I'm back!

Hello Volvo fans!

Having left the Volvo fold for a few years (used to have a 740 Turbo Wagon
and a 760 GLE), I have returned! I have just purchased a 1989 740 GLE (4
cyl 16 valve)as a second car. Despite having 265,000 kms on the clock, it
is pretty minty, black on black , having been owned by a very particular
individual. What a tank! I feel great giving my wife such a substantial
car to carry the kids around in.

My question today, (perhaps the first of many over the next weeks) is about
synthetic oils. I have been very pleased with the performance of Amsoil
Crankcase oil and Gearlube in my Subaru, and was wondering if I can make the
switch on an old Volvo this late in life. The "expert" friend of the vendor
felt that the seals would not tolerate Synth. Any opinions?

Yours brickly,

RF

 

I had an 88 740 GLE normally aspirated b230f and it had 170k I thought it'd
be good to run synthetic in it... it dropped my gas mileage 20% AND it
burned a quart of oil in 3k miles... never used oil before.
I switched back and after the next change all was back to normal.. now I did
have a leak on the oil cap gasket where you add oil and there was some blow
by on the valve cover... but not a quart and certainly would not have
affected gas mileage.
Just one persons story however illogical it may appear to an expert. (which
I'm not.)

 

How could synthetic cause that kinda drop in gas mileage? I only run it in
turbo cars where I've never had any noticeable change in performance or oil
consumption but presumably the turbo will be less prone to oil coking up on
the shaft.

 

[ ... ]
How could synthetic cause that kinda drop in gas mileage? I only run it in
turbo cars where I've never had any noticeable change in performance or oil
consumption but presumably the turbo will be less prone to oil coking up on
the shaft.[/QUOTE]

It could cause a drop like that due to less effective sealing of the
piston rings in an engine with some wear on it.

I'll agree that it's good to run synthetic in turbos.


Gary

 

This still doesn't completely answer the question as to whether I should run
Synth in the '89 16valve. I would like to. I beleive it increased the
mileage in the (nearly new) Subaru, and the 0w30 sure made cold weather
starts easy.

RF


--
Ritchard Findlay
Toronto, CANADA

(remove "nospam." to reply)

It could cause a drop like that due to less effective sealing of the
piston rings in an engine with some wear on it.

I'll agree that it's good to run synthetic in turbos.


Gary

--
Gary Heston

Remember that the Patriot Act was written not by patriots, but by
politicians seeking votes and bureaucrats seeking power.[/QUOTE]

 

[ ... ]

The only way to know for sure is to try it. Changing to synthetic won't
kill the engine, but it may induce some minor leaks. Changing back to
regular oil will get rid of most of those (synthetic will wash out crud
that's built up around seals; until it builds back up, you'll have some
leakage). If you do change to synthetic and want to stay with it, change
the filter after 500-700 miles. If you change back, also change the filter.


Gary

 

It's worth trying if you want, personally I'd just stick with normal oil in
anything but a turbo or other high performance engine.