What oil for Volvo MD1?

C

carl170

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halcyon23.blogspot.co.uk
Hi

I have on old Volvo MD1 on my Halcyon 23. I need to change the oil, which seems to be a fairly simple process.

However, I am not too sure what to use as a replacement. I have read that modern synthetic oils cannot be used and a mineral oil may be best?

The manual states "service DS SAE 10W "(20 degrees and under) or "SAE20" (over 20 degrees).

Does anyone know what oil I can safely use?

Thanks for any advice. I am really tearing my hair out over this one.

Regards

Carl
 
A multigrade sold for diesels will be fine.
If you're in the UK, it's going to be less than 20degC, so you want '10W something' not 20W50.
Although you only need a low spec oil, my opinion would be to go for a decent brand rather than the cheapest at Tesco.
Personally I don't think a semi-synth will hurt, but some on here would disagree.
There have been plenty of oil threads if you search.
 
I have an MD2B - and I don't use multigrade in that. For everyone telling you that multigrade is fine you should ask them how long they ran their MD1 on that.

Use a basic diesel oil - my local car shop sells one (I think it is SAE30). That works fine for me.
 
carl170 said:
Thanks for the replies!

sailorman and bedouin - what is the oil you buy branded as?

Can anyone give me a link to a bottle of the stuff?

Cheers

Carl
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SAE30 is much more easily available as it is commonly used to agricultural machinery, lawnmowers and the like (Google SAE 30 CD) My local car shop keeps it in stock - I can't remember the brand. BTW API CD is the correct type at least for my MB2B

SAE 20 is much harder to find for diesels (but common for petrol) - I did find some on line a few years ago but then swapped to SAE 30 because it is so much easier to source - I have been using that happily for the last 7 or 8 years with no problems.
 
Three replies, three different answers! I would be very surprised if your engine would be happy with a monograde SAE 10 oil, which is extemely thin. As engines age it is common to increase the oil viscosity a little to allow for wear in bearings and bores. If you insist on staying with a monograde then I think Bedouin's suggested SAE 30 is about right. In a cool running raw water cooled marine engine a monograde is probably quite sufficient as it does not reach the temperatures needed to take advantage of a multigrade.

However, monogrades have been largely superseded for good reason and the vast majority of yacht engines run on multigrades, as Sailorman says, 15w-40 probably being the most common. You also need to look at the API specification and for your engine a CF-4 would be correct.

For many years air-cooled VWs were run on monograde oils with dire warnings as to what might happen if multigrades were used instead. Suddenly it all changed, the manuals recommended multigrades and no engines failed because of it!

Edit: I see that Bedouin has posted again. API CD is probably the recommended grade for your engine but it is now extremely rare and almost unobtainable in UK, although I bought some in Greece two days ago. API CF-4 is the next best alternative.
 
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The OP states that the manual requires an oil thinner than SAE20 in winter.
So you're telling him to use SAE30...
 
vyv_cox said:
Which is why I suggested he check exactly what the manual says. I find it very surprising that an SAE 10 monograde would be specified but I could be wrong.
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I am pretty sure that mine specifies SAE 20 all year round - and I use SAE 30 as mentioned above partly because it is easier to find and partly because the engine is quite worn now.

Multigrades don't work in mine - the oil pump won't prime from cold, and I would be concerned about having the same problem with SAE10
 
vyv_cox said:
Which is why I suggested he check exactly what the manual says. I find it very surprising that an SAE 10 monograde would be specified but I could be wrong.
Click to expand...

He said '10W', which I took to mean a '10Wxxx' multigrade.

Can you get SAE 10 monograde apart from fork oil?
Does SAE10W on its own actually mean anything?

My reply was not to you BTW.
 
I have spent the past half hour looking for information on 10W oils. There are plenty of references to it, described as a non-detergent oil. It is specified for applications that require its non-foaming properties, e.g. Hydraulics, compressors, etc. i have found several references to its use in pre-1964 gasoline engined cars, e.g. http://www.gofurtherwithfs.com/Prod...etergent 10W, 20, 30 Motor Oil Spec Sheet.pdf where its specification seems to be API SA or SB, obsolete for many years. I have not found any detail about its use in diesels although I have seen it referred to.

This link seemed to offer the best information http://www.cardwelldist.com/dev/Car...Find-Out-If-They-Are-Right-For-Your-Equipment
 
I don't have it now, but when I had an MD1, forty-something years ago, Volvo did specify a straight 10 oil. I remember having some difficulty in obtaining it.
 
Just been speaking to an engine tuning friend.
SAE10W is an obsolete spec for engines, but still a current spec for compressors apparently.
AMSoil do a nice synthetic version FWIW.
As Vyv says, it's associated with detergent free oil.
 
vyv_cox said:
I have spent the past half hour looking for information on 10W oils. There are plenty of references to it, described as a non-detergent oil. It is specified for applications that require its non-foaming properties, e.g. Hydraulics, compressors, etc. i have found several references to its use in pre-1964 gasoline engined cars, e.g. http://www.gofurtherwithfs.com/Prod...etergent 10W, 20, 30 Motor Oil Spec Sheet.pdf where its specification seems to be API SA or SB, obsolete for many years. I have not found any detail about its use in diesels although I have seen it referred to.

This link seemed to offer the best information http://www.cardwelldist.com/dev/Car...Find-Out-If-They-Are-Right-For-Your-Equipment
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Both the workshop manual, which can be found on several websites including http://www.motoren.ath.cx/ and the "Instruction Book" which Dylan has scanned into his "Keep turning left" blogs state SAE 10W for temperatures between -10C and 20 C and SAE20 for temperatures over 20C
 
VicS said:
Both the workshop manual, which can be found on several websites including http://www.motoren.ath.cx/ and the "Instruction Book" which Dylan has scanned into his "Keep turning left" blogs state SAE 10W for temperatures between -10C and 20 C and SAE20 for temperatures over 20C
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True enough Vic, but it would be reasonable to suppose that bearings and other parts of an engine about half a century old might have worn somewhat. In which case a heavier oil would keep it going that much longer. Supermarkets and auto shops commonly sell oil for older engines that is one grade heavier.
 
As someone has previously mentioned, one effect of the 'wrong oil' being too thin is that on starting the oil pump fails to prime. This means that the engine starts and runs without any oil pressure. If you don't know why this is happening (I didn't, I thought modern oil would be better) the temptation is to let the engine run until you bottle out, hoping the oil pressure will pick up. Before I realised what was going on I would remove the oil pump and prime it manually - got quite fast at it!

Anyway, I imagine the damage done on starting without immediate pump pressure is greater than that which may be caused by other oil characteristics. It needs to be thick to prime right away.
 
carl170 said:
Thanks for all your input. Although it has left me confused and not really understanding what I need.

Can someone give me a yay on nay for this? It is Halfords 15W40 mineral oil for diesels. 15W is halfway between the 10 and 20!

http://www.halfords.com/motoring/en...l/halfords-15w40-mineral-petrol-diesel-oil-2l

Thanks again!

Regards

Carl
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yes 15>40 CF or CF-4 is fine all as i stated in #6 & that link is the tesco price x 2.
go to a Sm or local factor for the best prices
 
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