Hi Dave,
I agree with Alex, 20W50 is too thick. According to the Volvo owners manual, the thickest oil that should be used in a B230F/FT or B234F is 15W40 and that is ment for severe operating conditions. I use Shell Rotella T 15W40 (changed every ~3K mi) in my B230F, because it has fairly high mileage (~234K mi), it's a high quality oil and I tend to drive the car a little hard because I'm use to my turbo :) Synthetic oil is great, but before switching over make sure the engine seals aren't leaking. Any leak will get bigger with synthetic oil. I use Amsoil 10W40 in my B230FT and change it every 5K mi. So, I'd get rid of that 20W50 and put in something lighter for sure, wheather it be synthetic or not. If you go synthetic you will have to use an engine flush before the switchover. Hope this helps! :)
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Chris. Halifax N.S. '91 745Ti, 289K km and '91 745 NA, 375K km.
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