I am getting ready to do my first oil change. I going to use Mobil 1. What does a turbo 850 call for.....5w30 or 10w30? Does it depend on the weather conditions?

Thanks all!
Ryan
1996 850 Turbo

As a practical matter, I doubt you or your engine would be able to detect any significant difference between the Mobil 1 5W-30 or 10W-30. If you are in sxtreme cold, the 5W-30 will pump up a bit faster.

to put im my 2 cents worth:

i use mobil1 15-50 wt RED CAP racing/performance oil in my 97 850 glt turbo. I also live in Houston Texas where the summers are very hot.

Our winters are not so cold so the heavy weight oil does not cause that much of a problem for me. I just let the car warm up in the morning before i drive it.

and in my opinion i only use synthetic oil in my turbo. I had a 1983 240T with well over 120 thousand miles. At about 90K miles the turbo went out. When i removed the turbo I also removed the turbo oil supply line when i looked at the line it was obvious to me why the turbo failed and it was due to oil starvation.

the oil line was atleast 50% blocked with carbon from burnt Dino oil i could hit the end of the line against the driveway and chunks of carbon would fall out of it. I was the third owner in my family of this car, my other family members always used regular Dino oil and at 3000 mile changes religiously.

After I replaced the turbo I only used Mobil1 syn oil mostly 15-50 wt and for my own self sanity i removed the oil supply line on the 240T with over 120K miles and after 30K miles of mobil1 oil changes and the line was very clean and shinny metal on the inside no carbon to seen anywhere.

So do what you like but i recommend only mobil1

Dan

1997 850 glt turbo, dawes device boost controller, custom cat back exhaust with muffler relocated to behind rear tire, amsoil 2 stage air filter, mobil1 oil

Agreed for the price Mobile is a good deal. And unless you drive very hard nothing higher end is needed.

in my 1998s70glt is use 5w30 year round here in the midwest...unless you live in a desert or the artic,synthetic is overkill unless you have money to burn...

the latest thinking is semi-synthetic which is supposed to be the best of both worlds...you get the benefits of the synthetics which gives you more protection of both temp extremes and petroleum based which is tried and proven over the years.

after 40yrs of changing oil,i only use Castrol or Valvoline.remember,oil doesnt wear out but the additives do.oil just gets dirty with carbon deposits and other chemical compounds and metal deposits from normal wear and tear.

the trick is to change "both" oil and filter on regular basis.for me thats every 5000 miles.

Everything that I have read says that it is best to go with synthetic for turbo vechicles.....primarily due to its heat properties. I would rather spend extra on an oil change, than spend 2000 on a new trubo. I see no point in taking chances.

Just because I am a nerd:

My car has 83000 miles.
The oil has been changed every 3000 miles.
Since I change my own oil, it cost $30.

83000/3000= 28 oil changes * $30 = $830 at this time in oil changes

Lets say I get another 83000 out of the car w/o replacing the turbo. Over the life time of the car I have not spent the value of replacing the turbo. (1660 compared to 2000) I guess if the turbo goes, I am just screwed.

Why take the chance?
Ryan

when i used mobil 1,they said to change every 20-25,000miles but change the filter every 3-5000 miles.what happened to that recommendation?

Mobil 1 dropped any recommendation for oil drain shortly after getting (or when they got) the GM factory fill contract. GM did not like synthetics, and did not like recommendation for extended drain. Of course, this could have been a coincidence.
I've done oil analysis in my turbos, and based on that (and my annual mileage these days), use AMSOIL with 10K oil drain (just about a year), filter change at 6 months/5K.

I was told regardless, that the oil in a turbo should be changed every 3000 miles. In all honesty, I am not sure that anyone really knows the proper oil change interval. I think it has a lot to do with drving habits and environmental conditions. At this point, I am just playing it safe. Again, better to be safe than sorry.

ryan

Send your oil out and have it HPLC'ed some time. You might be suprised

better go one step further and "splain" what HPLC is...i am new to this nomenclature.

High Performance Liquid Chromatography. Its a well used tool in racing to evaluate the make up of fluids. Tells you alot of you know what look for. I have seen syn oil break down in under 2000 miles in some cars, and in others seen it last 15k. Oil change intervals and weight really depend on where you live, and how you drive.

HPLC...which labs still do this and how much does it cost?

i know when i drove m/b diesels, there were owners that used to do this...and i know the 18wheelers do this on a regular basis.

for some good info on motor oils, go to www.marksalem.com

i thought volvo turbos were water cooled and didnt have the problems that chrysler had with theirs about 5-10yrs ago.

What is HPLC?

Depends on how you drive. Normal driving 10w30. If you drive hard look into something like 10w40.

The important point about synthetic is the thermal protection it affords when the turbo gets hot. The first number refers to it's cold viscosity. Either way, you can't go wrong. Some even use 0W30. I use the 5W30 in winter for the better cold-weather flow characteristics (pour point, viscosity, etc.). Here in the northeast it's been a cold winter, but yet nowhere near cold enough to affect flow characteristics of the heavier 10W30. Still, I like the notion that the thinner lubricant reaches journals an instant faster on start up.

(Victims of convenience are we. Race cars and many antique cars require the oil pump to be started several seconds before ignition, just to ensure that there are no dry surfaces on start up. Yet when we turn our key, it's click-vroom! Makes me wonder.)
--
David
98 S70 T5SE // Black, misc mods (mostly lighting), red calipers
92 940GLE // Hella Micro DE foglights

The manual tells you.