Hi all:

I have been given a 1978 264 in fairly good shape. It has only about 100k miles on it and has no noticable body or cosmetic problems. It has had a fair amount of recent mechanical work performed on it, including replacement of most of the fuel system and a new cooling system, so has had some investment put into it recently.

My big question: how to prolong the life of the B27F? I know of all the horror stories and I am willing to put in a fair amount of money to prevent an untimely death. I would think that some sort of synthetic oil would be the way to go, probably an Amsoil product--considering that this car needs all the help it can get. Where I start to get confused is which weight and whether things like by-pass filters are really worth the money. At sweedishbricks.com there are warnings to not use anything less than 15w-40 and the like. The latest service, at a very reputable Volvo dealer, involved 10w-30. I would think that short of racing, 10w-30 or even 0w-30 would be fine for year round. What is going to work best to prolong the life of this car? I am willing to spend probably a few hundred a year on this stuff, considering the other options of a new car or new engine are a whole lot more than I can afford. So do by-pass filters do a lot? And does anyone know where to fit one in a 264? Or just 3,000 mile oil changes even with extended life synthetics?

Thanks in advance.

Reply based on 25 years of using and selling AMSOIL:

Start with a good engine flush, such as made by AMSOIL or BG.

xW-30 AMSOIL will give you all the protection you need. I run AMSOIL 0w-30 in all my cars. I change or sample yearly, and generally change the filter at 6 months.

The Bypass Filter system is neat, but probably overkill. If you have a diesel, or equipment being run 8-24 hours a day, or fleets, then it really makes sense.
For 10-35,000 miles per year, just change the AMSOIL yearly (or 10K with turbos).

HI

Use a good quality oil the book says to use 10w-30 or 10w-40 oil and keep coolant in the engine all the time. And use pure water not tap water and change the coolant every year or you will get corrosion in the block and heads

George

Cars I own
Personal import 1974 144gl B20a M40
1975 264gl B27E with a M51 getreg box
1982 244gl B23E/M45 everyday car

Hello:

I think that synthetics would undoubtedly be the way to go to keep your B27 alive. Before starting anything, though, I would be inclined to get it looked over to be sure that your cams, etc are in good working order. If they are on the way out already you may want to save your money on the synthetics until the mechanicals are sorted out.

The reason for the 15w-40 recommendation is that this is a diesel formulation and contains more detergents than other oils, which should help with keeping oil galleys open on the way to the cams.

Also, with these finicky aluminum blocks it is worthwhile to make sure that your coolant gets regular flushes to avoid costly corrosion problems.

Even with the B27's I have heard of people getting 200K + miles on an engine-- they do require a bit of extra work, though...

Good luck!

Herb Goltz, London, Ontario, Canada '89 760GLE w/164K mi