Quaker State HM 5w/30 2,822 Miles 97 Saturn SL1

[Ageles]

This is my first ever UOA on this vehicle. Did have a head gasket replaced a few miles ago. Vehicle running very well. Intend to do a short Quaker State HM 10/30W for a few months of summer and then switching the vehicle over to either PP 5w/30 or Mobil 1 5w/30 which I picked up on rebates thanks to people on this forum. Thanks for any input for this vehicle and UOA.

 

[ZZman]

That TBN is sad. Might be a 3,000-3500 oil.

The rest looks pretty normal.

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: ZZman
That TBN is sad. Might be a 3,000-3500 oil.

The rest looks pretty normal.


+1

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

With a TBN that low something isn't showing up in the analysis or there is lab error. Something is not right here.

This is a good time for a Terry Dyson reading...

 

[addyguy]

Suprised by the shearing - this oil starts at 12 cst.

TBN loss is discouraging, too. HM oils are usually pretty darn 'stout'....we've seen Maxlife do 6-7k miles, easy!

 

[Billy_D]

Originally Posted By: ToyotaNSaturn
With a TBN that low something isn't showing up in the analysis or there is lab error. Something is not right here.

This is a good time for a Terry Dyson reading...


Terry dyson reading is too expensive for a 1997 with 157k. He should stick to 3K OCI with dino or go 5k with PP or Mobil 1.

 

[rprx]

Zero make up oil, but how much did you drain? I'm wondering if possibly being down near 3 quarts in this 4 quart sump might have contributed to the low TBN and shear. Most older S series engines I've dealt with have oil consumption issues. I'm surprised you had a head gasket failure, usually on the 8 valve motors the head itself cracks. I've got an 02 SL1 now that I picked up for a song due to a cracked head. My 02 is now on the road and I've run about 6k miles on Syn Power and the oil level has hardly moved. I guess Saturn fixed their oil rings at some point. Since this S car does not appear to have any consumption issues, I think I'm going to run Syn Power again for 7.5K and have a UOA done, either that or SSO for 10-12K. In the past, all the S cars that I have owned or serviced used way to much oil to ever make an OA meaningful. Thanks for sharing your report.

 

[Ageles]

Originally Posted By: rprx
Zero make up oil, but how much did you drain?


I drained close to 3 1/2. This car was a very heavy user of oil. I was to the point that I was putting in at least 1/2 qt weekly on only about 200 miles usage. With replacing the head gasket, I ordered a preformed valve cover gasket and set it in place with RTV. Then after the oil usage has dropped significantly. I had ran OCI of near 5K and usually did add perhaps a quart in there for that time frame. But since having the work and was running an analysis on my other vehicle I changed this one a little early.

It does have me wondering if switching to synthetic how oil usage might change. One thing for sure though is I agree with a lot of the comments, this particular oil is not the best for this vehicle imho.

 

[Jaymus]

I never thought QS was a long lasting oil TBN wise. Seen it in EVERY OCI I've seen where a car ran QS. A good oil, but not the longest lasting. But it's super cheap, so you can't complain if you change in time everytime.