Synthetic Oil, Conventional Oil, Mixed Oil?

[Bah]

I read em Che

Can you do a writeup on picking up the hot blonde at the bar though? plz?

On my 850R, this is my plan of action..curious what you think...

My knowledge is it was on dino oil for the past 105k miles...fine by me....but my N/A i've always ran synthetic blend...So what i'm doing for the R, is running synthetic blend for 3-4 oil changes (did an oil change to the blend once i got it..no biggie)..and then switching to full synthetic.

I've always used Castrol Syntec-Blend 10w30, but i'm thinking for the R, might be better to use 10w40 when it comes time for full synthetic..

I dunno..i remeber the whole point of blend(or atleast i think i remeber..) was so that you could convert the car over to full synthetic eventually =p

I've just been using it like everyday oil for the past 40k miles on the N/A and its never complained :)

[Guest 850]

Guys, don't insult your own intelligence by judging the condition of your oil "visually."

If you want an objective view, go get an oil sample analysis!

As for various additives and solutions (seafoam, autoRx, Lucas...), don't bother. Just use a high quality synthetic or synthetic blend. It's got plenty of additives in it already. And you don't have to change oil every 3k if you go with Mobile's 7500 or 15000 mileage oil.

Also keep in mind not to fill up with cheap gas. Top tier gas does have higher concentration of cleaning additives, like V-Power & Techron which would keep your fuel injection system clean.

All of the above will help your car maintain the best baseline performance, not just motor oil alone.

[Guest 854]

He's right. The color of your used motor oil is a function of the carbon from the engine combustion and the air intake. it's really not a good measure whether your oil is "clean" or "needs changing" because it looks dark brown or black.

In fact, if you use one of those oil with longer change interval, you will find that it is already dark by 4,000 miles when the bottle says it is good for 15,000. Needless to say, it is good till 15,000 because the engineers have to make sure that it's been tested beyond that otherwise their manufacturer would have a liability issue.

motor on guys!

[jdlc]

I did say 'nothing scientific about color of the oil'. But you got to admit you're talking theories, I'm talking real world observation.

Discounting extreme blow-by, if discolorization happens prematurely, there is chance there are a good deal of gunks in there, and if you're not the original owner of the car, oil change history is unknown (interval, what kind/grade was used, etc). I've dropped the pan twice on these engines and there's a labirynth in there that in my opinion is a way for gunks to accumulate.

I'm skeptical of additive myself, but based on feedback from other members, I try them - on my T5M which I got used. Never used anything on our V70 because I believe there's no need to.

When I 'flushed' with seafoam in the crank, the oil drained was really murky (I know, 'visual' again, therefore subjective - but can I say, as a layman enthusiast, murkier than usual oil I drained in same engine, that's an indication it did something, right?).

And after I did the AutoRx cycles, the engine is noticeably quieter (audio-perception this time, I know, subjective again ).

I basically change my oil based on season on the Volvos, but don't usually allow it to go beyond 5k using Mobil 1 10W30 on the V70, I used Formula Shell 10W30 synth on my T5M. On my 99 Expedition, I use MC synth blend and change it every 3k - which by our usage of that hideous beast is about 2x a year, lol.

These are my observations which I wish to share with fellow VSers, take it with a grain of salt.

I did recommend AutoRx because tried it twice and it's good stuff, and since OP is using dino now, he's in good position to do it.

Stay cool gentelemen and remember to hydrate, it's getting warm outside, it's 95 degrees here in NE now, makes me wonder how it is down south and mid-west...