Help me decide on an oil and oil weight for my Saab!

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I just picked up a 1989 Saab 9000CD Turbo to temporarily replace my 86 BMW that I lost to a fire. It's not a brand new car, but I love this little car!
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Great on gas but the turbo keeps it moving. I am having one problem... Deciding on an oil and weight!
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I live in Southern California:
Summer - 60-105
Winter - 45-70

Here is some info about the car...
89 Saab 9000CD
4 1/2 quart capacity
175 turbocharged ponies
2.0L 4 Cyl.
111,000 miles.

I drive it kinda hard and average 24 MPG.
It's pretty hard on oil since it's a turbo 4 cyl that runs kind of hot.

I think it's got 10W-30 Castrol in it now.

I think I would like a thicker oil, but not too thick... I was thinking about this:
3 1/2 Quarts Mobil 1 10W-30 and 1 quart Mobil 15w-50 with a Bosch filter.

I think Saab recommended 10W-30 every 3,750 mi.

And what about an interval???
 
It would probably be easier to just use M1 5W-40. Then you'll end up with roughly the viscosity mixing 10W-30 and 15W-40 would give you, plus the oil is CI-4 rated and contains some esters!
Either that, or find yourself some GC.
 
Hey fellow Saaber!
I would use M1 0W-40 or Delvac 1 5W-40 year round even M1 15W-50 is not to thick since it is at the low end of W50 spectrum.
Even if the car had regular service I would suggest AtuRx before going to synth and in your climate zone Delvac 1300 15W-50 or Delo 15W-40 for both clean and rinse cycles would best choice before be going to synthetic.
Visit http://www.saabnet.com a great site with tons of info
 
Congrads on the car!
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The older SAABs respond well to slightly heavier weight oils. Definitely run full synthetic, unless you have severe seal issues.

Mobil 1 T&S 5W-40 would be a very good choice. Mobil 1 0W-40 would be OK, so would Mobil 1 15W-50.

Castrol Syntec 10W-40 would work well, so would GC 0W-30.

In short, any full-synthetic oil that has ACEA A3 rating. These engines last forever with proper maintenance.
 
My 88 9000T started (at 87,000 miles) with AMSOIL 5W-30. The shop put it in when I was thinking of picking it up. Since then, it has been running on AMSOIL Series 2000 0w-30. I change it yearly, which is about 10,000 miles (and am probably throwing away good oil).
 
"I was thinking about...a Bosch oil filter."

Something I noted is that the 54+ combined filters in the Mini-Mopar, Mercruiser, Honda NTPOG.ORG, and Overboost filter studies frequently referred to on this board, the Bosch #3312 (Honda and other applications) had, at 81 sq in, the LEAST media area of all 54+ filters. And yet they're not cheap, costing twice that of an AC, STP, or Purolator PP. Not much reason to choose a Bosch North American market oil filter in my opinion -- I'd look elsewhere. A PureOne or Wix/Napa Gold for the same price range would be a much better option.
 
1) I'd do an Auto-Rx cleaning of both the engine and transmission and 15W-40 oil during the cleaning.
2) I'd use European oil filters (German Bosch, Mann, Mahle).
3) After the cleaning I'd use Mobil 1 5W-40, or Schaeffer #700 15W-40, or 76 or Kendall 5W-40. Amsoil 5W-40 or 15W-40 would work well, but kind'a pricey.


Ken
 
Well, I ended up using 2 quarts Mobil 1 15W-50, and 2 1/2 quarts Mobil 1 10W-30. I changed the filter using a Bosch filter... It's all I had at the moment. The filter was a B!tch to get to!!!!
It was in the back of the engine WAY up there. The second you unscrew it, you get a lovely 10W-30 oil bath
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Anyway, It runs perfectly and seems much happier with this match. I might try some others in the future, but this will be in there for the next 5k miles.

Thanks for all the advice and help you have provided!

-Doug
 
The lowest viscocity that is rated A3/B3 like GC is ideal becuase it keep oil temps down compared to a xW-50, still gives the A3/B3 protection and will give better gas mileage which mean the engine is running more efficient. The more efficient and cooler an engine runs, the longer it will last. I would not recommend an xW-30 that is not A3/B3 rated, yet SAAB offer their 5w-30 A1/B1 semi-synthetic, so it all youe own call. I just switch from Mobil 1 0W-40 to GC this weekend because I now just drive 1.2 miles to the train station and back so I am looking for more start-up protection of the lighter xW-30 oil. I was doing a 70 mile round-trip high run to/from work before so wanted the 40 weight protection during the summer.
 
I've used Mobil 1 of various grades over the past 50k miles in my 97 900 SE turbo. 0W20, 0W40, 5W30, 10W30, 15W50 and 1 change of Valvoline Maxlife Full Synth. Always have used Pure1 or Mobil1 filters when availible. I haven't really seen much difference in any of the oils except I had a small mileage drop in the 15W50.

Also, I'll plug SaabCentral as another valuable resource. Lot's of people on the forums there and they are setup almost excactly like these.
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