Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2006 21:26:14 +0000 From: Eeyore <rabbitsfriendsandrelationsnospamail.com> Subject: Re: 9-3: Mineral oil vs. synthetic
kallhovdenospaml.com wrote: > I am a fairly new owner of a 2003 Saab 9-3 2.0t. The car appears to > have been well maintained by former owner(s), but is high-mileage - > 100,000 miles. > > As some point, the engine oil was changed from synthetic (factory > recommended) to mineral oil. I asked my mechanic, and he said he could > bring the engine back to synthetic by flushing out the old mineral oil. > > I am looking for a recommendation as to if I should bring the car back > to synthetic, or if I might just keep it at mineral, at this point. > > If it makes any difference, the Saab is being operated exclusively in a > sub-tropical and temperate climate zone - Southern California coast. There's no question about it. Use synthetic ( or even semi-synthetic ). It's perfectly compatible with traces of the old mineral oil btw - don't fret. At that mileage it would probably pay to run a flushing oil through it too or use a flushing additive when draining the old oil if it's still fairly clean. Graham