UOA for 2002 SAAB 9-5 AERO, 5000 miles on factory fill MOBIL 1 0W-40

[quadrun1]

High output turbo, 20 psi stock.

I changed the oil at the time with M1 0W-40 and the SAAB OE oil filter, which is a UK-made ACDelco part. I plan on switching to the ACDelco Ultraguard Gold UPF53 oil filter at the next oil change.

Comments?

Thanks,
Jason

 

[TooSlick]

Well if this is the Mobil 1, 0w-40, it no longer has any moly in it. (the 7 ppm could be a piston ring coating) The level of boron does look higher than I'm used to seeing, so perhaps this is being used in lieu of moly?

The other very noticable thing is that this oil has sheared significantly. I believe 57 SUS is well down in the 30wt range?

TS

 

[quadrun1]

Lots of sources tell me that SAAB is indeed using M1 0W-40 as the factory fill, but I'm wondering if they really are? It surprised me a bit that 0W-40 would wind up this thin, unless, of course, the turbo and engine break-in really sheared the oil that much? (I really did enjoy the turbo on the highway once I was past 1,000 miles

)

Also, I read on another BB that for this car, SAAB used something "very similar to M1 0W-40 but not exactly", whatever that means? Might the moly have been left out for break-in purposes?

The car arrived in the U.S. on 4/30/2002--maybe this be TriSyn instead of SS?

thanks,
Jason

 

[Patman]

quote:

---

Originally posted by TooSlick:
Well if this is the Mobil 1, 0w-40, it no longer has any moly in it. (the 7 ppm could be a piston ring coating) The level of boron does look higher than I'm used to seeing, so perhaps this is being used in lieu of moly?

The other very noticable thing is that this oil has sheared significantly. I believe 57 SUS is well down in the 30wt range?

TS

---

You're right, at 9.46cst, it's very close to being a 20wt! Yikes!

I have a strong suspicion this car not only didn't get Mobil 1 in it from the factory, it wasn't 0w40 either. Probably just some off brand 5w30 by the looks of it. Those numbers don't look like a typical Mobil 1 formula.

[ March 19, 2003, 03:30 PM: Message edited by: Patman ]

 

[vvk]

Sure does not look like 0W-40 to me. Maybe they switched to the new 0W-30 by the time your car was built? The new SAAB Synthetic at dealers is 0W-30. The one that has the new GM/Opel approval.

Your next report should look much better.

 

[quadrun1]

Or maybe it's the SAAB semi-synthetic 5W-30 (supposedly made by Mobil) which is provided by SAAB for this car's "free scheduled maintenance" every 10,000 (!) miles. I'm having a hard time finding other oil analyses with such a high boron level. Perhaps a VOA of SAAB semi-synth 5W-30 is in order...

 

[quadrun1]

Oh, and another thing, that SAAB semi-synth 5W-30 does NOT meet ACEA A3 spec! (And I think neither does their fully synthetic 0W-30)

Attached is a scan of a page from the '02 9-5 owner's manual. Their oil recommendations call for A3 spec and yet the oil at the dealer doesn't meet this spec! Strange, huh?

M1 0W-40 meets ACEA A3 and the new GM Long Life and SAAB/Opel specs so I'll stick with that..

 

[J]

quote:

---

Originally posted by quadrun1:
Oh, and another thing, that SAAB semi-synth 5W-30 does NOT meet ACEA A3 spec!

---

I knew it! I knew it! Those bastards, they gave
us (Jason, me and other Saab owners) substandard
oil so that they can claim compliance with CAFE!!

That semi-synthetic blend will turn your turbo engine into a sludge monster worthy of Toyota.

Just wait 'til you know who defends Saab 5w-30
blend again!!!

I wish we had these emoticons back you know
where

thanks

jae

[ March 19, 2003, 11:35 PM: Message edited by: J ]

 

[TooSlick]

This looks more like a generic ACEA, A5/B5 rated oil like Mobil 1, 5w-30. These would typically have a viscosity in the 9.5 to 10.5 centistoke range @ 100C.

Any ACEA A3/B3 rated oil is going to be at least 11.0 Cst, in order to meet the high temp/high shear requirement of 3.5 Cp.

I'd run the Mobil 1, 0w-40, the Amsoil Series 2000, 0w-30 or the Redline 10w-30 in this turbo engine .... These are all ACEA, A3/B4 quality oils ....

TooSlick

 

[Eiron]

quote:

---

Originally posted by vvk:
... Maybe they switched to the new 0W-30 by the time your car was built? ...

---

This sounds very likely to me. (It's what they did with the oil filters, retro-fitting from larger to smaller when engine clearances got reduced.) One of the comments on the Saab BB was that the factory wants to limit their fill to only one oil. You very well may have been one of the first to get it.

 

[quadrun1]

Thanks for all the comments, guys.

It should be interesting to see if I still manage to get 31+ mpg at 75 mph on long trips, with the new, thicker oil. I imagine so, since it's labeled "Energy Conserving"..

Jason

 

[turbochem]

And if not

, at least you can send away for an official Mobil 1 CD case!!

 

[quadrun1]

Took a road trip this weekend, and the gas mileage is just as good, actually better than before--34 mpg at 70-75 mph!

FWIW, EPA gas mileage estimates on this car are 22 city/31 highway.

Energy conserving oil indeed! Pretty amazing to me how they manage to do this with a 40 weight oil that meets MB 229.5, ACEA A3, BMW long life, and GM/SAAB/Opel long life specs..

Jason

 

[G-MAN]

It's pretty obvious based on this VOA that the oil here is not Mobil 1 0w40, but the SAAB 0w30 (made by Mobil). That being the case, there was hardly any loss in viscosity, and what little there was could be accounted for by normal production variance.

 

[quadrun1]

Yes I believe you're correct! Others who are considered to be usually "in the know" about SAABs insist that it was a 0W-40 but not Mobil 1, but it really looks more like a 30 weight...

 

[buster]

I agree, it's a 30wt. This is not M1 0w-40. The VOA gives it away. I wouldn't trust any dealer when it comes to oil.