Okay, so conventional wisdom (and the reminder sticker Valvoline put on my windshield) tell me I should change oil every 3,000 miles, which I hit yesterday. However, a vocal minority seems to advocate 5,000 miles, and the manual says 7,500 miles. Which is it? What is this "severe driving" people talk about that seems to imply I should change my oil more (and if it's so severe, was does it sound like normal suburban driving)?

Also, is it worth it to spring for synthetic? I have 2004 2.4 non-turbo, which I am determined will last me for at last another 150k miles (from my current 93k). What interval will ensure my cars longevity without bankrupting me?

 

If you want to play if safe, go 4000k with synthetic... I personally choose mobil 1 but I like to believe all synth is better than conventional..

There was a thread about this just a week or two ago on the s60 forum, take a look at that...

 

On the turbo models 3,500-4k is recommended so you avoid Sludge buildup! Also on the Turbos, Synthetic is recomended. I run Castrol Synthec 5w30 on my 850 GLT. Most on here will tell you as added insurance run Synthetic (brand is up to you). Severe Driving Conditions means are you driving stop and go during rush hour traffic where the car is just sitting in the heat and barely moving. That's the worst type of driving for a car. Also are you driving in an extreme "climate Zone", like herein Florida or maybe New Mexico where your car is in 100+ degree ambient drving temperature. That temerature and and add stop and go traffic daily can kill a car if not properly serviced or maintained.
Also to answer your question on an interval without killing you, I'd rather change my oil every 3,500 (which I do) on Synthetic than having to replace my motor later on down the road since the price and hassle are small in comparison to the other... Even though you don't have a turbo, I would still play it safe and do like nicolaselias advised above me with 4k. If you go the further distance on the oil change, you can't gaurantee you will build up sludge..... Good Luck, wait to see what others post too!

 

Do you by chance remember the title of that thread? I tried searching for "oil change" and didn't pull up anything concrete.

I'm not really in a hot driving zone... Kentucky is warm and at times the ambient temperature could get about 100 degrees in the summer, but its not a consistent issue I don't think. I don't drive in rush hour traffic (I'm on my summer break between high school and college so this isn't an issue for me), but I might hit some stop and go traffic issues periodically.

 

Here you go! This is a popular topic every couple of months https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-s60-v60-10/recommended-oil-30849/

 

Thanks. I'm getting the vibe that 4000k is the way to go, so I'll plan on that. My next question is pretty simple: the manual says to use 10W oil when the temperature is above 86 degrees, which is 30 Celsius. That sounds like a rough estimate on the part of Volvo. Since the temperature here is usually between 86 and 90, do I need to ensure that the oil change place puts 10W in the engine? Do I just ask them to do so? Will they do so automatically since it's summer?

 

I would ALWAYS ASK questions! Never Assume, even if it's at a stealer!

 

if you want to know EXACTLY what you are getting and save some money while you are at it.. just go to walmart, pick up whatever oil you like (its on sale right now.. same at advance auto),buy some filters online and then carry it to your nearby insty lube or meineke or that sort of place..
There is a place near me called tuffy that I go to, they charge $15 for labour on a change, sometimes easier than getting down and dirty under there...

So in my case, $15 labour, $35 in oil , $5 filter and keep in mind im buying mobil1 which is one of the most expensive off the shelf oils...

but yes, go 4000k and if you are worried run 10w for summer, 5w for winter....

 

That's actually what ended up happening. I actually took it to the local tire store (they also do oil and such; it's were my mom has her Lexus done so I guess they do good enough work?). The person at the counter actually took the effort to look up the proper oil, admitted to me that they didn't have it and to have them order it would be expensive, and suggested I bring some to them. He told me to get the Castrol, which is what the manual (and his computer) says Volvo recommends, so I went to Wal*Mart and bought the Castrol full synthetic. About $30 for six quarts in the end.

I appreciated the guys honesty, even if it was something relatively small and that I already knew (I didn't really care about the brand of oil.... I'm sure people will disagree but I doubt there are serious chemical differences between Mobil1 synthetic 10W and Castrol synthetic 10W). I'll assume they did the oil change right, though I've heard horror stories about filter not replaced properly and all hell breaking loose.

 

well good move, mobil1 is my fav oil to roll with by castrol is 2nd choice if I have to fall back on anything... good quality oil as well
Next time you go in for a change maybe you can put on a magnetic drain plug like I did.. i was lucky/unlucky in that I needed to change my drain plug bolt anyway because it was completely stripped.. so I put the magnetic one on, so I can get an idea of how much wear metals are moving around in the oil.. also stop some of it from circulating... im not sure how effectivie it is but the magnet is definitely very strong and it only cost $2.50 on eeuroparts