Shipped & serviced details - Saab NG900 & OG9-3 Bulletin Board - Saabnet.com
The banner above is an advertisment - if it asks you to download software, please ignore.
Site News - 4/9 Saab Owners' Convention Day Pass Raffle | 3/26 M Car Covers (by State of Nine)
[General | Members | C900 | 9000 | NG900 & OG93 | 93 | 95 | NG95 | 99 | Sonett | Vintage Models | Clubs | Other Cars | FAQs | Gifts | Member Photo Galleries | Member Directory | Classifieds | Manuals | *Buddy Registry | *Mileage Registry | Polls | What's New | Raffle | Photo of the Month | Sponsors]

NG900 & OG93 Bulletin Board
1994-2002 [Subscribe to Daily Digest]
(Search Author's Posts: e.g. Keyword:username)*Members Only

[Main NG900 & OG93 Bulletin Board | BBFAQ | Prev by Date | Next by Date | Post Followup ] Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
Shipped & serviced details
Like This Post: - Subscribe to Daily Digest for this Bulletin Board
Posted by Eiron [Email] (more from Eiron) on Tue, 23 Nov 2004 10:20:06 Share Post by Email
In Reply to: '99 base 9-3: Switch to syntheic oil OK?, Robby G, Mon, 22 Nov 2004 14:10:49
Alert me when someone posts in this thread:
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup

Yes, the '99s were shipped with semi-syn 'cuz that's all Saab had under their OE label at that time. In July of '00 they sent out a TSB that admitted they'd been shipping ALL cars with 0W-40 full syn since April of '00. Oh, & they now had a 0W-40 available under the Saab OE label (but not offered for sale to US owners). In order to preserve the lowest possible cost of the included maintenance, they continued to reimburse dealers ONLY for semi-syn oil changes.

As for recommendations, your dealer is twisting things around. The owner's manual for my '99 9³ neither recommends nor requires any particular type of oil. It recommends API & ACEA grades, saying these grades are usually semi or fully synthetic. It then goes on to qualify specific viscosity ranges as being made from specific oil types. Much more detail is listed in the link below. Also, keep in mind that the European definition of synthetic (i.e., the Saab owner's manual definition) is more strict than the American definition. Mobil 1 & Amsoil both meet the European definition, but the other readily available, over-the-counter "synthetics" found in the US don't.

Viscosities are always debated. IMO, the best thing you can do for a Saab turbo is use M1 15W-50 or Amsoil 20W-50. If your area sees winter temps much below freezing, you might want to consider either company's 5W-40 instead. Any of these oils will easily last 10k miles between changes if you operate under the "severe service" definitions in your owner's manual. I could go on for days (& sometimes I have!), but a site search or two will bring up most of my research, test data, & opinions.

One last thing, though. I strongly recommend changing your ATF out with either Mobil 1 or Amsoil synthetic ATF. A DIY drain will empty about half the volume of fluid in your tranny, so most folks suggest a minimum of three closely-spaced drain-&-fills before you've replaced a reasonable percentage of old fluid with new. (For me, that means approx 10k mi changes for three changes in a row.) After you've reached that point, make sure you stick with syn ATF & don't go any longer than 30k mi between changes.

posted by 146.82.1...

Summary review of Saab oil specs

Posts in this Thread:
Alert me when someone posts in this thread:
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup
Post a Followup

No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.

Name: Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
E-Mail: (Optional)
Re-Enter E-Mail: (Confidential & Secure - Not revealed to other users!)
Note: Please check your spam folder for BB responses.

Subject:

Posting rules are simple - No for sale/wanted ads may be posted here - use the site classifieds.
You may not cross-post your message to multiple BBs.
Not permitted: political/religious topics and being disrespectful (personal attacks, insults, etc...).
 Site Members do not see any red text, inline ad links, bottom of page anchor ads, box ads, or anti-spam check.

Message: (please no for sale/wanted classifieds - post those in the Saabnet.com Classifieds)
Links are now automatically made active, no need for any special code (or use the Option Link field below) - don't put links in () or end with a '.'
To add inline images to your post, use [img]http://www.domain.com/img.jpg[endimg] (or use the Optional Image Link field below).

Links are now automatically made active, no need for any special code (or use the Option Link field below) - don't put links in () or end with a '.'
To add inline images to your post above, use [img]http://www.domain.com/img.jpg[endimg] (or use the Optional Image Link field below).
Optional Link: (e.g. http://www.saabnet.com/)
Link Title: (Optional)
Optional Photo/Image Link: (e.g. http://www.saabnet.com/img.jpg)
Photo/Image to Upload: (Please be patient while file uploads)



StateOfNine.com
SaabClub.com
Jak Stoll Performance
M Car Covers
Ad Available

The content on this site may not be republished without permission. Copyright © 1988-2024 - The Saab Network - saabnet.com.
For usage guidelines, see the Mission & Privacy Notice.
[Contact | Site Map | Saabnet.com on Facebook | Saabnet.com on Twitter | Shop Amazon via TSN | Site Donations]

Random Saabnet.com Member Gallery Photos (Click Image)
This is a moderated bulletin board - Posting is a privilege, not a right. Unsolicited commercial postings are not allowed (no spam). Please, no For Sale or Wanted postings, SERIOUSLY. Classifieds are to be listed in The Saab Network Classifieds pages. This is a problem solving forum for over 250,000 Saab owners, so expect to see problems discussed here even though our cars are generally very reliable. This is not an anything goes type of forum. Saabnet.com has been a moderated forum since 1988. For usage guidelines, see the Saabnet.com Mission and Purpose Page. Please remember that you are not anonymous. Site Contact | Site Donations | Other Sites by SP - Poverty2Prosperity.org | Run Club Menlo Park | ScreenBot


Site Members do not see red text instructions, bottom of the page anchor ads, or box ads.
Click here to see all the Site Membership Benefits!