66 Oil System
Synthetic Lubrication
Synthetic oils are offered as an alternative
to the traditional, petroleum based oils for
engines. These oils may be used in Volvo
engines, provided they meet the quality lev-
els specified on the previous pages, that is:
API CG-4, CH-4, VDS or VDS-2.
Product information about synthetic oil
should be reviewed carefully. Their use
does not permit an automatic extension on
recommended oil change intervals.
The ability to protect the engine is better in
some ways compared with petroleum based
oils but its lifetime in the engine is the
same. This is because of the combustion
by-products that contaminate the oil. These
contaminates will make the change inter-
vals the same as for petroleum based oils.
The use of synthetic oils does not permit
the extension of the recommended oil
change intervals.
Synthetic oils offer improved low tempera-
ture flow properties and high temperature
oxidation resistance. They are generally
more costly than petroleum based oils.
However, in extreme driving conditions,
that is, in extreme cold or in desert opera-
tion, a synthetic oil may be the only choice
for the application (see next page about
viscosity).
To Next Page
