High Detergent Oil Only in Volvo?

[wake4me]

I did a search, but could not find a thread on this question for Volvo's. Can anyone tell me why my local Four Winns dealer is telling me that I have to run High Detergent (HD) Oil in my Volvo engine? He stated that it is the only choice... Come on? Can anyone verify this or provide any reasoning? I can't think it to be true! My Volvo engine is nothing but a GM long block with Volvo add-ons.

This is all that I know about HD oils (of which Castrol is one) help to wash the engine of crud and hold it in the oil so it gets removed with the oil change.

A caution regarding high-detergent oils - it is detrimental to change back to a detergent oil after using a non-detergent oil for a while. The non-detergent stuff will allow a build-up of crud inside the engine, and then the detergent oil will scrub it away (into the oil) so it will get super dirty super fast -- which of course is not good for your engine. VW recommended detergent oils and frequent changes so that the crud is flushed away before it becomes a wear problem.

I just want to run a synthetic blend and be done with it. Anyone know of a reason why I can't?

Thanks in advance

 

[Bondo]

Re: High Detergent Oil Only in Volvo?

He stated that it is the only choice... Come on? Can anyone verify this or provide any reasoning? I can't think it to be true!

Ayuh,... Who's changing the oil in this Volvo of your's,..?? You,..?? or Him,..??

This is all that I know about HD oils (of which Castrol is one) help to wash the engine of crud and hold it in the oil so it gets removed with the oil change.

A caution regarding high-detergent oils - it is detrimental to change back to a detergent oil after using a non-detergent oil for a while. The non-detergent stuff will allow a build-up of crud inside the engine, and then the detergent oil will scrub it away (into the oil) so it will get super dirty super fast -- which of course is not good for your engine. VW recommended detergent oils and frequent changes so that the crud is flushed away before it becomes a wear problem.

You've already been reading Way to much about Oil on the internet....

It's Your Boat,.... You can dump in Any Oil you wanta dump in it....

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: High Detergent Oil Only in Volvo?

(Man! I love oil threads!!)

A caution regarding high-detergent oils - it is detrimental to change back to a detergent oil after using a non-detergent oil for a while.

I only have a couple of questions....

What makes you think you're running Non-detergent oil?

VW recommended detergent oils and frequent changes so that the crud is flushed away before it becomes a wear problem.

Although that's probably true....What's VW got to do with marine engines? (although they do have a pretty nice TDI marine engine now.....I doubt they talk about using detergent oil vs non-detergent oil in it......)


Here's what the American Petroleum Institute (API) says about SA oil.

CAUTION: Contains no additives. Not suitable for use in gasoline-powered automotive engines built after 1930. Use in more modern engines may cause unsatisfactory performance or equipment harm.

So, the bottom line is, you probably should not run API SA (non-detergent oil) in ANYTHING, EVER.


Pretty much all oils are "detergent" nowadays.....



Regards,


Rick

 

[JustJason]

Re: High Detergent Oil Only in Volvo?

I think your getting confused. All oils are detergent typs except for specifically labeled oil that are designed to run in stuff like lawn tractors without oil filters. High detergent, or HD oils are usually run in a diesel for a few cycles then switched back to regular oil.
In a nutshell, oil is oil. Just buy a brand name oil and you'll be fine. The Merc 25w40 works great. If you want to save a few bucks then throw some XYZ brand 10W40 in it.

 

[Don S]

Re: High Detergent Oil Only in Volvo?

http://www.volvopenta.com/volvopent...ce/oil_information/Pages/oil_information.aspx

 

[wake4me]

Re: High Detergent Oil Only in Volvo?

Gotchya! I just was curious if anyone in here runs the HD stuff... I don't plan on running it especially since I am putting oil in a brand new engine. I plan on running Valvoline 10W40 synthetic blend and to use it for the life of the engine. I see no reason in using the HD oil in a new engine, since all I can gather on HD oil states that it is mainly used to clean an engine...

Once again, I appreciate your thoughts and help.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: High Detergent Oil Only in Volvo?

I'm not certain you still understand that HD is a marketing term and that virtually all mutli-viscosity oils are already high detergency so it doesn't matter what brand you use as long as the API service rating on the label meets the manufacturers requirement. High detergency oils became necessary with the appearance of hydraulic valve lifters (with Chevy that was the 1950 model year in automatic transmission engines). Believe me, if you did not use a detergent oil, the lifters would let you know when it was the wrong choice -- and in a very short time. The very tight tolerances in hydraulic lifters requires a detergent oil. HD is just marketing hype. In fact the Valvoline synthetic blend probably has a higher detergency level then most so called HD standard oils.

 

[Fishermark]

Re: High Detergent Oil Only in Volvo?

It's Your Boat,.... You can dump in Any Oil you wanta dump in it....

And to paraphrase Mr Bond-o - any oil is better than no oil.

The truth is they change the formulations all the time. Even the link Don S posted shows the Volvo Penta oil as API SG:

Which has been superceded by newer standards:

So put your favorite brand and type in - change it regularly - and enjoy boating!

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: High Detergent Oil Only in Volvo?

I'm not certain you still understand that HD is a marketing term and that virtually all mutli-viscosity oils are already high detergency

My point exactly.


It's all "High Detergent" ...... Diesel oils are no more detergent than gasoline oils.......they do have additives that will keep diesel "soot" in suspension so it can be drained away when the oil is changed.

Your best bet is to follow Volvo's recommendation of oil type if you do not want to use Volvo's branded oil. Keep in mind that neither Volvo, Mercury, FOMOCO, Nissan, Caterpillar, Cummins, etc etc, DO NOT have their own refineries or chemical companies.

If you're going to leave your boat in the water year round, it might be a good idea to use an NMMA FC-W oil otherwise use whatever you want!

Do a search for oil on this site. Just about every modern oil has been tried with good results!

Marine engines usually fail for reasons other than oil type!! What ever you use, just change it every 100hrs or once a year and you'll never go wrong.....


Cheers,


Rick

 

[carolynrose]

Re: High Detergent Oil Only in Volvo?

Just to throw my two cents in. I've been a master mechanic (auto) and teach for the local vo-tech and college at night. I have been factory trained and a master in 5 different car lines and will tell you that although they won't admit it. Every instructor including GM has told us not to use 10w40 oil in anything. Not the brands but the weight. In my boat I use the Quicksilver 25w40 synthetic blend. One other thing that might interest you is that you can use one quart of synthetic oil with regular oil and get the same protection as if it was all synthetic. So much for the don't mix the two.

One other thing while I'm divulging secrets. One day in Chrysler school we were discussing A/C. Seems they swapped R12 and R134a in several different vehicles without changing anything but the refrigerant and Oil and ran the vehicles for years to see what effect it had. None, there were no problems.