Questions and Answers

Volvo Oil Recommendations Q. Hello, First of all - Thank You very much for this site which I find is easy to follow and very helpful. Maybe you could help me with the following question. My car is a 1986 Volvo GL Estate, carburetted engine, 2.3 liter, Manual transmission, 147,000 miles on the clock.

I do know that Synthetic Oils protect better, so which oil would you recommend as the optimum oil for my car. Some say Mobil 1 but then this is a 0-W Oil. Is it true that a O-W Oil is too thin for my engine? Should I use Castrol Magnetec?

I don't know. All what I know is that I like my Volvo Car and that I would use the best most optimum oil for this engine. Some say its not worth to use Synthetic oil for an older engine, but at the end of the day, I don't mind to spend a few pennys more to use the oil which is best for my car. For your help thank you very much in advance. Looking forward hearing from you.

Eric

A. From Volvo:

RECOMMENDED ENGINE OILS
The following list of oils (I didn't show the whole list) exceed minimum requirements of API-SG in several requirements (High Temperature Oxidation, and High Temperature High Shear Stability). Oils listed are recommended for use in all Volvo GASOLINE engines. This list will be reviewed periodically and updated accordingly.

Please note the Viscosity API Service Grade (SG/CD), and the product name, to ensure that the recommended product is being obtained. Also, the above listed oils are RECOMMENDED and dealers are highly encouraged to use the oils listed. However, for repairs covered by the Volvo new car warranty, only an oil listed above may be used.

Note:
SYNTHETIC OILS are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for, vehicles operating in temperature extremes (very cold or very hot climates), continuous mountain driving, trailer pulling and for turbo charged engines. The use of 15W40 oil should be limited to engines in extreme duty.

The synthetic oils listed are:

Amsoil ASL
Castrol Syntec
Exxon Superflo Synthetic
Pennzoil Performax 100
Quaker State High Performance Synthetic
Kendall Elite SG/CD 10W30 and 5W30
Havoline Formula 3 Synthetic
Mobil 1
Valvoline Dura Blend

All the oils listed are 5W30 or 10W30. I hope this answers your question.

Additional Information provided courtesy of ALLDATA