Oil compatibilty

desertrat301

Cadet
Joined
Sep 5, 2010
Messages
23
I've got a 5.7 GXI-F. I live in the desert of Southern Utah and we don't have any boat shops in my town. I want to service the engine this week but have had no luck finding a fully synthetic 30w oil in town. Does anyone have knowledge of substituting with a multi viscosity fully synthetic.
Any recommendations would be great.
On the same note I can get oil and fuel filters from the local Napa Store.
What are your opinions on using filters other than the factory. If I order all I have found are the sierra brand.
Thanks and Happy boating
Lake Powell here we come.
 

Boaterguy05

Cadet
Joined
Jul 1, 2014
Messages
19
I just went thru this issue. The general thoughts around here are that you can use a multi-grade oil. As you probably know, Volvo has discontinued its 30W synthetic and replaced it with a 10W-40. You will get many responses saying" I use this___________" But it is all just opinions. My feelings are as long as you stay with a full synthetic, viscosity at least 10W-40, you should be fine. I wanted to stay with a marine oil so I bought the Volvo Penta 10w-40. It is available on line from Amazon and other retailers. Filter? I use a quality automotive filter. Mine is a wix made for a small block Chevy. By the way, Sierra does still make a full synthetic 30W oil. The bottle says it is outboard oil, so I decided against it. The 25W-40 full synthetic from Mercury is also acceptable. I use my boat at Lake Mohave where it is just as hot. As far as the fuel filter, go OEM from Volvo. It used to be that the Napa Gold oil filters were re-badged Wix filters and are great quality. Hope this helps.
 

Lou C

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 10, 2002
Messages
11,798
I'd probably use the Merc Syn 25/40 in this case; I've used the conventional 25/40 in my old 4.3 with good results . I've used Sierra filters for years for both oil and fuel and only had one bad one (fuel filter threads not cut right). Another option is a Syn 15w/40 gas/diesel oil.
 

evantful

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
May 11, 2014
Messages
90
Just wanted to chime in on the actual recommended oil for your engine.

There was a lot of confusion after Volvo discontinued their straight 30 syn oil. At first the seemingly clear message was that now Volvos 10w-40 was the recommended oil for all engines.

I have a 1999 5.0 Gi. I did a lot of research into it and called Volvo to get better clarification on the matter, because my concern was that Volvo's 10w-40 was designed for their post catalytic engines produced from 2007 and on. Mind you those engines, beyond just the emissions equipment, are based on a completely different generation of GM small block than our engines.

What I ended up finding was a Volvo technical bulletin that specially stated that the following:

All 2008 and newer engines were to switch to Volvos 10w-40

All gasoline engines prior to 2008 were to use Volvo's VDS-3 Oil (Which is Volvos diesel specification, 15w40)

This would mean Oils such as, Rotella 15w40, Delo 15w40, Volvos own 15w40 etc are now the recommended spec also, also some have used Rotella t6 5w40. I personally use Rotella T5 15w40

Here is the link to the bulletin, see page two: Volvo Bulletin
 
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