What has been your experience in switching to Mobil 1 oil on a high mileage 240?
--
1985 Volvo 240 sedan

in my own cars i use and have for years Shell Rotella T 15w40 (diesel engine oil)
it is entirely compatible with the relatively ancient red block.
it is a superb product:


""""We still sell Rotella T 15w-40 CI-4 in 55 gallon drums, but not in smaller packages. It has approximately 1400 ppm zinc. You can buy this from a shell lubricants distributor.
Since Oct. 15,2006 all small packaging has been Rotella T with triple protection 15w-40 CJ-4 and it has approximately 1200 ppm zinc. This is 50% more zinc than current passenger car motor oils which contain approximately 800 ppm zinc. Passenger car motor oils had approximately 1200 ppm zinc prior to 2001. In 2001 the zinc was reduced to 1000 ppm and in 2005 reduced again to the current 800 ppm.
Thus, the new Rotella T with triple protection 15w-40 CJ-4 has the same zinc content that passenger car motor oils had in 2000 before the current problems with flat tappets began.
However, zinc compounds are not the only additives that can reduce wear. We were able to reduce wear approximately 50% with the new Rotella T with triple protection 15w-40 CJ-4 formulation.

This is from a staff engineer in Houston, Texas. """"""


this oil meets all passenger car specs for cars of our vintage

FYI... tractor supply carries this product in gallon containers and 5 gallon containers

All three Volvo 240s I own have Mobile 1 10W40 "High Mileage" in their oil sumps.

Clear PCV. No excess sump and combustion products in the air induction.

No problems with leaks. Though new seals (and timing cover plate gasket) in front on all three. The 1991 kittys grey Volvo has a new rear main seal.

Like Onkel Udo II, I change by calendar date. Each November or so. I don't clock up the miles on these cars as I distribute motoring needs through all three fairly equally. The 1990 240 (li'l red) DL Wagon in winter more so.

At 23$ for a five quart bottle from Wally World (Wal*mart), and probably cheaper from the Autozone, O'Reilly, and such, why not. Though used MANN W 917 filter this time. (After years of Purolator, Bosch, and Fram filters.) Don't use Fram filters.

Though I'm slow spinning off the filter before the oil drains out and contacts the motor mount this time.

Hope that helps.

Earl Grey Tea with Hunny and Milk Boyeeeee.
--
Give your brickboard.com a big thumbs up! Way up! - Roger Ebert.

What has been your experience in switching to Mobil 1 oil on a high mileage 240?

My experience is simply clean flame traps. No sludge. No coking. 17 years now.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.

Mobile1 is a brand. It make a HUGE variety of oils from big box store minimum spec conventional oil to full synthetic racing oils. You would have to be more specific.

Even before that, assuming this is a switch from conventional to at least partial synthetic, many other factors can come into play.

What is the history and your history with the car?
Which engine?
What is your motivation for switching?
How many miles on it now?

So there is a lot of fear around switching to a full synthetic motor oil on an older, high mileage engine. Some of it is founded in fact but much of it is not. The most common negative side-effect (other that cost) is weeping seals that were formerly marginal, but plugged up by deposits since cleaned up by new oil, and the fact that full synthetic, regardless of its viscosity, is molecularly smaller (over simplification).

I do not use even semi-synthetic in my Volvos since my commute shortened to the point that even with conventional oil change intervals, I am changing my oil based on the calendar and not the odometer. I did use full synthetic on my 760 turbo 10+ years ago because a) turbo and b) 20K miles per year meant I was doing oil changes based on mileage and the extended interval payed most of the difference in cost.

Many make the switch just so they do not even need to check for new deposits in their PCV system because strong anecdotal evidence indicates it pretty much stops happening.

I got the car last month. 1985 244 GL. B230F? Unknown miles on the engine, best guess 275k. It runs strongly. I want the engine to run well and maybe save a bit of fuel. It leaks just a little bit onto the garage floor. I would like that not to get worse if I switch oil.
--
1985 Volvo 240 sedan

Any fuel savings will be too small to measure by changing your oil type.

Find the sources of the oil leaks (most often related to a clogged or leaking PCV system) and fix them.

It is ironic that system that is potentially clogged causing leaks, is likely clogged because of the oil used in the past but you should not change the oil type until you fix the source of the leak.

Yes, fix the oil leaks then switch to synthetic if you so choose... Synthetic will keep the PCV system and engine seals clean. You can also safely extend your oil change interval. That alone should more than offset the additional cost (minor if you buy the 5 gallon jug of synthetic).

The leaks are most likely due to a clogged flame trap, flame trap hose or breather box which are part of your PCV system.

My departed 90 244DL developed a minor rear main seal leak. It took forever to find, but I eventually discovered that the hose from the flame trap to the intake manifold was clogged. I had already replaced the flame trap and cleaned the breather box. Here is the interesting part of this story: After replacing that flame trap hose ($.60) my rear main seal leak slowly evaporated. Big time and money saver!!

hi onkel- read your analysis about mobil full synthetic oil and it comports with what i have heard from a number of discussions with experienced 240 sages here in fla and elsewhere. i have never used it but have thought about it. for centuries i have used 10/30 conventional name brand(usually quaker state or pennzoil). do about 10k per year on the 92 240 and change oil about 4-5k and use a purolator classic filter. have had no problems with oil leaking or burning. engine has ab out 248k now and no adding between changes. seems clear that synthetic has a stronger cleansing ability which can be good with a younger engine but not so good with an older engine with some crud build up on seals which you point out(promotes leaking seals). someone tested the flow rate and heat effects with synthetic oil a few years ago and stated that the synthetic flows easier which would be important with cold weather startups, but i think that would be more critical if youre using straight 30 wt not 10/30 which is pretty thin to begin with. conventional oil is more sensitive to too much heat in the engine to wit it can thicken which is no good. read an old article about how the jerries invented synthetic during the big one since the good guys cut off their oil. that article also said that synthetic is much less sensitive to thickening during excessive engine heat. just my $.02. dont have a compelling reason to switch to synthetic. what say you? thanks tons oldduke