Recommended Oil for a Saab

[Volvoman]

Hi Everyone,
Can any one advise; I,m after the 'best' oil for my wifes saab 9-5 2-0 ltr ( its a turbo model for those who may not know). She does about 6k miles per year almost exclusively on short trips of less than 4 miles( with the occasional long trip chucked in for good measure). We live just outside London , UK; so climate isn't too hot or too cold & not dusty. The car has done 73 k miles, & is now on Mobil 1 0W-40; not sure how this oil rates ( seems well liked here)but since first filling when we bought the car @ 70k miles the engine seems noisier than when we bought it ( were told she always had mobil 1 0w30 then onto 0W-40 although thats not gauranteed information !! ( or maybe its just me being paranoid).
Any advise gratefully received
Thanks in advance
Dave

 

[BrianWC]

Mobil 1 0W40 or a similar ACEA A3/A4 rated 30 or 40 weight synthetic. Changed no more than 5k miles. My immediate advice is to drop the sump and inspect the pickup screen.

PS try saabcentral's forums for tons of info compiled on the subject of the saab sludge problem.

 

[wpwren]

I have the same car in my family, it's my son's car actually that we got him to get him through college. We got it at 41K and now it has 74K but we switched to Mobil 1 5w30 and have been running it ever since with a 3K OCI. I have a 97 Volvo 854R that's used the same oil since new as well as a 94 855T same oil. All turbo cars if the turbo was your concern regarding oil.

 

[Volvoman]

BrianWC,
Thanks for your response;
I did the sump drop shortly after I got the car last April ( after reading about sludge problems on various forums); was relieved when I dropped it as it was pretty clean except for some very minor debris on the screen so dont think theres any sludge issues.
Was hoping that a change of oil 'make' might be able to improve matters?

 

[Volvoman]

Hi WPwren
I was wondering if there was a better selection of oil other than what I am currently using ( Mobil 0W-40)for this type of engine with the usage it gets; also it 'seems' there is some noise developing (nothing specific.....just more general noise...perhaps timing chain but not at all 'bad') although seems more pronounced if the car has had a long run.
Was hoping an alternative grade , or make, of oil might quieten things down a bit?

 

[wpwren]

What sort of noises are you getting that you think a change of oil might quiet down?? I'm just wondering. Have you tried running an ARX cycle to see what results that might get you. I had very good luck with it in the 94, the engine is much quieter and smoother now with an increase in gas mileage as well. I'd be interested in what you might be hearing if you can pin it down. My son's car is still pretty quiet under the hood but then again I haven't listened to it running today

 

[Volvoman]

Its hard to pin the 'noise' it down to anyone thing definately; I,m probably being a bit paranoid ; it really struck me when we got home last night after driving to a safari park; then driving around the park & home so the car had the engine running for approx 6 hours but not a huge amount of milage, guess 100 or so; got out of the car & walked around the front with the engine on & things definatley considerably noisier than usual ( but no knocking or definate rattling ..its hard to describe so sorry for all the waffle).
I had read on these boards that some folk seem to think that the Mobil 'makes' for noisier engines than 'other ' oils........Dont know if this is the case but thought this might be playing a part. The car recently had its MOT test( we have that in UK & car is not roadworthy if it does not pass ) & it sailed passed the emissions analyser like a 'new' car, so I dont think ( fingers crossed ) there is anything 'wrong' as such ( well I hope not ), hence my initial querie about most suitable oil for this car.
Perhaps its just the noise 'my' engine makes & I'll have to live with it!
What is an ARX cycle ?

 

[wpwren]

Understood on your drive scenario in conjunction with the noise level. If the car's making noticeable noise under the hood that you can't pinpoint easiy then maybe a screwdriver or stethoscope might help. I've had my share of under hood noises that come and go and sometimes stay until repair time so I sympathize with you. See if the noise(s) persists and then go after it if it does. I haven't noticed any change in noise level with the cars that see the M1. The 97 has 68K miles of just M1 and you can't tell it's running sometimes so I don't know. I'm sure however that there are some varied experiences with it. http://www.auto-rx.com/index.html I thought maybe you might have known or heard about it. I'm into the maintenance program with the product now for all my cars,five in all. It did a nice job on the Saab to clean it up and make it run nice and smooth, it might be worth a look for you.

 

[BrianWC]

Nope, stay with Mobil 1 0W40 in a 9-5. You can run 5W30 but don't stretch it. You can try Castrol Syntec 0W30 as well. My 9-5 is noisy as well but no more noisy than my 900 was. Now, you may start to experience timing chain stretching/failure but if things were clean otherwise...

As for arx, it did clean up things a little for me but not a whole lot. I'd say just keep up the 0W40 if that's the extint of your issues.

 

[Primus]

Quote:

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the car had the engine running for approx 6 hours but not a huge amount of milage, guess 100 or so; got out of the car & walked around the front with the engine on & things definatley considerably noisier than usual ( but no knocking or definate rattling ..its hard to describe so sorry for all the waffle).

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Without openning the engine compartment it's quite difficult to define where the noise comes from. It could be belts too. As for the engine noise, to find a remedy you need to define what's the type of noise. Causes may be quite contrary: oil thinning due to a dilution or oil thickenning due to ageing (oxidation). I aslo noticed that gas quality has a big impact on how noisy engine is working, especially under a charge.