V40's is probably the best of the diesel main blocks of that era, in terms of lasting a very long time if well maintained and low fuel consumption.Īt one time I was looking at a new Dacia van, took a look at an associated blog and the first thing a few former Renault fans said was get the version with the Renault 1.9 diesel as it is a far better engine. Most diesel engine experts will tell you that the 1.9 Renault F9Q main block that was selected by Volvo as the engine for the last model of the diesel The phase 2 has uprated brakes and 8 air bags, even one that has been damaged and written off is worth more in Germany than a gas guzzling petrol V40. The 115 hp phase 2 1.9D has enough power for the German autobahn and is a much more popular engine than some of the less powerful phase 1 and 1.5 diesels. I hope that was not a dig at us diesel lovers.
(btw im talking proper cars, with petrol engines here, not tractors in a party frock)
The other secret apart from doing the cam belt service correctly, is to educate women drivers not to put petrol in a diesel car, run out of oil or carry on driving when the overheat alarm lights up. When I get some time I will try and see if anyone has posted results after changing between Castrol Edge longlife oil that the Volvo dealers are using in Germany and the cheaper (Still 60 Euros for 5 ltrs) LM Synthoil High Tech.Įngine oil is the lifeblood of the main block and figuring out both the best oil type and change interval in combination with the ability to detect unexpected contamination by fuel or anti freeze is the best way to improve your engine and turbo's life expectancy. So it looks like the Germans won that battle! Not much of a surprise to me because they were the first folks to develop fully sythetic engine oils for their tank engines. The expert analyist commented that the wear figures had improved and the hot viscosity was much better. I was very pleased to read that one forum on "Bobs the oil guy" listed results from a chap who changed from Amsoil 5/40 synthetic (The best of the US fully synthetic oils) to Liquid Moly Synthoil 5/40 (The best of the German synthetic oils). Oddly enough by surfing the US oil analysis forums it is possible to figure out if one type of oil is better than another, you just have to find the results posted from a chap that has a similar engine type that has changed from one oil type to another and read what he says about the resulting figures. Put that K&N in the trash and use quality filters like came with the car. Also a DIRTY filter filters better then a clean one until it hits a certain point. Sorry I'm laughing! Post after post will say and argue how great K&N is YET post like this with K&N pop up a lot. It seems if you want your engine not to suffer, the best thing is to stick to using the standard Volvo air filter because the oil analysis forums have shown higher levels of silicon (Tiny particles of sand that get past the rings) for folks that have fitted one. I was thinking of fitting a K&N air filter unit, but the results of some research into their efficiency don't sound too good.