Date: 2 Sep 2000 18:47:39 GMT From: kenbellnopsamx.com (Ken Bell) Subject: Re: Oil Consumption?
In article <8FA3821E3paulhutchingsgmxnetnopsam8.69.73>, Paul Hutchings <paul.hutchingsnopsamnetNOSPAM> wrote: >Last August I brought a 1995 Saab 900, first "new" car I've had. It was >serviced in December and had the oil changed, mineral oil was used >(castrol/duckhams, forget which). > >Anyway, it's now september and despite frequent checks the Oil level on the >dipstick can't have dropped more than a couple of mm's, it's not even >noticable that it has dropped. > >Saab service intervals are 12,000 miles or 12 months, is this lack of oil >consumption normal on modern cars, or have I missed something? If you are waitng 12,000 miles or 12 months for another "service interval" before changing your oil (especially "mineral" oil, as you say), then you may have problems. I think that an oil and filter change around every 5,000 miles of normal driving is the usual recommendation, and many prefer to shorten this to 3,000. Only the synthetic manufacturers have stretched this to around 12,000 miles, but many prefer to remain conservative and still change at 5,000 or so. Even if you aren't driving the car much, changing at 6 months is warranted (at least for mineral based oil). It's the cheapest engine insurance you can buy. -- Ken Bell :: kenbellnopsamx.com :: (212) 475-4976 (voice)