Hi everyone,
I have an interesting issue with an uncommon vehicle.
I own a 2011 Saab 9-5 with the 2.0L Turbo 4-cylinder engine and a 6-speed manual transmission. It has the GM Ecotec LHU engine that GM has more recently used in the turbo versions of the Buick Regal and Verano. It is a flex fuel vehicle and I run E85. Currently 103,000 miles on the clock.
The vehicle was developed when Saab was changing hands between GM and Spyker and because of this, the oil recommendations were chaotic. Somehow my car came with a "Dexos 5w-30" oil filler lid. As a result, when the dealership saw this lid, they thought they should use the ACDelco Dexos1 5w-30 oil.
I questioned them but they assured me this was the correct oil. Less than 100 miles later, the Check Engine light came on and threw code P0014 indicating advanced exhaust camshaft timing.
In researching this, here's what I find:
1) The owner's manual specifies a "synthetic oil meeting GM4718M."
2) The next section, on viscosity, says the factory fill was 5w-30, but that 5w-40, 0w-30, and 0w-40 may also be used. What's weird about that is the GM4718M spec never even included any 5w-40 or 0w-40 oils.
3) I asked the two biggest Saab experts in my area. One says he uses Mobil 1 15w-50 in these engines and the other says he uses 5w-40. In either case, they agreed that they don't like 5w-30 for these cars. That's because of a rumor dating to Saab's older designs that the oil pump needed at least an xw-40 to get enough pressure.
I am afraid to use 15w-50, a grade so far from the manual's recommendation. I'm also afraid to use even Mobil 1 5w-40, which doesn't have the GM4718M spec. But there must have been some reason that Saab included the 5w-40 recommendation even though GM4718M didn't cover that grade.
Does anyone have any recommendations about this? Thanks very much for reading.
I have an interesting issue with an uncommon vehicle.
I own a 2011 Saab 9-5 with the 2.0L Turbo 4-cylinder engine and a 6-speed manual transmission. It has the GM Ecotec LHU engine that GM has more recently used in the turbo versions of the Buick Regal and Verano. It is a flex fuel vehicle and I run E85. Currently 103,000 miles on the clock.
The vehicle was developed when Saab was changing hands between GM and Spyker and because of this, the oil recommendations were chaotic. Somehow my car came with a "Dexos 5w-30" oil filler lid. As a result, when the dealership saw this lid, they thought they should use the ACDelco Dexos1 5w-30 oil.
I questioned them but they assured me this was the correct oil. Less than 100 miles later, the Check Engine light came on and threw code P0014 indicating advanced exhaust camshaft timing.
In researching this, here's what I find:
1) The owner's manual specifies a "synthetic oil meeting GM4718M."
2) The next section, on viscosity, says the factory fill was 5w-30, but that 5w-40, 0w-30, and 0w-40 may also be used. What's weird about that is the GM4718M spec never even included any 5w-40 or 0w-40 oils.
3) I asked the two biggest Saab experts in my area. One says he uses Mobil 1 15w-50 in these engines and the other says he uses 5w-40. In either case, they agreed that they don't like 5w-30 for these cars. That's because of a rumor dating to Saab's older designs that the oil pump needed at least an xw-40 to get enough pressure.
I am afraid to use 15w-50, a grade so far from the manual's recommendation. I'm also afraid to use even Mobil 1 5w-40, which doesn't have the GM4718M spec. But there must have been some reason that Saab included the 5w-40 recommendation even though GM4718M didn't cover that grade.
Does anyone have any recommendations about this? Thanks very much for reading.
