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Thanks to all for the information and ideas. Very helpful! Full oil analyses are posted below, notes and answers to questions following. My last post gave values from memory thus the slight difference.
Kilometers on unit 43,500 46800
Kilometers on oil 7,000 3300
Time on oil (month) 4.0 1.5
Make-up oil 0 0
Change date Oct-03 Nov-03
Brand Oil Castol Syntec Castol Syntec
Vis Grade 0W-30 0W-30
Oil Filter Saab LL Saab LL
Air Filter Saab OE Saab OE
Wear metals - ppm
Iron 27 16
Lead 4 1
Copper 10 7
Chromium 1 1
Tin 0 0
Aluminum 2 2
Silver 0 1
Manganese 164 112
Nickel 0 0
Vanadium
Titanium 0 0
Contaminant Metals - ppm
Silicon 17 9
Sodium 4 0
Potassium 0 1
Boron 21 4
Additive Metals - ppm
Magnesium 99 130
Calcium 2699 3223
Barium 0 0
Phosphorus 796 852
Zinc 993 960
Molybdenum 14 4
Non-metallic Contaminants
Fuel % vol 2.5% 1.3%
Water % vol 0.0% 0.0%
Glycol(antifrz) 0.0% 0.0%
Solids 0.1% 0.5%
Properties
Visc. 100 Deg C 67.5 64.7
Flashpoint (F) 340 360
TBN 4.4 6.2
Eiron -- thanks for the BITOG reference! Though I've surfed there on and off (thus the UOA and GC!) I had not seen that dilution thread. If I understand correctly, I may not have a problem at all. On the other hand, Terry Dyson has reviewed both UOAs and he see the fuel as a problem that should be fixed.. I will post these UOAs over at BITOG also.
Current Status: Dealer is waiting to hear back from the regional service manager, to whom they faxed the UOA reports and also Dyson analyses. I'm reasonably happy they are following up to this extent. Will see what happens.
Wear metals and contaminants: I looked back through the BITOG Saab UOAs and feel better. Iron is not bad, lead levels actually are good. Terry pointed to the appearance of Ag, although at very low concentrations, as worrying. Si levels of 17 ppm in the first interval, 9 in the second very short one, are not great either. I personally changed the air filter immediately before the start of the 2nd interval. Solids are high for a short run -- support for using a different filter or no?
Driving particulars: 15km one-way commute -- so pretty short, and sometimes not or hardly getting into the 'yellow' during the trip. But, as mentioned, considerable fully-loaded highway time (weekend trips) on both intervals, during which I drive harder --WOT not uncommon. The first 2/3 of the short interval were highway km at 110km/h. Typical ambient temps of 15-25 C on first run, -5 C to 10 C in second.
Service history of previous owner: According to Saab records, the first change was at 5K km. Other changes were at ~10k km intervals, with one not at a Saab dealer -so who knows what oil was used.. I bought the car at 31K km, now at ~50K km. Only significant warrantee work before my purchase was replacement of the purge valve.
Plugs and fuel system cleaner: The plugs I pulled were the NGK PFR6H10. Gap was a shade under 0.4, circa 0.38. I'm pretty sure these were the original plugs. Plugs looked OK though running a bit 'cold' as mentioned, and no noticable difference between the plugs. I replaced with BCPR6ES, gapped to ~0.37. I used Canadian Tires 'best' housebrand fuel system cleaner. Techron is not availble over the counter here. Other recommendations?
Different Oil Type : Whatever I use, I think the fuel issue should be
figured out... I chose the GC because its A3 (no warranty issue), should be good for cold starts (we've had -25C ere this winter), and is a true synthetic unlike the rest of the Syntec line. Viscosity only dropped to 64.7 from 65.8 in the last run despite the contamination, so it seems to be doing a pretty good job of resisting thinning.
That said, I'm not against trying something else. M1 0w40 is not available here, which pretty much rules that out for me. Anyway, as mentioned by Jason, the GC is a thick 30 weight (SUS visc at 100 is 65.8) and the M1 not a particularly thick 40wt(SUS visc 72.8). Would that really make a difference? I don't know much about oil detergents and additives, but M1 0w40's virgin levels of Ca, Mg, P, (wow, data overload from BITOG!) look similar or lower to those in GC -- and I assume these are added for detergency/acid buffering (??).
I'd switch to Delvac 1, especially in summer, but I'd rather stick to an A3-rated oil during warranty period. Lubromoly 0w40 and 5w40 are A3 synthetic oils available OTC here, though more costly. Maybe I'll try these.
posted by 24.222.120...
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