GC Gold 0w30 - 4,998 mi - 2001 SAAB 9-5 2.3L LPT

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First UOA on this vehicle, since I purchased it with 39,000 miles on the vehicle. The prior owner took excellent care of this car, and had all receipts to back it up. Oil was changed every 5,000 miles using SAAB Turbo Oil from the dealer (5w30 semi-synthetic blend). Because the 2.3L LPT of this vintage has had sludge problems, I performed a preventive Auto-RX clean/rinse program (used Shell Rotella T synthetic for clean and rinse) and have been using Auto-RX in 2oz maintenance doses since. I use either SAAB or MANN filters - this sample was filtered by MANN. These engines are notoriously hard on oil - the type of driving my wife does doesn't help much either - lots of short trips (maybe a half-dozen or so under 15 min). She does have at least two 25 minute trips every other day. Most driving is city and rural back roads - perhaps one extended highway trip every 4-6 weeks.

Blackstone's comments from this analysis:

"Other than a little gas in the oil, measuring at 0.5% of the sample, we didn't find anything much out of line in this sample. We don't consider fuel a problem until it reads above 2.0%. It didn't hurt viscosity, which was fine for a 0w/30. Wear accumulations were close enough to average to be considered normal. Universal averages show typical wear levels for this type of engine after about 5,200 miles use on the oil. The TBN was strong at 3.6, so the oil has plenty of active additive left. 1.0 is low. Try going 5,000-6,000 miles on the next oil. We'll watch fuel."

I'm pleased with the performance of this oil, and plan to continue using it - it's the specified weight for this engine, and is very shear stable.

Question for the board:
Are the Iron and Copper levels are anything to be concerned about?


I guess it's possible for enough oxidation due to short trips to spike the iron ... is the silicone high enough to cause this wear? Perhaps it was just a freak sample - I will send the next oil change in for analysis, and plan on keeping the OCI to 5k on this engine.

Thoughts?

Code:



2001 SAAB 9-5

2.3L LPT



Type of oil German Castrol-GOLD / [Universal Avg]

Weight 0w-30

Date 12/15/06

Miles on engine 54,094

Miles on oil 4,998

Makeup Oil 0 qts



Aluminum 3/[3]

Chromium 1/[1]

Iron 40/[22]

Copper 10/[6]

Lead 4/[6]

Tin 0/[1]

Molybdenum 6/[47]

Nickel 1/[0]

Manganese 1/[1]

Sliver 0/[0]

Titanium 0/[0]

Potassium 2/[1]

Boron 6/[35]

Silicon 11/[8]

Sodium 18/[24]

Calcium 1778/[2081]

Magnesium 468/[296]

Phosphorus 887/[864]

Zinc 1084/[1008]

Barium 0/[7]



TBN 4.4



SUS Visco @210: 63.4

Flashpoint: 375

Fuel %: 0.5

Antifreeze %: 0.0

Water %: 0.0

Insolubles %: 0.3



 
I think the numbers look good.

Why does the above TBN say 4.4 when the comments say 3.6? I wonder why the universal average is so high on sodium. I bet the next report will look even better assuming it's the same fill.
 
My bad - TBN is 3.6 as stated in comments. I used an older UOA table for another vehicle of mine table to avoid recreating it for this one. Little good that did me - with the forum update formatting tables has gotten a bit tougher
ooo.gif
 
Everything else looks fine and the Cr, and Al are not high. As mentioned. You need to see a trend. This thing just might put out higher irons.
 
"and have been using Auto-RX in 2oz maintenance doses since"

when do you add this 2oz and what do you expect it will do.
 
Quote:


"and have been using Auto-RX in 2oz maintenance doses since"

when do you add this 2oz and what do you expect it will do.



I believe a maintenance dose would be added to the oil sump every oil change.
 
My 9000 (essentially the same motor as yours) has slightly elevated iron also, though not as much as yours. But definitely track it to determine if its a problem, it could just be an anomaly. Possibly the cleaner dissolving sludge with high iron?

I agree these motors are hard on oil. Two UOAs in a row on Delo 15-40 showed viscosity shear to 30. I am waiting the results of a Havoline UOA.
 
LPT = Low (boost), Pressure Turbo
smile.gif


This engine has fully lubricated, chain driven cams, so I'd say the iron level is somewhat high but does not indicate any serious mechanical issue at this point. I suspect the levels of Fe and Cu will drop with continued use of the GC/0w-30.

The Si/Na/K levels indicate some moderate dirt ingestion (which will affect the rate of Fe wear), so I'd check the intake system for leaks and/or loose connections.
 
Nice to see another 9-5 UOA
cheers.gif


Highly recommend sticking to the 5k interval, for the reasons you cite.

One sample isn't enough to draw too many big conclusions, but if your next one on the 0W-30 also shows high-ish Fe, I'd consider going up to a xW-40. Current factory fill is 0W-40.

You can see my last UOA here. The first UOA was a 3.7k run of the dealer-supplied 5W-30 semi syn. The second is a 5k with Mobil 1 5W-40, and you can see how nicely it turned out - just 11 ppm Fe
ooo.gif


I sent in another sample of 5W-40 back in January, but the Post Office seems to have absorbed it
nono.gif
. I've got 1,200 miles to the next change, so keep your eyes peeled for a new report in a month or so.

jeff
 
I have the identical car (in wagon form), and GC also did splendidly in a UOA I have posted here.

However, due to Autozone's phasing out of GC, I will be moving on to Redline 5w30 instead...
 
Quote:


Nice to see another 9-5 UOA
cheers.gif


Highly recommend sticking to the 5k interval, for the reasons you cite.

One sample isn't enough to draw too many big conclusions, but if your next one on the 0W-30 also shows high-ish Fe, I'd consider going up to a xW-40. Current factory fill is 0W-40.



Second sample here: http://theoildrop.server101.com/forums/s...ge=0#Post845267

showed elevated Fe, Cu down a bit, but Pb was up a bit (not really worried about the Cu as fuel was 1.5%, and the Pb isn't high enough to worry me that much.)

Next change will be Rotella-T 5W/40 to "assist" the Auto-RX a bit, and then an oil-pan drop/pickup screen cleaning, and a steady diet of Lubromoly coll Synthese after that. Will post the Lubromoly UOA upon the second fill of that oil.
 
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