 at the rated 10W-30 in the 3.2L. Works fine.... I use M1 10W30 in my RWD Volvo's except the turbo, which gets M1 10W-40.

Synthetic oil really is what belongs in modern engines. I love the low end torque of torque of turbos, but they are kinda like factory-installed oil leaks on some level. :)

-Ryan
 
#28 ·
A buddy of mine bought a dump/sand truck from the state at auction a few years ago. I know it isn't a sophisticated or even reliable motor. And it isn't even a Ford product. A rod bent at 333K miles. He is rebuilding the motor He sent me pictures of the cylinders. Regular oil changes with dino. I apologize in advance for going out of bounds by comparing a crude, pathetic Chevy motor to the wonders in our cars. On the other hand, maybe all this oil analysis discussion is nonsense as long as it is changed regularly.
 
#35 · (Edited)
I don't know too much about the history of mine because it had 112K miles when I got it, but I went for about 2 years and never had to add an ounce of oil between changes. The first time I tried Castrol High Mileage 5W-30 (not sure what flavor it was) I got the oil warning light after about 2500 miles. It completely freaked me out as I'd never seen it before. Over the last 25K miles it has worked up to about a quart every 1200 miles. Ive tried several synthetics and semi-synthetics, I think all high mileage and all 5W-30. My last change was to standard Castrol 5W-30 dino oil. Too soon to tell.

Do I really need the 5W rating? (Probably so since it ticks on cold starts). I'm tempted to try 10W-40 for the summer.
 
#37 ·
2005 Volvo XC90 2.5 T 110K, put on maybe 6000 a year.

Here is a data point.. Put in M1 0W-40 for the first time, 6000 miles ago... the dreaded No Oil Pressure Stop Safely light came on... was swearing thinking that I only had changed the oil seals at 100K.... and it turned out that the oil got so black and dirty, maybe from the cleaning it did, to block the pickup screen.......and get this..... when changing oil, the oil level went WAY down since the last time I checked it a month ago or 500 miles or so. So, I swapped it out in a panic, with 5w-30 castrol gtx high mileage blend, because thats all they had at my walmart, and I'll do a change again early say 4000 miles this time... but I'm surprised that the change interval couldn't go til 7500 per the manual. Granted, I'm doing alot of short trips, and I did notice the mpg go down on few times I'm on highway.

And aside, the low oil level indicator never went off. Maybe there isn't one on the 2.5T ????? Does anyone know this ???
 
#68 · (Edited)
I don't know, all I know was the oil was jet black... though the filter wasn't bad at all. But new oil and filter and only 6000 miles later, wouldn't generate enough crud to block the filter, but the pickup screen is tiny so I assumed this, and the symptoms suggest it. The symptoms started by the red triangle flickering at idle, and then progressively got worse.. and if shut car off, and say waited an hour, upon startup it'd be fine, until maybe five min later and the red triangle again. But if it bypassed the oil filter, then the pressure wouldn't drop..thus I assumed it was the pickup... Now its fine. And I didn't clean the pickup... just put in new oil and filter.... for 10K miles ago had to replace the seals and did a complete clean of pan, along with a few rapid oil changes at 2500 intervals, until this last one.
I've come to the realization that 110K is not high mileage on a 2.5T as these engines are we built and last over 300K. Plus the path for the lifters is very small and a thicker oil may not effectively he through... and I will follow the mfr recommendations of a 30 weight oil and not, say 0W-40 because some here claim the thicker oil helps the older engines.
Maybe so but that will be for engines much older than mine.
And to chitownv, yes I've owned the car from the start and hadn't realized there is no low oil indicator....never was an issue because never had used an oil like the M1 that'd be consumed so fast.
I wasn't going to say anything again, but you called me out specifically.

We are here to try to help one another. Yes, people can make assumptions or worry about things, but a collective forum of experience and information can do wonders. It is also known as crowdsourcing for good answers.

First, you should be proud of your engine. Many many 2.5t owners, whether they are XC90 or S60 owners, would desire their engine to be able to run 6,000 miles before the oil pressure light came on due to low oil. Many will have that light come on as early as 3,000 miles regardless of engine oil weight or type. No commonality in the type of oil used, maintenance, or other factors....just that they all have the 2.5t. Many decide to shorten their oil change interval from the 7,500 stated in the manual regardless of engine type.

Second, your story was somewhat confusing so yes, we ask questions to help clarify. Since we don't know your XC90 or its history, sometimes questions are asked. Trying to understand you, I will try to put your posts in order. Please correct and make edits so it is easier for us to understand your story.
  • 1. You had some kind of oil leak issue so you changed oil seals (did not mention which one). The assumption is it was the oil pan gasket because you mentioned cleaning the inside of the oil pan and not the pick-up screen.
  • 2. Following the oil seal change, you did two 2,500 oil changes. Quick oil change intervals are not usually needed after doing oil seals, so naturally a question on this. Also, the oil type/brand/weight was not mentioned.
  • 3. On the third oil change, using Mobil 1 0W-40, you noticed the oil pressure light at 6,000 miles. The oil was low (but mainly dropped in the last 500 miles), black, but the oil filter seemed normal. Along with the oil pressure light going out after the engine sat for a little while, the assumption was made the oil pick-up screen was clogged. No scope was used and the assumption that the Synthetic Mobil 1 0W-40 was to blame.
  • 4. After you changed the oil to non-M1 0W-40 (but did mention Castrol GTX High Mileage blend 5W-30 because that's what Walmart had) and it is at the correct oil level, the oil pressure light does not show. Unknown mileage on this oil, but you said you will change it now at the 4,000-mile mark. Natural question here if you think your 2.5t burns oil because now you want to use a shorter oil change interval.
  • 5. You are surprised Mobil 1 could not make it to 7,500 miles without topping it off, but also mentioned you do a lot of short trips.

I hope I got it right. Truly trying to summarize correctly.

Third, when I mainly give the Mobil 1 0W-40 oil recommendation, historically it was more focused on the 3.2 engine. The manual does state (depending on year because of when 0W-40 came out) that the 3.2 can use a 0W-40 oil. I tried to help those with the 2.5t and oil burning issue looking for options to try a Mobil 1 0W-40 and if the oil burning does continue, to try Castrol's 0W-40 since the viscosity is a little thicker, but many have already been using 5W-30 weight oils...plus each owner can make their own decision on oil and what is comfortable for them. I provided non-biased data with viscosity specs, HTHS, etc. in a spreadsheet for people here: https://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?593467-Oil-is-sooooo-confusing Again, trying to provide information collected directly from the oil manufacturers so people can make their own informed decision. The poster Orange also gave his experience with how his oil burning stopped after a few oil changes when switching to synthetic oil from conventional in this thread; he even provided a video link.

So, are you looking for help or just wanted to share your story and experience?
 
#38 ·
I'm curious; how do you know it blocked the pickup screen, and how did you clean it?

More common is all the crud blocks the oil filter, but that usually sends it into bypass, allowing the crud into the engine oil passages and causing catastrophic engine failure.
 
#39 · (Edited)
I don't know, all I know was the oil was jet black... though the filter wasn't bad at all. But new oil and filter and only 6000 miles later, wouldn't generate enough crud to block the filter, but the pickup screen is tiny so I assumed this, and the symptoms suggest it. The symptoms started by the red triangle flickering at idle, and then progressively got worse.. and if shut car off, and say waited an hour, upon startup it'd be fine, until maybe five min later and the red triangle again. But if it bypassed the oil filter, then the pressure wouldn't drop..thus I assumed it was the pickup... Now its fine. And I didn't clean the pickup... just put in new oil and filter.... for 10K miles ago had to replace the seals and did a complete clean of pan, along with a few rapid oil changes at 2500 intervals, until this last one.
 
#41 ·
Really blocked will throw a low pressure light - running the car with this light on is a death sentence.

One way to check this screen, is to drain the oil, wait a few hours (better overnight) then use an inspection camera (endoscope) with side mirror (glue the mirror so it doesn't drop inside the engine), pass the camera through the drain hole and check the pickup mesh - may want to look first at pics to locate the mesh. The mesh is close to the bottom so will need to squeeze the camera to pass underneath the mesh. To clear the mesh, may use a carburetor cleaning brush (quality one so it doesn't loose wires) to try to reach and turn it under the mesh. I tested this once, my mesh was clean but I think it's doable for a blocked mesh - at least worth a try https://www.amazon.com/Valchoose-Cl...refix=carburetor+cleaning+brus,aps,181&sr=8-2
 
#46 ·
It`s the chemical reaction that cleans, not abrasion.

SURFACE PROTECTIVE ADDITIVES
ENGINE LUBRICANTS

ADDITIVE TYPE

PURPOSE

TYPICAL COMPOUNDS

FUNCTIONS

Anti-Wear Agent:

Reduce friction and wear, and prevent scoring and seizure

Zinc dithiophosphates, organic phosphates and acid phosphates; organic sulphur and chlorine compounds; sulphurized fats, sulfides and disulfides

Chemical reaction with the metal surface to form a film with lower shear strength than the metal, thereby preventing metal-to-metal contact

Corrosion & Rust Inhibitor:

Prevent corrosion and rusting of metal parts in contact with the lubricant

Zinc dithiophosphates, metal phenolates, basic metal sulfonates, fatty acids and amines

Preferential adsorption of polar constituent on metal surface to provide a protective film and/or neutralization of corrosive acids

DETERGENT:

Keep surfaces free of deposits and neutralize corrosive acids

Metallo-organic compounds of barium, calcium and magnesium phenolates, phosphates and sulfonates

CHEMICAL REACTION WITH SLUDGE AND VARNISH PRECURSORS TO NEUTRALIZE THEM AND KEEP THEM SOLUBLE

Dispersant:

Keep insoluble soot dispersed in the lubricant

Polymeric alkylthiophosphonates and alkylsuccinimides, organic complexes containing nitrogen compounds

Contaminants are bonded by polar attraction to dispersant molecules, prevented from agglomerating and kept in suspension due to solubility of dispersant

Friction Modifier:

Alter coefficient of friction

Organic fatty acids and amines, lard oil, high molecular weight organic phosphorus and phosphoric acid esters

Preferential adsorption of surface-active material
 
#47 ·
I didn't say anything about how calcium cleans, whether it is chemical or physical. Salt can cause chemical reactions (i.e. rust/oxidation), but when mixed in water is abrasive.

So you are saying calcium is not abrasive, regardless if it causes a chemical reaction? You are trying to defend this why? It can be abrasive, that is a fact that everyone can Google. It might be less abrasive, than say Magnesium, but the higher amounts is what to be aware of.

I was trying to help with information on specific oils and perhaps help people if they are going to use high mileage oils. However, you brought a good point in your list because I mention the amount of Zinc used in Mobil 1 0W-40 which is an anti-wear agent and why I recommend that oil to 3.2 owners.
 
#49 ·
I didn't say anything about how calcium cleans, whether it is chemical or physical. Salt can cause chemical reactions (i.e. rust/oxidation), but when mixed in water is abrasive.

So you are saying calcium is not abrasive, regardless if it causes a chemical reaction? You are trying to defend this why? It can be abrasive, that is a fact that everyone can Google. It might be less abrasive, than say Magnesium, f
Think about it, why would a physical abrasive be added to oil? Calcium Sulphonate as used in motor oil forms a chemical action not physical abrasion to clean. The only problem with too much Calcium is low speed pre-ignition in turbocharged engines
 
#48 ·
For anyone who wants to do their own research. I am only a baseline of information and always encourage others to do their own research so as not to make assumptions or trust only one source.

Here are a few links for you to understand calcium:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sask...life-of-your-vehicle-s-engine-study-1.5143127
https://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/1033/diesel-engine-oil-contaminants Look under Glycol
http://www.pqiamerica.com/calcium.htm Calcium is both chemical and physical in its properties
https://www.sae.org/publications/technical-papers/content/2014-32-0092/ It can cause ignition/combustion issues if too high concentration []
 
#52 ·
You are wrong in that sense. As the combination of carbon and calcium become abrasive. More is not necessarily better because then you will have a higher concentration of the abrasives floating in the oil. I think I am repeating myself again.

The goal is to obtain the carbon, hold the carbon, and keep it suspended so it can be drained out along with the oil. Some calcium is good to hold the carbon for cleaning, but higher levels increase the risk of abrasion. Carbon sludge, sometimes called soot, isn't necessarily abrasive, but combined with calcium it is. That is why (the pattern based on the actual figures of different oils) of regular non-High Mileage oils doesn't have as high calcium levels.

Who knows the 2 bucket method of cleaning the car? This is used to prevent the dirt that is collected to be re-introduced in the clean/soapy water so the dirt doesn't scratch the paint. However, even though there is an oil filter, we know not all dirt can be filtered out. Thus in motor oil, the carbon/calcium abrasive combo is floating around all bearings, piston rings, camshaft surfaces, etc.

What are you not getting here? or are you just trying to argue and give factually incorrect information to people? Data, articles, research, has been gone through with this.

What oils did you get the calcium levels to establish the pattern? What is your final consensus or recommendation of using which oils?
 
#56 ·
I just checked, Amazon Basics oil in 5 quarts is over 90% the cost of Castrol or Mobil 1.

Why not oils meeting A3B3? Which weights would your recommend? Which version of Walmart Super Tech or Amazon Basics and why? What ratings are you referring to...just youtube reviews, cold specs, HTHS, etc? Since we were talking about the additives, what about the additives in these oils?

And which ones for which engine and why?
 
#58 ·
So, when it comes to recommending specific oils and the reasoning behind it you won't do it?

Well, people can do simple Google searches themselves and don't have to listen to me. I encourage people to do their own research and not listen to one source. Always have, that's why I provided some here.

Personally, I would rather have a smaller amount of calcium detergent in my oil so there is less carbon/calcium abrasive floating through my engine, bearings, piston rings/cylinder walls, camshafts, tappets, etc. Like transmission fluid and doing the multiple drain/fill or keeping up with the fluid change (could be cooler method), I would rather tackle carbon cleaning over continuous oil changes with less concentration of abrasive media floating in the oil. If more is better, then more oil changes (shorter change interval) would fit that bill.

Ironically, you have not said you use a High Mileage oil which tends to have higher calcium levels.
 
#59 ·
I used High Mileage oils when they were still non-energy conserving and had the higher levels of ZDDP which I wanted, the energy conserving oils had very little. I still can`t fathom how you don`t understand if there is more calcium the the carbon abrasives would be diluted and you would have a less abrasive lubricant. If the oil meets specifications of what the manufacturer requires and is a synthetic ,that`s what I would recommend, no more no less.
 
#60 ·
I can't understand that you think this carbon floating in oil does not do damage. Carbon can stick to surfaces, block oil flow, and prevent oil from lubricating surfaces. So as you remove the carbon, it has to go somewhere. That somewhere is floating in the oil and is floating for thousands of miles of use through the engine. Calcium does not provide lubricity to carbon as it holds it.

Diluting carbon with high calcium from the engine is like washing a car covered in heavy dirt in one step, it is not good on the surface, but as you loosen it up while washing, it can scratch the surface. That is why in cleaning cars we don't tackle it all at once, we might rinse, use a foam cannon, then wash (2 bucket method), etc. Again, doing more at once is not necessarily better here. Using smaller amounts of calcium over different oil changes will be less abrasive than having a high calcium level.

I've given the washing car analogy, the transmission fluid analogy, so it's difficult to comprehend why you don't understand your theory is not what happens in reality.

If you don't like my words about why we don't want a high calcium level, then how about the Petroleum Quality Institute of America's:
"It is also important to consider that whereas a high level of calcium may be desirable due to the lubricant's detergency, too much detergent can result in an oil with a high ash content. And when it does, in addition to acting as a detergent, the detergent itself can also contribute to lubricant contamination."
http://www.pqiamerica.com/calcium.htm
 
#62 ·
I think it is time to end this again for the sake of the forum. Clearly people can do their own research and can make up their own minds.
 
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