Castrol Tection Extra 15W40 and AutoRx in a 2001 Saab 9-5!

[BrianWC]

Whoa! Check this out. I went w/ oil medic b/c they are compiling data on the 9-5 for a saab mechanic who's trying to nail down trends in our cars. This was taken from a 2001 Saab 9-5 when it had approx. 67,541 miles. This is a turbocarged engine that is part of an extended warranty fix (if you have documented oil changes). It specs only synth since the "troubles" popped up but I figured I'd give this stuff a go. This was my second arx clean cycle. Lead is kinda high and can someone explain the viscosity for me? I'm HOPING this was some lead from prior episodes perhaps dislodged by arx???

Everyone bear with me, the page I am transcribing from is hard to read.

Wear Metals
Fe 14
Cr 0
Ni 0
Al 2
Cu 4
Pb 19
Sn 1
Cd 0
Ag 0
Ti 0

Contaminant Metals
Si 5
Na 4
K 0

Multi Source Metals
Mo 8
Sb 0
Mn 0
Li 0
B 37

Additive Metals
Mg 66
Ca 2392
Ba 0
P 931
Zn 976

Fuel% Vol .50
Soot% Vol .20
Water% Vol 0

Vis@ 100c CS 11.30
TBN 6.10

I-R Oxida 10.0
I-R Nitra 10.0

 

[Pablo]

What is starting vis? How long was the oil in? How much autorx?

Seems thin for a 40.

 

[BrianWC]

Here, by the way, is a link to the pdf product data sheet on Tection Extra. The original vis is 15.0@100c cSt. The original TBN is 12. This was a 2000 mile interval, btw. I know arx says 1,500 but I couldn't get to it that quick. I put on 500 in a week's commuting.

http://www.castrol.com/liveassets/b...STAGING/local_assets/downloads/0-999/1851.pdf

 

[BrianWC]

This was w/ approx 10 ounces or arx., second treatment. Yes, vis does seem low for a 40 weight, especially one that claims to maintain viscosity longer than it's rival dino diesel oils.

 

[BrianWC]

So, am I going to spin a bearing one of these days?

 

[BrianWC]

I should point out, my 2k miles was probably about 95-98% highway!!!!

 

[Dave H]

Brian,
For the lead, have you used any gas additives that may contain a lead substitute? I've even read that some of the fuel injector cleaners contain a "safe" form of lead (it has a long chemical name), and can contribute to elevated levels in a UOA. It may have been a factor in 2 UOA's I had with elevated lead.
Interesting viscosity drop. I'm looking around for a quality 10w or 15w40 for my vehicles. I have liked Castrol products, but this viscosity drop seems odd. I can only imagine the turbo is extremely hard on an oil (shearing loads), or Castrol Tection Extra just isn't one of Castrol's finest.
I see you're in S'port. I worked for the PD there years ago. I currently live 30 miles east of you off I-20. I'm getting my vehicles ready for this summer's heat by doing an AutoRX in both, and then "upgrading" the oil to a 40 weight. I think we're going to have a worse one than last years 4 straight weeks of 100+.

Dave

 

[BrianWC]

Hi Dave, yeah, I think we've talked before! I work in Homer and Minden!

The only gas additives I've used are Chemtool and MMO. Neither has that, I don't believe. Dave, the Saab 9-5 is a killer on oil. Saab now only recommends synth for 5k OCI's max. I am plesantly surprised this stuff held up as well as it did, to tell the truth. Plus, for $5 a gallon, I came out okay. I also failed to point out I had a 5W30 Supertech dino in here for the previous arx rinse phase, so that may have altered things a tad.

Yes, it's going to be a hot one here this summer, no doubt! I have tons of 40 weight and even some 20W50 at the ready!

 

[Brons2]

Search the forum for Saab UOA's, a lot of them put out high lead but run a long time anyways.

I would go easy on the chemtool and the MMO unless you have some specific operational problem you are trying to solve.

The viscosity of the oil is really low! Have you thought about Delo 400 or Delvac 1300, both in a 15w40?

 

[bulwnkl]

That's a pretty big-looking viscosity drop! I wonder where it came from(?) It isn't the turbo; there's low shear in a turbo because, despite the high rpm, there's (relatively) no load. I'm amazed. Do you see this kind of shearing with the 2-liter SAAB? I never did in my 9-3, but then I used RedLine or other synthetic 10W30 exclusively.

 

[BrianWC]

Well, like I said, remember I had a 5W30 in there before the 15W40. So, perhaps the leftovers thinned things a little. The B205 engine has been problematic for Saab. A last minute change in the PCV system for OBDII compliance kinda fudged things up. They've been through several revisions trying to work the kinks out. They offer 8 year warranties now if you can show you've always changed the oil according to the manual's specs. I never ran an analysis in my 2.0 liter 1997 900 turbo, but it was much easier on oil. I ran it to 191,000 miles and would still be driving it if it hadn't been wrecked! As far as these things putting out lead, everyone that has done this oil medic analysis so far has had lower lead than me. But who knows, surely I'll be okay.

 

[JohnBrowning]

Do not use any fuel additive next time except for Redline Si-1 or Chevron Techron etc..... We know that amine based fuel cleaners will not raise wear rates but some solvent based products like B12 can in some vechiles! I am also wounder what warranty work has been done to this car and what the previous OCI and products were? How do you drive the car etc....

P.S. The lead could be previous wear that has been traped in varnish or sludge or it could be fresh. That amount of lead though is high for such a short OCI and the other metals look ok.

 

[BrianWC]

I don't even think the Chemtool or MMO I've used was in the OCI, to tell the truth. I did a flush when I first got the car and on the OC before the one where I added this oil.

I have no doubt the previous OCI's were around 10k as it seems from the warrent service record that the car always had something done to it around the 10k mark.

Saab spec'd 10k for these cars and made a BIG blunder. They are tossing engines left and right. I know that the car was victim to the excessive oil getting thrown back into the TB by way of the PCV b/c the cat was replaced about 35k miles. This is common on 9-5's suffering from screwy PCV's and infrequent OCIs.

I share optimistically your opinion that the lead could be previous wear loosened by the frequent OC's and arx!

My driving style is very subdued. I do a 100 mile commute each day in addition to picking up the kiddies from school. Saabs have an excellent mpg meter and sorta like Prius owners, I try to see how much I can squeeze out. I go between 70-75 mph on the interstate portion of my trip out of necessity (fear of being run down by the 80+ mph traffic) and 60 mph on the remaining 2 lane portion of my commute. About as spirited as I get is the freeway on ramps and either way, my car is warm by the time I get to them.

I would also think that given my driving habits and the fact that my fuel dilution is low, not much of the 8 ounces of chemtool I've put into the gas once or twice in 5 months have stayed there very long. I'm willing to admit when I'm wrong, but I wouldn't think the components of chemtool in small amounts would be particularly harmful, given two of them are already in gasoline in various amounts (hexane and toluene). Acetone and methanol are also in there. Now, the methanol could affect the rubber bits if it were in higher concentrations, but....

 

[Brons2]

Fuel additives can cause bearing wear because they are in the gas that gets diluted into the oil, and then go to work cleaning the lead off the bearings. Don't use them more than once per OCI. IMHO, of course.

 

[BrianWC]

Right, I know...But what I said was I have used them only rarely. I go through about 1.5 tanks per week and have changed my oil at least 5 or six times since the beginning of November since I bought this car! Plus, like I said, I have low fuel dilution is my oil.