Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2005 00:26:04 +0100 From: Pooh Bear <rabbitsfriendsandrelationsnospamail.com> Subject: Re: A useful note from www.nospam re servicing - other Saab model owners may wish to consider too
Tex wrote: > "Pooh Bear" <rabbitsfriendsandrelationsnospamail.com> wrote in message > news:425743CB.8505809nospamail.com... > > The oil-change intervals recommended for the European market may seem > > dangerously long ( to Europeans, US oil-change intervals seem > > ludicrously short ). I don't know for certain why the markets differ so > > much in this respect. > > The argument for long oil change intervals wasn't helped much in recent > years as some manufacturers, including Saab, who had specified long oil > change intervals, ran into sludge problems in some engines. Turns out to be a design error - now admitted as I gather. > Those who had > been changing their oil frequently did not have these problems. Others, who > were doing your (and the mfr's) recommended long oil change cycle didn't > fair as well and many have had to have their engines replaced. > > As a note, at least Saab recently came out and admitted a design flaw which > allowed for this happen. Right. In effect, it wasn't the recommended oil change interval in itself that was flawed. > As a general rule, synthetic oils will allow for longer intervals vs their > non-synthetic cousins. Few will argue this point. The debate really is on > precisely _how much longer_. 1000 miles? 10000 miles? More likely, > somewhere in between. I've generally taken full synthetic oil to be good for at least twice as long as standard mineral oil. Semi-synth somewhere inbetween. Of course, then you're still into the 'how long should that be' issue again. > And of course, driving habits will affect this greatly. If the car mostly > does short jaunts of less than 15-20 miles, than this will certainly affect > the equation. Very true. Indeed climate also likely plays a part too. > Perhaps this is why the American > market is more geared toward shorter oil change intervals (not to mention > its market bias toward natural vs synthetic oil), as Americans may be more > apt to use their cars even to drive just a few blocks down the street. I do try to avoid that. Some short journeys are unavoidable though. As I understand it though, a lot of this is to do with absorbed H20 into the oil. If the engine gets a decent run, this should be subsequently 'boiled out'. Graham
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