oil recomendation for 99 Saturn

[lt1man]

History for last 3 oil changes, 3rd oil change dino neglected ran for a year, id say at least 6-10 k miles, next change was Mobil 1 5w30 and cheap filter, this was about 4-5k miles before being changed. Finally the current oil change Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5w30 for 7,500 miles approx it is being changed this weekend.

I tend to drive the car hard, I idle 30 minutes a day minimum on average, I drive 28 miles to and from work, on a normal day this is my engine hours:

1. Home to work: 28 miles 30-40 minutes 4 miles city with average speed of 40 mph a couple traffic lights, then 22 miles highway, then 2-3 miles city.
2. Lunch time, idle 30 minutes.
3. Work to work: About 13 miles, it takes me about 30 minutes to go 13 miles, I probably spend about 20 minutes in city traffic average speed 30 mph.
4. Work to home: 30 minutes/19 miles mostly highway, 4 miles city before arriving at home traffic is good.
On a normal day, about 2 hours of engine time.

I some times make occasional food trips, maybe once or twice a week, 15 minutes idle from work to McDonalds etc which is less then 1/4th a mile away.

I do some driving on the weekend too, I probably have about 240 hours on this oil. 2 quarts of make up oil were added during this time. K&N filter was used.

I was planning on using Mobil 1 Extended Performance 10w30 and a Mobil 1 filter on this weekends oil change.

 

[lt1man]

This is the 1.9 DOHC engine automatic 80,700 miles.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

Your Mobil 1 Extended Performance plan sounds like a winner to me!

 

[Drew99GT]

I'd go for .59 Chevron Supreme from Checker Auto if you can get it and buy mutual funds with the money you'll save over Mobil 1!!!

Why the idling 30 minutes a day for lunch??? A/C?

10w30 conventional of your choice would be the oil I'd run given the Florida climate.

 

[Mike242GT]

Drew:

Since the nearest Checker Auto store to Florida is in Hobbs, New Mexico, I don't think your suggestion is an option. The only place I see Chevron supreme locally is at Walmart, and it was in the $1.79/qt range last time I checked. They don't always stock it, either.

Yes, I'm sure he's sitting in his car running the A/C at lunch. While everyone else enjoys Autumn weather, we're still in the 90s here with high humidity.

 

[Nickdfresh]

Quote:

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I'd go for .59 Chevron Supreme from Checker Auto if you can get it and buy mutual funds with the money you'll save over Mobil 1!!!

Why the idling 30 minutes a day for lunch??? A/C?

10w30 conventional of your choice would be the oil I'd run given the Florida climate.

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Saturn engines tend to have issues with the piston rings, and the timing chain is lubed with the crankcase oil so you have to take that into consideration, especially in the summer heat. The Chevron would be okay with a strict adherence to a 3K or 4K OCI, but this engine tends to be a good candidate for synthetic. I'm using GC in mine, and have seen a steady decline in the oil usage after about 5000 miles, and intend to take it another 1000.

Many claim to get goo results with 5W-40 Rotella, GC, and the Mobil 1 the It1man is using.

 

[The_Jeff]

My saturns loved a 15w40 HDEO in summer. You could run it year round or if you have the cash, that rotella 5w40 nickfresh mentions.

Your consumption of 2 qts in 7500 miles is really good for a saturn s-car so you could also keep doing what you're doing with M1 in a 30 weight.

If you run AC all the time, your rad fan will run constantly, keeping temps down. Turn the AC off and the car warms up to around 226'F before the fan comes on... this thins a 40 weight out to where a 30 weight would be at thermostat temp of 195.

 

[OriginHacker21]

eljefino - I have an 04 sunfire (similar to saturn) - I've been wondering why when I have the AC on my engine never gets hot sitting in traffic as fan turns on all the time. When AC is off - temperature gets to 226+ and then the fan will turn on. Always wondered why that was. Thanks for the info! Hmm - so that can be hard on the oil - if that happens to often = change oil sooner.

 

[miked2]

I don't think you can go wrong with Mobil 1 Extended Performance 10w30 and a Mobil 1 filter. Saturns do tend to use oil, if you are only using a quart in 3500 miles or so your ring pack must be fairly clean. Why argue with success?
My daughters 99 SL2 has 102K & uses a quart every 1200 miles. Since I bought it with 70,000 miles, I didn't want to use Mobil 1 not being aware of the cars history. If I had bought it with 30K or so, knowing the history of Saturns I would probably do what you are doing. Maybe minus the Mobil 1 Filter & using a Wix.

 

[Nickdfresh]

Quote:

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My saturns loved a 15w40 HDEO in summer. You could run it year round or if you have the cash, that rotella 5w40 nickfresh mentions.

Your consumption of 2 qts in 7500 miles is really good for a saturn s-car so you could also keep doing what you're doing with M1 in a 30 weight.

If you run AC all the time, your rad fan will run constantly, keeping temps down. Turn the AC off and the car warms up to around 226'F before the fan comes on... this thins a 40 weight out to where a 30 weight would be at thermostat temp of 195.

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I won't be driving my Sat as much in a few weeks; but if I were using it for commutting, I was thinking of going to using Shell Rotella Syn from late fall to early spring, and then going to 15w40 Rotella for the warmer months. I've noticed that Shell has "reformulated" their Rotella 15w40 HDEO to meet the newer diesel specs, effectively making it more passenger car friendly (now-SM rated), and it's pour point is at -40C (the same as their "synthetic" 5W-40).

Cheers

 

[Nickdfresh]

Quote:

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I don't think you can go wrong with Mobil 1 Extended Performance 10w30 and a Mobil 1 filter. Saturns do tend to use oil, if you are only using a quart in 3500 miles or so your ring pack must be fairly clean. Why argue with success?
My daughters 99 SL2 has 102K & uses a quart every 1200 miles. Since I bought it with 70,000 miles, I didn't want to use Mobil 1 not being aware of the cars history. If I had bought it with 30K or so, knowing the history of Saturns I would probably do what you are doing. Maybe minus the Mobil 1 Filter & using a Wix.

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Well, you might be pleasantly surprised:

http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55258

Sometimes, using a synthetic like German Castrol 0w30 or Mobil 1 0W-40 may actually decrease usage over time. But I'm not sure I'd recommend this if she does a lot of long distance highway driving to school. I think Bill Murray had good success because he seemed to only change oil about twice a year, and his kid only drove/drives a <5000 mile OCI.

 

[BlazerLT]

Stick with what you are doing, nothing to change.

 

[kmrcstintn]

a good ConocoPhilips product (eg: brands they bottle...their own Conoco brand, Unocol 76, Motorcraft, Kendall, etc) which is cheaper than straight POA synthetic, but has good higher grade base oils for a dino; they use a hydrocracking process which allows for a cleaner and stronger base oil and they meet the criteria in the U.S. for a 'synthetic blend' status; try 4K OCI's and check your usage and maybe submit some used oil for analysis and see what the lab recommends; 5w30 or 10w30 would work forn for Florida along with a good midgrade filter

 

[lt1man]

I was considering Delvac 1300 15W40. When the car is cold the RPM's start off at 2,100 and drop from there, so I dont want a thick oil starting up during cool weather. Mobil 1 Extended Performance 10w30 it will be for this change and a Mobil filter. I only idle for the A/C, its a 4 banger so i dont worry about gas mileage. I dont know how much gas will be in the oil, I idle but I end up driving 30 minutes minimum interstate driving i would think it would burn up in that time frame. The UOA will tell the truth. I figured with the idling 7,500 miles is the same as 15,000 so its time to change.

I have Mobil 1 Extended Performance and a K&N filter in a 00 Taurus with the Duratec, last time i checked the oil i added 1/2 a quart in 6,000 miles, this is the first time for Synthetic on the car.

 

[lt1man]

I drive hard jack rabbit starts, over the speed limit, excessive idling, 2 quarts of oil used isnt that bad.

 

[miked2]

Nickdfresh, I have read Bill Murray's thread over at Saturn Fans. Very interesting. The reason I agreed with Mobil 1 10w30 is because Wolfman (the King of that website) swears by it & he certainly knows a lot more than me. Bill was using a variety of different oils for his test.
After I finish my 2 ARX treatments, I may go the Mobil 1 route.