New SAAB 9-3 Combi

[passport]

I just bought a new SAAB 9-3 combi w/the 2.0 turbo engine.
The engine compartment has a Mobil 1 sticker near the radiator w/another sticker nearby claiming something about 'SAAB oil'. If the original fill is Mobil 1 should I continue to use that or may I go to Penn PP or the german Castrol? All the oil changes till 36K miles are free so I might just go w/whatever the dealer uses. The oil filter is the messy, replace only the element type (haven't seen one of those since my jag xke). I can't even find the ****ed thing.

Should I change now @2K miles or wait until the 7.5K recommended OCI. BTW this car has an oil condition monitor which informs the driver about the percentage of use of the oil. Does anybody know what that is telling me? The last check said that the oil was 4% used or something like that.

 

[Finklejag]

Welcome

I had a 03 9-3. You will probably only get two free oil changes from the dealer. You can only bring it in when the OLM says. That will be roughly every 15K. If you are leasing the car. I wouldn't worry about extra oil changes. If you bought it, I would do a change every 7.5K.

There is a member on here named cosmicflash. Has has close to 100K on his 9-3. He only changes the oil when the OLM tells him too. He has shown great UOA's on his car. It will be up to you what makes you fill warm and fuzzy about oil change times.

Don't get to caught up on the Mobil 1 stickers. The thing it tells you is that Mobil paid Saab to have its oil as the recommend spec oil. Nothing more, nothing less. There are a few other oils that meet the GM-LL spec. But Mobil 1 0W-40 is the easiest to get a hold of. Every Saab dealer using Mobil 1 0W-40 for their 9-3 services. They use to use Saab Turbo oil 0W-30, but it got to much to import it into the US.

The filter is über easy to replace. It is located on the front right side of the engine. You just need a 32mm socket to remove the cover. Then you can just pull it right out.

 

[BrianWC]

Nice to see another SAAB owner! Go with the OLM but use good oil!

 

[Titan]

The last Saab I owned, a 9-2X, which is really a Subaru, had the "free" services, too. I was never so glad as when I quit having those "free" services done, because they were SO POORLY DONE! They overfilled the crankcase twice, used the wrong oil once (which I made them replace), tried to leave the oil filter on the first time because they couldn't find the right one on the shelf (I stood in the parts area while the gopher came in to get the filter and listened to the conversation...and told them they better find the right filter and change it like it's supposed to be changed), got a lug-wrench stuck in a wheel...which severely scratched it (they said they'd replace it, and never did), never could stop the clutch pedal from squeaking (which I did with one shot of lithium grease), didn't know how to change the cabin filter, over-tightened the drain plug (they didn't strip it, but, there is no sense to crank down on it with a long-handled wrench, the crush washer makes it very easy to seal with appropriate torque), and generally took them 2.5-3 hours to do the simple tasks. This was a Saab/Cadillac dealer, the only one in Augusta, GA. I highly recommend watching them work on your car if you are taking it there. I've owned Saabs in the past that had very good techs working on my car, make sure which kind of people your dealership has working for them...no matter if you have a Saab or whatever.

As for your questions, use the OLM, change the oil when you have 25% life left, if you plan on keeping the car 150,000+ miles, in which case I'd recommend changing out your oil now and resetting your OLM. If you aren't going to keep your car that long, you're just wasting money, you won't have an oil-related incident relating to excess wear due to old oil.

That sure looks like a well-designed car, BTW!

 

[brianl703]

The only two GM-LL spec oils that I know that are locally available here are:

Mobil 1 0W40 (Wal-Mart)
German Castrol 0W30 (Autozone)


As far as resetting the OLM:

1)You do not get the option to do that till the oil life reaches 0% or close to it

2)You wouldn't want to anyway since the dealer won't change the oil for free unless the OLM says it's required.

I changed the oil on my 2006 Saab 93 at 2600 miles, with the OLM reading 83% oil life remaining, when it reaches zero (which should happen a lot faster--those 2600 miles were mostly highway driving), I will have the dealer change it for free.

After that I will simply change the oil myself at about 50% OLM and the dealer will do it at 0% for free.

 

[DrKatz]

Hi All,

While we are talking about the Combi, I recently took delivery of a new 2006 Saab 9-3 Aero Combi. I have slightly more than 500 miles and wanted to take a look at the oil level since it might go down in the break in period. When I looked at the dip stick the oil level is fine but is green in color. I always that that SAABs came with Mobil 1 0W-40 as the OEM factory fill. Should I be concerned about the oil color since none of the Mobil1s I've used are green in color. Just a guess but should I be concerned about head-gasket leakage. BTW I have a 6 sp. manual.

TIA

 

[Finklejag]

The factory fill for the 03's was Elf. They might still be using it for factory fills on the 9-3.

 

[DrKatz]

Thanks Finklejag. If Elf is the factory fill then do you think it will be green in color and when you had your SAAB was your OEM oil the same color? Also, have you heard of the 9-3s using GC as the factory fill. Because that's what it looks like and I know that GC meets the specs for GM-A-LL025.

 

[JHZR2]

Based upon my research and UOA, I think my early 04 9-3 used elf excellium as the OE fill.

M1 0w-40 is a fine oil for an engine like this that is designed with extended UOA in mind. That and GC are the only reasonably available oils that meet the LL spec. A3-spec oil in the correct viscosity is an acceptable substitute (in a pinch).

I might consider amsoil long drain oils (in A3 spec flavors) as a good choice too.

I found mine was ever so slightly overfilled from the factory... never used a drop in the first or any subsequent OCI.

Mine needs a wash... got to keep up with those excellent but dusty brake pads!

JMH

 

[DrKatz]

Nice car JHZR2. All it needs is a wash and a wax but looks like keeping those wheels clean is a like a full time job. After 500 or so miles my wheels are coated with so much dust and they are not silver any more but more like a gun metal color. I guess I don't have to invest in after market wheels. My 5 spoke wheels should be much easier to clean though. I love Steel Grey but because of end of the year dwindling inventory I had to settle for Silver on my 2006.

I looked at the Oil Monitor after 500 miles and it showed like 94% left. According to the owners manual the 1st OCI is at 10K miles. I know the OCI was 15K miles for the 03-04 models but SAAB reduced the OCI in the later models. Hopefully, I get at least 3 free OCIs from the dealer. As long as XOM doesn't change the formulation for 0W-40 I will stick to it or shift to GC. I looked at the CosmicFlash UOAs and they are very good for a 15K OCI. I believe I shouldn't have any problem with 10K OCI with a 6 quart sump. I went to 10K OCIs on my Mazda for the past 3 years and am yet to have a problem.