Ive been using Amsoil for the life of my 240, 1990 now with 247K. I only put about 15k a year, and do a change twice a year, (though I could go the full year extended drain) The real benefit I find is just the convience of less frequent change intervals.

I find I have to keep on top of the flame trap, PCV and throttle body for deposits.

For an older engine to help ward off finding the seal leaks, try running a treatment or Auto Rx before hand The stuff is costy but it works ) www.auto-rx.com
I've been using and selling amsoil for over 20 years. a couple of yeras ago I found the auto rx and now i use it on all older engines before converting. saves me from eating a bunch of oil from a leak appearing all the sudden.
--
-------Robert, '93 940t, '90 240 wagon, '84 240 diesel (she's sick) , '80 245 diesel, '86 740 GLE turbo diesel, '92 Ford F350 diesel dually

Although I dont disagree or dispute any of the advice given here, I do find some of the statements wad a little hard for me to practice. Driving 10,000 miles on one oil change is more than I can stomach, regardless of the price or quality of the oil. Personaly, as oil change is only a 10 min process anyway, I buy the cheap/good oil mentioned by another member in this thread. The engines are very well made and have been known to go a million miles or more on "dino" oil. The main thing I would like to share with you regarding using cheap oil is that I dont change my oil in relation to miles drive. I check my oil level as well as vivualy inspect, and smell the oil on the dipstick at each fill up. I am looking at the color of the oil as well as smelling for odors of gas or anything other than the smell of oil. The smell test is a quick way to get an idea if the oil has become contaminated by something like fuel additive or gas, which could cause it to loose it's lubricating properties and allow damage. As I was saying about the intervals between oil changes not being based on mileage, I base mine on the color of my oil. I look at the oil at each fillup and when the oil is nolonger clearish but browm, I replace it. I see it sort of like food in the oven, regardless what color it is going in the oven, by the time it is brown, it is cooked. I cant think of much a person would cook to the point of carbonized blackness. This may create a situation where I change my oil every 2500miles, but in my mind I know there is never some kind of brown/black sludge in between my crank and rod bearings, just golden honey colored oil, be it "dino" oil as it may.
--
Sir Remulon VonDilderquat III 84 244GL

There are literally hundreds of posts like this in the archives. Do a search for this already exhausted topic, my goodnees!

Later Volvo owner's manuals in fact do recommend synthetic oils for heavy-duty conditions. Whether you will gain anything in an older high-mileage car by switching to a somewhat superior oil is questionable. However, all my vehicles use Mobil-1. All were changed over at various mileages up to 260k mi. No new leaks or increase in the existing ones, overall slight decrease in oil consumption. I observed notably faster cranking and oil pressure response (mechanical VDO gauge) in cold weather - the toughest time for an engine.

I've experimented with various viscosities, but now just use 5W30 year round, as where we live we can get very cold winter days but rarely over 85F in summer.

But for the vast majority of older cars (not just Volvos) you're more than safe using the cheapest good quality oil you can find, a good filter, and changing it in accordance with the owner's manual recommendations.
--
Bob (son's 81-244GL B21F/M46, dtr's 83-244DL B23F/M46, my 94-944 B230FD; hobbycar 77 MGB, and a few old motorcycles)

I switched over to a blend of 3L full synthetic 0w30 and 1L 15w40 regular. It did increase the volume of an existing leak.
--
Norm Cook; Vancouver BC; 1989 745T 210,000KM

waste of money; if you really feel better making oil companies richer then go for it, but the car don't care; it needs oil, period. It doesn't watch TV commercials or respond to nice looking containers.

The red block 4cyl volvo motors are simply not sensitive to this variable. If you needed to run synthetic oil, you'd know about it. You don't. Use cheap stuff.

Volvo specifies API service quality and suitable weight, nothing more; you are better off increasing your change frequency, using $5 a gallon oil. API SL/SM oil is way beyond the formulations from 20 years ago.

I run 10w30 cheapest all year, from -10F to 90F. Remember, the motor lasts a long time because it is well made, not because you bought the nicely shaped jug.

The only instructions I have ever seen in a Volvo service manual are to do a double oil change if you swap out a cam, indicating only that new clean oil is better than old oil. Synthetic is never mentioned.

Any other advice is emotional nonsense. Spend the money on lunch.

--
Stef (81 245 B21A SU M46 3.91 330000km, 81 244 BW55 3.31 220000km)

Do the switch. Synthetic will keep your engine cleaner and last longer between changings. Don't mix weights, that's just asking for trouble. If you need thinner than 10W30, You will probably want a block heater too.
The oil filter is located on the right side of the engine, just behind the alternator, on my 1984 it's accessible from the top. If it's stuck on too tight, use a band type oil filter wrench to loosen it. To keep it from sticking next time, coat the gasket on the new filter with clean engine oil.
The drain plug is on the bottom of the oil pan at the bottom of the engine. My 1984 takes a one inch wrench. Righty tighty, lefty loosie.
Remember to replace the drain plug and install the new filter before refilling with oil.

what makes synthetic different is every molecule is the same size, to give you some perspective: a drop of water has 4 billion billion molecules, oil has much larger molecules. anyway look at it this way, say u have 2 classrooms with tons of students in the first room every single student gets an 80 on the test, the second classroom the grades are all different but the average is still 80 (so both have avg. of 80) , so the first class is like synthetic and second is regular oil.
the benefit: all the largest and smallest molecules have been eliminated, smaller ones burn easily and get damaged; hence the protection synthetic gives u in extreme operating conditions 2) larger molecules curl up in cold weather and make the oil very thick and not able to flow easily; but synthetic has no very large molecules so it flows great in cold weather. my 240 (87) has 223,000 miles on it, in winter i use 2 quarts of mobil one (15w 50 ) and 2 quarts of 20w 50, in the summer i don't bother using synthetic, just the 20w 50. feel free to mix and match any way u like , don't listen to people that say u can't mix it, they just don't understand what synthetic is. and if it is a problem with seals, your much better off with a heavier weight synthetic, or instead of 4 quarts of synthetic, do 3+ 1 of regular oil etc. etc. depending on your mileage. as u can see you can have all kinds of mixes of oils. i have had my volvo for 3 years , rescued from junk yard, fixed up, got rid of god forsaken clock in dash and found a tach. in gl at junk yard (tach. and clock are interchangeable) and turbo wheels too , on a wagon no less whoo hoo.....anyway synthetic in winter is a definite must....

I switched 89 240 with B230F engine at 114k miles. I use Mobil 1 5w40 for 7500 to 10000 miles at a time. The engine burns about 1.5 quarts of oil over 10000 miles. I top it of about once a month. I don't have any leaks or any other oil related problems. Fuel consumption is about 21mpg city to 26 highway (automatic). In my mixed driving I usually see about 22 to 24.

The car came with a FUMOTO valve from the previous owner. I highly recomend it. All I have to do is slide the pan under the car and hit the switch. Oil changes with new filter takes about 10 minutes in my garage.
Good luck
Justin

This is perhaps one of the Top 10 most posted questions on the brickboard. Do a search and review previous comments to see what others think.

To summarize:
- YES, the switch is adviseable. Full synthetic oils (amsoil, mobile-1) are much better for your engine that dino or dino-synth blends. As long as your engine is "broken in" (5000+ miles???), switching to synthetic oil will be good for it.
- NO, the switch does not CAUSE oil leaks. Synthetic oils flow better that dino oil (different molecular structure), and have better detergent additives. So if you already have a small leak, synthetic oils will SEEM to leak more. Or if years of crud was stopping up a cracked seal, the detergents in synthetic oil might clean that gunk away, and SEEM to start a leak which was already there. That is why some uninformed mechanics advise against the switch.

General brickboard wisdom is to fix the leaks/replace the seals first, then switch to synthetic oil asap.

I have switched to synthetic oil on several cars with no noticeable problems:
- '89 toyo camry v6 le, switched at 120k mi, sold car at 233k mi with no leaks
- '96 honda accord, switched at 60k mi, wrecked at 120k mi with no leaks
- '91 volvo 240, switched at 80k mi, still running with no leaks (replace engine seals during timing belt changes)

Of course, your milease may vary!

[[ southern fried volvo '91 240 183k mi ]]