1994-2002 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Saab's oil recommendations have changed, or shall we say evolved. Mobil 1 0W40 is probably the only choice that makes sense, and does not cost more than the others. M1 5W40 would work well too. It is a good idea to always be aware of the oil recommendations for new vehicles. But note that the oil change intervals are now up to 15,000 miles. That certainly can lead to conflicting opinions. With these oils, many would argue that every 5K does not make sense either. But perhaps you are driving a lot of city miles. If you want to do more, you can get a good magnetic drain plug which will pull iron and steel wear metal particles out of the oil that are so small that the filter cannot capture then. These hard particles can cause cascading wear in locations that do not establish hydrodynamic films, such as cam lobes and piston rings. A good magnetic drain plug is not cheap, but cheap ones abound and they also work. Otherwise, wear metals are only effectively removed by draining the oil. When oil changes are neglected and inferior oils are used, accumulated wear metals act as oxidation catalysts and promote sludge, goo and varnish *. 15K oil changes on a new engine are criminal, but the engine will still survive the warranty period. Most folks do not have a clue and effectively do not care. These BBs are an exception. But most Saab owners have never heard of SabbNet, even at the Aero Academy.
* ever heard of 'Japan Drier' or ?Dryers?
+ This is a solvent material that has metal compound added to it. It is used to accelerate and promote the cure of oil based paints and finishes. Many oils, including olive oil and Tung oil will turn to a varish like material. Tung oil is used as a wood finish and will turn hard sometimes within hours. Adding Japan drier makes it happen faster and Japan drier can make linseed oil set up much faster. If you put olive oil on something then bake it, especially on a -metal- pan, you will find that there is a layer of varnish that is very hard to clean off. And that all occured in an hour or two. So this is a good concept to remember when folks talk about oil sludging in an engine. Note that piston rings get very little,or no, oil circulation. These get very hot. And nickel and chrome from the ring wear may be a very effective catalyst compared to the other wear metals. That will accumulate in the ring lands and deposits. The piston rings can get stuck and compression ratio goes down and the blow by gasses further the chemical breakdown of the oil. Rising levels of NO drive further changing of the oil into plastic. Piston rings have moved quite close to the tops of the pistons over the years to improve combustion efficiency. This tends to coke and burn the oil and makes stuck rings all the more likely to happen. It takes a good full synthetic to resist this. Group III oils such as Castrol FakeTek(tm) will not work as well and semi synthetics are just that. Synthetic oils were first develops to resist coking in the bearings subject to the heat in jet engines.
PuroLator PureOne PL10241 is a better filter too. (at Advance Auto Parts)
posted by 69.149.14...
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