Saildrive - which type of oil?

[paul]

I've been told by my Volvo Penta dealer that I should use Volvo's special synthetic oil at £17 per litre for my 120 SE saildrive (mated to a 40hp engine). Also it should be changed every year even if no signs of contamination. Other saildrives use standard engine oil and one engineer (not Volvo) said you can change every other year as long as there's no signs of contamination. Anyone got any advise on this? Thanks

 

[davidwf]

I have a Volvo saildrive and too consider £17 a litre a rip off try Keypart their Syntehtic Gear oil is only £10.61 and most of their other parts are considerably cheaper than Volvo. tel no 01923 330570. If you tell them the engine / saildrive details they will send you an order form each year with all the parts on it that you may need to service your engine.

 

[VMALLOWS]

Is this real..... £17 a L I T R E ??? I wouldn't even consider £17 / 5l.

 

[chrisc]

What sort of oil are you guys using in your car engines ?
good quality synthetics do cost a lot. it costs me a 100 pound
for oil to service my car (and that hasn't got much oil ) -you
get what you pays for.........

 

[VMALLOWS]

Any CE rated 15W/40. (it's a diesel Orion). CarClub from ASDA at £5.99 / 5l. seems fine. Engine now over 100,000 and has NEVER been touched. Personally I believe frequent changes (6000miles) more important.

I suspect you're talking of cars in a rather different league though .... mine is only WORTH £100 because its got a fresh MOT!

Straight SAE20 for the BUKH is not so easy though. I usually end
up having to pay around £15 / 5l. because it's regarded as a 'special'. Have read that 15/40 is OK but am not convinced. I once wrecked a 4 stroke lawnmower engine because, I believe, the multigrade was too viscous when hot and would not circulate to the valve guides.

 

[John_Clarke]

I asked Derek Craig of Robert Craig & Sons Ltd (my local Volvo Penta agent) this same question. He contacted Volvo Penta in March this year and found out that engine lubrication oil grade CD can be used in the Saildrive for engines up to 40hp; 50hp engines and larger should use synthetic transmission oil.

Both the Instruction Book which came with the engine and the Volvo Penta "Do it yourself manual" both specify CD grade oil for the Saildrive and I cannot now remember where I read the contradictory advice to use synthetic oil.

I have started to only change the oil every other year and cannot see why there should be a problem with this as it is not being contaminated with acids, soot or water, but I have no expertese in these matters.

 

[PeterGibbs]

The stresses in an S drive, are, I understand, quite different to those in the main engine. Volvo insist on a manufactured oil for the S drive accordingly. Of course it is very expensive if you buy Volvo oil from a dealer - try Keypart of Watford, or buy your Volvo oil abroad in Europe - it is a lot cheaper! But best to stick with the recommended oil on this occasion - you have a lot more come-back on the supplier if something goes wrong; and problems in S legs are not cheap to fix.

In the engine, a mineral oil is recommended because the chances of water penetrating the water-cooled system are correspondingly higher. This oil will mix with the water and "take it out of circulation" at least for a little while until you discover the black butter everywhere when dipping the oil level, stop all, and evacuate the oil, fix the water ingress and proceed. IE mineral oil here is a life saver: synthetic oil will not absorb water in this way.

PWG

 

[Artimes]

I WAS INTERESTED IN YOUR REPLY. COULD YOU ENLARGE ON THIS AND QUOTE MANUFACTURER AND SPEC OF MINERAL OIL THAT MEETS YOUR RECOMENDATION PLEASE.
REGARDS