Visit our Popular Forums

poolboyque · 19-01-2020, 00:04

When looking to do the first oil change on my MD7A since purchasing the boat I got a bit confused. There were two separate containers of oil the previous owner left behind... one was Rotella SAE 30 and the other Delo 15w-40. Are these two grades interchangeable? I’m not so familiar with single grade and want to double check first!

Thanks!

Compass790 · 19-01-2020, 17:12

One maybe for the gearbox & one maybe for the engine. My advice is get a workshop or owners manual & check if in doubt. The 15w-40 is probably for the engine but the 30 would work in the engine too. You are not supposed to mix different types of oil in case the additives are incompatible.
Hopefully someone with your engine will chime in.
Our little Yanmar specifies 30 for the engine but I use 15w-40 with absolutely no fear of damaging the engine.

DougR · 20-01-2020, 08:20

Compass 790 has it correct....you could use either oil for the engine, but the multi viscosity is probably more suitable for in the engine and also in the transmission. The specification for the transmission lubricant is " same as the engine lubricant".

Go to "www.ballad.com" (owners website for the Albin Ballad) for a copy of the last version of the engine workshop manual. Once there click the link titled "Praktiske Tips" and it will take you to the MD7 manual.

Good luck with your new boat.
DougR

**hpeer** · 20-01-2020, 08:32

The workshop manual isn’t a lot of help here. The spec Volvo quotes is for a single grade oil and no longer supported.

I try to find some single grade 30 for use in the transmission and use a multi grade for the engine. Where I am it’s almost impossible to find 30 or even 20 weight oil. But I’m operating in cold water, near freezing. So I try to settle for 15w-30.

AND they want an oil change every 50 hours. I do 100. 50 just seems ridiculous.

**Don C L** · 20-01-2020, 09:15

My buddy's got an MD7A and I can't recall what he puts in there, and he's not available right now so here are some links that might help:
https://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-...7a-diesel.html
https://forums.ybw.com/index.php?thr...7a-oil.451377/
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...d7a-55950.html
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...be-105229.html

http://www.ballad.no/Volvo_MD6A_MD7A...p%20manual.pdf

Welcome aboard by the way!

**Don C L** · 20-01-2020, 09:30

The manual calls for 30W oil above 50 degrees F, and 20W for temps below.

This discussion may be helpful though:
https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...synthetic.html

I suspect the previous owner was unsure which oil was best too!

I was always taught it's best not to mix oils though.

cagney · 20-01-2020, 09:36

I have an MD17C with similar recommendation as for the MD7a.
It's not just about viscosity of the oil but also about the quality.
Modern high performance oil is not the right oil for these ancient lumps of iron.
Note that the recommendation is for API "CD" oil, which is very hard to get hold of.

Please read through Oil for yacht engines – Cox Engineering to learn about oil quality.

In the real world this often boils down to the following for me, due to what is available:

*Oil for engine and gearbox SAE 15W-40 , quality CH-4 (or to an older standard if available).

Thomas

**hpeer** · 20-01-2020, 09:50

Relevant pages from manual

**hpeer** · 20-01-2020, 09:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by cagney

I have an MD17C with similar recommendation as for the MD7a.
It's not just about viscosity of the oil but also about the quality.
Modern high performance oil is not the right oil for these ancient lumps of iron.
Note that the recommendation is for API "CD" oil, which is very hard to get hold of.

Please read through Oil for yacht engines – Cox Engineering to learn about oil quality.

In the real world this often boils down to the following for me, due to what is available:

*Oil for engine and gearbox SAE 15W-40 , quality CH-4 (or to an older standard if available).

Thomas

Our small boat in Newfoundland has the MD-7. Go to the biggest Canadian Tire I can find and just about all you get is stuff for modern over the road trucks and heavy equipment.

Then again the engine is 1985, nothing lasts forever. Although I’m betting it’s hit more hours left than I do! LOL.

poolboyque · 20-01-2020, 12:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by cagney

I have an MD17C with similar recommendation as for the MD7a.
It's not just about viscosity of the oil but also about the quality.
Modern high performance oil is not the right oil for these ancient lumps of iron.
Note that the recommendation is for API "CD" oil, which is very hard to get hold of.

Please read through Oil for yacht engines – Cox Engineering to learn about oil quality.

In the real world this often boils down to the following for me, due to what is available:

*Oil for engine and gearbox SAE 15W-40 , quality CH-4 (or to an older standard if available).

Thomas

The 15w-40 I have now is CH-4 and also noticed there is a date labeled on the bottom that matches the date marked on the current oil filter. Wish they would have put that on the cap or somewhere more visible... Would have saved me some time! haha. Anyways thank you for the info!