saab sludge

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Apr 19, 2010
Messages
2
Location
Canada
I have recently purchased a 2002 saab 9-3 se. They are notorious for sludeging it has 130 000kms on it. I am wondering what the best way to check way to if it is indeed a problem I was planning on running an amsoil engine flush and then running amsoil synthetic. Any thoughts?
 
Pulling oil pan and taking a look is probably the best way. Checking under oil cap (if you can see any internals) is another way that can give you a hint if it is sludged up or not. Most importantly, what has been the previous oil change history? Have they been running a good synthetic? At what intervals?
 
Welcome! If you can take the valve cover off that will tell the tail about sludge. As for cleaning slude out I would scrape all you can get out. Draine the oil and refill with M1 10-30HM.
 
Last edited:
welcome2.gif
to BITOG!

If the engine doesn't have any serious apparent problems, the only way to check is to open the engine up. You may be able to shine a light into the oil fill hole and check; if that doesn't work, you'll have to pull the valvecover.

Either way, there's no need for the engine flush. If there is sludge, you'll want to remove it SLOWLY so you don't get chunks floating around getting stuck where they shouldn't. And of course, if there isn't sludge, there's nothing to worry about.
wink.gif


What's the spec oil? Isn't it Mobil 1 0w-40?
 
Unfortunately i cannot get the history and the oil cap is not ton the valvle cover. I have thought about dropping the oil pan but it is a pain in the [censored] as it requires the removal of the sub frame.
 
I would try running Pennzoil Platinum for a while. It gets rave reviews on this board, and cleans slowly, but effectively. It is readily available at Wally Mart for about 20 dollars for a 5 quart jug. 2 5K changes or so, should have that engine pretty clean, IMHO.

Dave
 
Originally Posted By: Edmund
Unfortunately i cannot get the history and the oil cap is not ton the valvle cover. I have thought about dropping the oil pan but it is a pain in the [censored] as it requires the removal of the sub frame.


Or you could get one of these and go exploring. A great tool (or toy, depending upon your perspective...).
 
Being the owner of a Saab, and having owned 4, just take the valve cover off. It is a simple job. You can tell if the car has been neglected or not. If there is signs of sludge you will have no other choice but to lower the oil pan and clean it out along with the pick up screen and hope that that will be enough.
 
There are a few things to do, first is hook up an oil pressure gauge and see what pressure you have when hot. If it is low, then the pickup screen is clogged. If your car is sludged, the best thing to do is do the oil pan modification, where a removable metal plate is put over the pickup tube so it can be cleaned without dropping the pan. The reason for this is the pickup screen is very fine and will clog easily once you start flushing the engine.

The other thing to do is put a heat shield over the catalytic converter, as it run beneath the oil pan.

Andrew's Saab calls it an accumulator oil pan.
 
I'd skip the engine flush and fill with Mobil1 0w40 and carefully watch the oil level and condition of the oil during the first OCI.

If it's terribly sludged you should be able to see some signs of that through the oil fill hole, unless it has one of those annoying baffles over the inside of it.
 
The sludge problem on the vintage Saab you own is due to inadequate crankcase ventilation. During certain operating conditions this results in breakdown of the oil and subsequent sludge formation where the hottest engine surfaces exist such as oil pan near catalytic converter.
Frequent oil changes will minimize the exposure of the oil to blow by contamination and breakdown. The nature of the sludge that causes engine failures on these engines is reported as hard particles ("coffee grounds") and is unlikely to be broken down by synthetic oil changes or other oil treatments. The particles wash down and collect at the fine mesh screen on the oil pick up tube and cause oil starvation.
If you want to be 100% sure you will not have the probem drop the pan and check the pick up screen. If significant clogging of the screen is noted, install the modified oil pan with clean out port and clean it when you change the oil. If only a small amount of debris is noted, install the improved cranckcase ventilation kit (about $55 for parts) and use good quality synthetic oil changed at 5000 mile intervals.
My 2001 model has seen mostly highway miles with a strict oil change regimine and has not had the problem. I have 140,000 miles and added the improved PCV kit at about 90,000 miles.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: hominid7
I'd skip the engine flush and fill with Mobil1 0w40 and carefully watch the oil level and condition of the oil during the first OCI.

If it's terribly sludged you should be able to see some signs of that through the oil fill hole, unless it has one of those annoying baffles over the inside of it.


There is no oil fill hole in the valve cover, it is just a large version of the dipstick tube, it goes straight into the oil pan.

Here is a pic. The yellow cap behind the valve cover is the dip stick/oil fill.

Saab005.jpg


Google Andrews saab and go to his page (Saabpros, IIRC) and seach for his NINES articles, he has done extensive work on tracking down causes and cures for the Saab engines oil issues.
 
That's too bad, i really like being able to see into the VC.

Thanks for the photo. Looks like the Valve Cover wouldn't be too terribly difficult to get off.
 
You could pull the valve cover.....under the excuse of replacing the valve cover gasket......should give you some indication of how clean things are overall.

I would also seriously look into the improvement in PCV system that was mentioned and do that if you can.
It is amazing at how much the PCV system pulls out of the crankcase.....
 
Originally Posted By: hominid7
That's too bad, i really like being able to see into the VC.

Thanks for the photo. Looks like the Valve Cover wouldn't be too terribly difficult to get off.

Yeah, me too. I despise not being able to get a glimpse into one's engine. While it may only be a few square inches, seeing something in there gives you at least a rough idea of what's going on.

Incidentally, Toyota really hosed themselves in this regard with the almost-retired xMZ series V-6 engines. Early versions were one of the two now-notorious "sludgemaker" engines for Toyota. The oil filler entered at the end of front bank, and with the baffle, afforded zero view of the engine internals. Making matters worse, Toyota covered the baffle with a layer of black foam-like material (probably for sound absorption) that made some paranoid owners think they were sludged up, even though their engines were actually spotless inside. Oh well, car makers shooting themselves in the foot seems to be nothing new anymore...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top