02 Saturn, Valvo NexGen 5W30, 6k on oil, 65k veh.

[p1zippie]

Mother in laws 2002 Saturn SL1 w/ 65k on the engine. 6k on Valvoline NexGen 5W30, Purolator filter. Doesn't burn any oil. I usually do 5k oil changes.
From Blackstone:
Universal averages show typical wear levels for this type of engine after about 4,000 miles on the oil.
Most of the metals are right in line with universal averages. Iron is perhaps a bit high, even for 6,000 miles on
the oil, but it's not really enough to be concerned about the steel parts like cylinders and rotating shafts. We'll
see how it looks next time. The oil itself is in fine shape. The viscosity is on the mark for 5W/30 and no fuel or
coolant was found. The TBN read 1.3, showing a little active additive. Try 8,000 miles on the next oil and
check back.
Alum 5
Chrom 1
Iron 32
Copper 5
Lead 0
Tin 3
Moly 106
Nickel 0
Mangan 1
Silver 0
Titan 0
Potass 7
Boron 13
Silicon 15
Sodium 247
Calcium 2028
Magnesium 9
Phosphor 613
Zinc 745
Barium 0

SUS Vis 56.2
cSt Visc 9.13
Flashpoint 390
Fuel .0
Antifrz 0
Water 0
Insolub. .2
TBN 1.3

 

[mattwithcats]

Saturn S series cars are known to have a flaw in the oil drain back groove on the pistons.

The groove clogs, resulting in piston ring wear and oil burning.

Either 3K on Dino, or 7500 / OLM on full synthetic...

Which filter, short (10241) or long (20195)?
Which kind of Purolator, white, yellow, or blue?

 

[jhskier25]

Originally Posted By: mattwithcats
Saturn S series cars are known to have a flaw in the oil drain back groove on the pistons.

The groove clogs, resulting in piston ring wear and oil burning.

Either 3K on Dino, or 7500 / OLM on full synthetic...

Which filter, short (10241) or long (20195)?
Which kind of Purolator, white, yellow, or blue?

Is this the engine that DNewton has written extensibly about?

 

[handyman]

I have a 2001 Saturn L 100. I believe this car runs hot and is very hard on the oil. I would not do more that 3k on conventional oil or 5k on synthetic oil. It now has 160k on the odometer.

 

[p1zippie]

Purolator classic-white-short. I usually run a semi-syn for 5k. She runs it both short trips, and long highway runs. This run was longer-way too cold out to attempt an oc.

 

[Turk]

Whoa, that's WAY more Iron than my 2000 Saturn at 56k miles.

I had 6ppm of Iron.

Here is a link to a lot of S-Series UOA's so you can compare.....

http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=186241

 

[sirgerman]

I use 15/40w on my Saturn , it has 175000 miles , and I change the filter every 5000 miles and at 10000 change the oil and filter , all this because of the oil consumption , you should try 15/40w diesel oil

 

[mwball0]

Originally Posted By: mattwithcats
Saturn S series cars are known to have a flaw in the oil drain back groove on the pistons.

The groove clogs, resulting in piston ring wear and oil burning.

Either 3K on Dino, or 7500 / OLM on full synthetic...

Which filter, short (10241) or long (20195)?
Which kind of Purolator, white, yellow, or blue?


You guys might think I'm crazy but I can tell you how to fix this with no mechanical work. I work at a community collage where we teach ASE mechanics, my daughter also owned a 2000 SL that consumed oil about 1qt every 3-4 weeks. I talked to our instructor and he told me about this problem with the engines and to add about 1/2qt automatic transmission fluid to the oil and drive it around for a few days then change the oil. We done that and then started using Pennzoil High Mileage. WOW! We immediately saw a drastic reduction in the oil consumption and within a the first following oil change the car used practically no oil, in fact, if we went for a 3k change interval it would only be about a quart low at the end.He said that T-Fluid would clean up the pistons and rings in fast order, he was right.

Now, I know this not recommended by auto manufacturers and "I AM NOT" a mechanic myself, however, I can tell you that it worked and so far as we could tell done no harm to the engine.....

[TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK]

 

[sirgerman]

Originally Posted By: mwball0
Originally Posted By: mattwithcats
Saturn S series cars are known to have a flaw in the oil drain back groove on the pistons.

The groove clogs, resulting in piston ring wear and oil burning.

Either 3K on Dino, or 7500 / OLM on full synthetic...

Which filter, short (10241) or long (20195)?
Which kind of Purolator, white, yellow, or blue?


You guys might think I'm crazy but I can tell you how to fix this with no mechanical work. I work at a community collage where we teach ASE mechanics, my daughter also owned a 2000 SL that consumed oil about 1qt every 3-4 weeks. I talked to our instructor and he told me about this problem with the engines and to add about 1/2qt automatic transmission fluid to the oil and drive it around for a few days then change the oil. We done that and then started using Pennzoil High Mileage. WOW! We immediately saw a drastic reduction in the oil consumption and within a the first following oil change the car used practically no oil, in fact, if we went for a 3k change interval it would only be about a quart low at the end.He said that T-Fluid would clean up the pistons and rings in fast order, he was right.

Now, I know this not recommended by auto manufacturers and "I AM NOT" a mechanic myself, however, I can tell you that it worked and so far as we could tell done no harm to the engine.....

[TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK]


that is a myth , everyone try that and it does not work , even the piston soak does not work either

 

[mattwithcats]

What may work to slow / stop oil burning / groove clogging
is using Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel or Rotella T6 5W-40...

Run only 250-500 miles, change oil and filter...

Lots of detergents in those oils...

 

[mwball0]

Originally Posted By: sirgerman
Originally Posted By: mwball0
Originally Posted By: mattwithcats
Saturn S series cars are known to have a flaw in the oil drain back groove on the pistons.

The groove clogs, resulting in piston ring wear and oil burning.

Either 3K on Dino, or 7500 / OLM on full synthetic...

Which filter, short (10241) or long (20195)?
Which kind of Purolator, white, yellow, or blue?


You guys might think I'm crazy but I can tell you how to fix this with no mechanical work. I work at a community collage where we teach ASE mechanics, my daughter also owned a 2000 SL that consumed oil about 1qt every 3-4 weeks. I talked to our instructor and he told me about this problem with the engines and to add about 1/2qt automatic transmission fluid to the oil and drive it around for a few days then change the oil. We done that and then started using Pennzoil High Mileage. WOW! We immediately saw a drastic reduction in the oil consumption and within a the first following oil change the car used practically no oil, in fact, if we went for a 3k change interval it would only be about a quart low at the end.He said that T-Fluid would clean up the pistons and rings in fast order, he was right.

Now, I know this not recommended by auto manufacturers and "I AM NOT" a mechanic myself, however, I can tell you that it worked and so far as we could tell done no harm to the engine.....

[TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK]


that is a myth , everyone try that and it does not work , even the piston soak does not work either


Got no reason to lie here man! Just telling you it worked for me.....

 

[ThirdeYe]

I wonder if it had anything to do with using the high mileage oil? I know it helps curb consumption/leaks on some cars.

 

[hholbein]

Originally Posted By: mattwithcats
What may work to slow / stop oil burning / groove clogging
is using Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel or Rotella T6 5W-40...

Run only 250-500 miles, change oil and filter...

Lots of detergents in those oils...



I've run Mobil 1 5W-30 EP several times, but I have had the best luck cutting oil consumption in my Saturn S-series with Rotella T6 5W-40. Oil consumption is ~1 qt in 2K miles, which is much better than it used to be, about 1 qt in 1100 to 1300 miles. I use the larger Purolator PureOne Gold filter (20195) given how dirty these engines are and how much crud the T-6 picks up and holds in suspension. And given the PIA location of the oil filter on this engine (requires jacking and removing a wheel and inner fender shield), I use synthetics to run with an OCI of 7500 to 8k miles.

My winter weather is mild, though. Rarely below 0C. If I lived in Minnesota, I'd probably just run 5W-30 M1 EP or even 0W-30.