Oil for Saturn V6

[wolfc70]

This is for the 3.0l GM/Saturn/Opel/Cadillac/Saab V6. The previous owner had all maintenance done at the dealer, so the car has full papers and all oil changes in the 3-4k range. The car has 50k on it and so far seems not to use any oil. The manual says to use 5-30. I just saw PP on sale at Advanced Auto Parts for $3.98 per quart so I was considering that. What have others used in the past? I tried a search and came up empty.
Thanks!

 

[GMFan]

Assuming you have an oil life monitor I would go by that.

If you'd rather not follow that, I'd go 5k on conventional.

If you are going to use PP, I'd run it at least 8k miles. If you're not comfortable with that, stick with the conventional. Saves you money.

 

[wolfc70]

I am not going to trust the olm. My mom has a 2000 LS2 with the 2.2l ecotec and following the olm has produced some less than stellar UOA results. Wear metals are always high, even with synthetic. Although now that I got the timing chain recall notice, I think that excessive timing chain wear may have been tainting the results. When I pulled the valve cover to on her car, there was lots of varnish and deposits in the corners of the head. Her car was purchased new and had the dealer do oil changes (when the olm requested it) until 30k miles. I then switched over to M1 5-30. Last year I switched to Amsoil XL 5-30. Now at 65K it has noticeable timing chain noise.

My previous car an 1998 Nissan Altima I ran what ever syn I could find on sale, and switched to GC at 100k. I got 176K out of it and UOA were fine.

I have not found any uoa on the GM DOHC 3.0L v6, so I was kind of wondering what others had experienced. The Saturn dealer told me to ignore the olm and do 3-4k oil changes. He said the V6 was hard on oil as the oil can run hot, even with an oil cooler. So I was hoping he was blowing smoke so I can do a longer OCI with a good syn oil.

 

[Chris71]

You can buy a five-quart jug of PP at Wal Mart for $20. Great oil!

 

[ThirdeYe]

Off-topic, I used to have a '98 Altima and I loved that car, wasn't it great? I still miss that car, and sometimes regret getting rid of it. Sorry, can't help with the Opel/Saturn V6, I don't know much about it other than it seemed kind of buzzy and noisy when I test drove one before.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: ThirdeYe
Off-topic, I used to have a '98 Altima and I loved that car, wasn't it great? I still miss that car, and sometimes regret getting rid of it. Sorry, can't help with the Opel/Saturn V6, I don't know much about it other than it seemed kind of buzzy and noisy when I test drove one before.


My friend Jennifer has a 98 Altima 4 cyl. It`s nearing 300k and she drives that thing like she`s Speedracer or something! Those are some seriously tough cars!

 

[ThirdeYe]

Yeah, I'll admit I wasn't easy on that car. I knew nothing about cars back when I had it and I would drive that thing like it was a racecar, redlining it many times and with mostly short trips. Held up like a champ and I sold it when it had 128k, running perfectly. I always changed the oil at 3k regardless of time, sometimes taking up to 9 months. Looking back at things, I wish I would've taken better care of it and kept it, but hey, live and learn!

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: ThirdeYe
Yeah, I'll admit I wasn't easy on that car. I knew nothing about cars back when I had it and I would drive that thing like it was a racecar, redlining it many times and with mostly short trips. Held up like a champ and I sold it when it had 128k, running perfectly. I always changed the oil at 3k regardless of time, sometimes taking up to 9 months. Looking back at things, I wish I would've taken better care of it and kept it, but hey, live and learn!


Kind`ve reminds me of the 280Z I had when I was young. I pounded the living heck out of that car. It saw redline on a regular basis. Man I`d hit wot in every gear reaching the gear`s absolute top speed,speedshift at redline all the way into 4th (it was a 4 speed manual tranny) and ran it at top speed almost every day. The good ole Castrol 20W50 I always put in that car took a helluva beating and it never used or leaked a bit! And that Tremec manual tranny never complained how bad I pounded it.

 

[ThirdeYe]

Someday I'd love to get one of those old Datsuns, be it a 240 or 280 in decent condition and keep it as a weekend cruiser.

 

[wolfc70]

Originally Posted By: ThirdeYe
Off-topic, I used to have a '98 Altima and I loved that car, wasn't it great? I still miss that car, and sometimes regret getting rid of it. Sorry, can't help with the Opel/Saturn V6, I don't know much about it other than it seemed kind of buzzy and noisy when I test drove one before.


I loved my Altima. Best car I ever owned. It was a white SE with gray aluminum wheels, gray interior and had the excellent white gauges, Bose stereo and power everything. That car was excellent, but 10 years of living in the rust belt had started to take its toll. Third gear was getting recalcitrant also, harder and harder not to grind it and I never really never stuck much money into that car, so I did not want to start. My mechanic made an offer I could not refuse, so I took the cash. It has been six months since I sold it, I still miss that car every day.

 

[mpvue]

Originally Posted By: wolfc70
I am not going to trust the olm. My mom has a 2000 LS2 with the 2.2l ecotec and following the olm has produced some less than stellar UOA results. Wear metals are always high, even with synthetic. Although now that I got the timing chain recall notice, I think that excessive timing chain wear may have been tainting the results. When I pulled the valve cover to on her car, there was lots of varnish and deposits in the corners of the head. Her car was purchased new and had the dealer do oil changes (when the olm requested it) until 30k miles. I then switched over to M1 5-30. Last year I switched to Amsoil XL 5-30. Now at 65K it has noticeable timing chain noise.

My previous car an 1998 Nissan Altima I ran what ever syn I could find on sale, and switched to GC at 100k. I got 176K out of it and UOA were fine.

I have not found any uoa on the GM DOHC 3.0L v6, so I was kind of wondering what others had experienced. The Saturn dealer told me to ignore the olm and do 3-4k oil changes. He said the V6 was hard on oil as the oil can run hot, even with an oil cooler. So I was hoping he was blowing smoke so I can do a longer OCI with a good syn oil.

back on topic, the 3.0 saturn is the same as the cadillac catera engine, and older saab9-5 I believe. on saturnfans.com I don't recall reading anything about this engine being an oil problem, 'cept for people not installing the filter correctly.
as for the ecotec issues you speak of, did you get the recall done yet? they updated the chain oil squirters I believe. I have the updated design in my VUE, quiet little motor, I go by the OLM (usually beyond it) and all seems to be well. I don't have UOAs to back that up, but it runs well, has 54K on it, no signs of anything amiss, mpg between 29-32, I like it.

 

[bretfraz]

In my old Saab 9-5 with the 3.0L turbo V6, I used 10W-30 and the engine seems to run best on that. On 5W-30 or thin vis synthetics, I'd get cold AM startup noise. M1 was especially noisy; I won't use it again on any car. Once I switched to GC, all was well. Chev Supreme also worked very well. I'd imagine Pennz Plat would be a good choice based on personal experience.

I had done a couple UOA's on that car but the results are long gone due to hard drive crashes. IIRC, about 6500-7000 was the max OCI.

 

[wolfc70]

Ok I picked up the PP 5-30 and a Pure One filter. I will see how this oil works out.

On another note, can the timing belt really go 100,000 miles before it's scheduled replacement? Both the dealer and my indy say it can, but most cars I've had were 60,000 mile intervals. Just wondering what others have done/experienced.

Thanks

Justin

 

[ThirdeYe]

Originally Posted By: wolfc70
Originally Posted By: ThirdeYe
Off-topic, I used to have a '98 Altima and I loved that car, wasn't it great? I still miss that car, and sometimes regret getting rid of it. Sorry, can't help with the Opel/Saturn V6, I don't know much about it other than it seemed kind of buzzy and noisy when I test drove one before.


I loved my Altima. Best car I ever owned. It was a white SE with gray aluminum wheels, gray interior and had the excellent white gauges, Bose stereo and power everything. That car was excellent, but 10 years of living in the rust belt had started to take its toll. Third gear was getting recalcitrant also, harder and harder not to grind it and I never really never stuck much money into that car, so I did not want to start. My mechanic made an offer I could not refuse, so I took the cash. It has been six months since I sold it, I still miss that car every day.


I got lucky, mine was from California and shipped here, rust free! It was a white GXE with aftermarket alloy wheels, and the gray interior. I plan on doing that again next time because I ended up getting this Integra which had a lot of rust issues with the quarter panel, and let me make it known that rust on quarter panels is next to impossible to properly repair. $1k+ later, it's still rusting. Lesson learned, expensively! My transmission was bulletproof on my Altima as well, the fluid was NEVER changed, not once in 128k miles and still shifted perfect. I can't believe how that car made it that far, it was previous rental car, and the lady that I bought it from had no idea when the oil was changed last, and it was leaking. Replaced the valve cover gasket and changed the oil and it was good to go!

 

[BrianWC]

Oh I know SAAB owners with the v-6 that have had horror stories from going over 60k miles. Don't know if anything was ever improved. But other than the belt worries, most v-6 SAABers say this is a trouble-free, if a tad boring, engine. PP would be fine in it.

 

[mpvue]

the belt is supposedly kevlar reinforced, haven't heard of an issue w/ them.

 

[BGK]

I use Mobil 1 10W-30 high mileage oil (even though the car only has around 62K miles) in our 2001 Saturn LW300. No problems and no complaints with the engine. The oil filter design on this car is a cartridge; if your an idiot you might break the aluminum filter housing. I've never had any problems with the oil filter, but I am the only person that changes the car's oil.

 

[wolfc70]

Originally Posted By: BGK
if your an idiot you might break the aluminum filter housing.


Last time I checked I was not considered or labeled as an idiot(only my opinion, others may disagree) so filter removal is not a concern. Now the drain plug on the other hand, what GM engineer puts a Torx bolt for a drain plug. Normally not a concern as I have a decent collection of tools,, but none of mine fit. So what size Torx is used for the drain plug? Dealer told me T50 but mine did not fit.

 

[RedOak]

I used to own a 2001 Saturn L-300 with the v-6 you speak of. The little v-6 was a terrific little piece with lot's of acceleration and decent mileage. I used amsoil, castrol syntec, and mobil one synthetics. The inside of the valve covers stayed spotless as did the over head cams. When my family grew from one child to three it had to go. I started to run conventional oil Castrol GTX for a few thousand miles and noticed varnish building inside the valve covers. That real clean metal developed that brown discoloration. That was with 3000 intervals on the conventional. I think that motor is hard on oil with the dohc's and the temperatures that the oil reaches in that area. Good motor, but reliability of the car was terrible. Worst vehicle I ever owned in relation to constant electrical issues. The car left us stranded more than one time. Total junk other than the motor.

 

[[email protected]]

We've had 2 L-Series, both w/the 3.0L v6

For the first 42,000 miles the dealership changed the oil as part of a maintenance package. One day we didnt have time to go in for an oil change and had going about 5000 on the Saturn bulk oil they fill it with at the dealer. I decided to change it myself (what the heck, right?) only to find out that the dealership had stripped the torx face right off the drain plug. I then realized that I didnt want anybody else touching our 2005 L-300 and started changing the oil myself.

I first used Wal-marts full synthetic 5w30 for 3000 miles and then switched to Valvoline full synthetic 5w-30. Now with 54,000 miles, I havent looked back. Im on our 2nd valvoline synthetic oil change.

I agree with the last poster; the v6 is a GREAT engine, it is either tuned or geared just right, or both. It will blow the doors off most cars off the line.

We love our L300, however both our 2005 L300 and 2000 LS2 had numerous annoying problems- oil coolers, BCM's, stereos, wiper motors, fuel pumps, tail lamps (later recalled after I replaced them 1/2 dozen times!), end links, rack and pinion.... These were commong problems replaced 1-2x on each L series!!! THANK GOD FOR WARRANTIES! We had a 60k mile warranty on our 2000 LS2, when it hit 59,900 we traded it in. Then on our 2005 L300 we have the 100k bumper to bumper, no deduct warranty. It has paid for itself 6x over since we bought the car. The day we brought our brand new (16 miles on odometer) home, the strut was hissing and spitting oil in our driveway. Had to bring it right back in. Then they replaced all 4 tires (flat spots from sitting on lot so long). Anyways, despite all of the annoyances, we love our L300.