Used car oil use

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Discussion

mcdjl

Original Poster:

5,438 posts

194 months

Friday 28th August 2015
quotequote all
I've bought a second (fifth) hand Saab 9-5 aero. At start up theres sometimes a significant smoke cloud, which may take a few seconds to disperse. This is coupled with the occasional puff on acceleration. The oil use is significant (in my opinion). What level of oil use is/would be considered reasonable on a car of this age (2013/145k) in other peoples opinion? The dealers I bought it from do already know I consider it to be excessive.
Cheers!

996TT02

3,308 posts

139 months

Friday 28th August 2015
quotequote all
I would say that up to 2 litres between services is fine, my Porsche manual says up to one litre per 1000 miles or km or something like that which is even more but I don't use anywhere near that much oil and it sounds like a lot to me anwyay.

That aside what you really want to know is how much to fix, because personally I'd want that sorted. I suspect valve stem oil seals are to blame. In the main, a head off job but I am not familiar with your car so this may not be the case. An afternoon's work bar complications, plus parts, a head gasket seal set.

If it's a Turbo it may also be the turbo oil seals. In which case probably a exchange unit to be fitted.

ohtari

805 posts

143 months

Friday 28th August 2015
quotequote all
You'll have to quantify what you mean by "excessive". Some well known german makes have a reputation for drinking 1 to 2 litres, per thousand miles from new! This is/was considered "normal" by the manufacturers.

By contrast, bot my imprezas don't use anything more than a drop between servicing. The half litre left in the bottle after an oil change is all I'll need for topping up.

I'm not entirely poo-poo-ing the germans though, I had a mk1 focus 1.6 once. That used half a litre every tank!

Krikkit

26,500 posts

180 months

Friday 28th August 2015
quotequote all
Smoke on start up is the valve stem seals, that should use a fairly insignificant amount of oil. If you're getting oil when accelerating that indicates a much bigger issue, which is the likely source of most of your oil use.

1L/1000 miles is generally quoted by manufacturers as their limit on oil use, but a worn engine could be even more than that.

mcdjl

Original Poster:

5,438 posts

194 months

Friday 28th August 2015
quotequote all
I was saying used car as I do expect older cars to use more oil. It is a turbo. We're talking 1l/week, roughly 200 miles.

Exige77

6,518 posts

190 months

Friday 28th August 2015
quotequote all
(2013/145k)

Is this a typo ?


james_gt3rs

4,816 posts

190 months

Friday 28th August 2015
quotequote all
mcdjl said:
I was saying used car as I do expect older cars to use more oil. It is a turbo. We're talking 1l/week, roughly 200 miles.
That is excessive! Can you see smoke when driving? Any leaks?

mcdjl

Original Poster:

5,438 posts

194 months

Friday 28th August 2015
quotequote all
Exige77 said:
(2013/145k)

Is this a typo ?
Sorry, year/mileage.
Yes there does seem to be some oil on the underside- turbo/non gear box side but no obvious source. The occasional puff when accelerating, heavier closer to start up.

996TT02

3,308 posts

139 months

Friday 28th August 2015
quotequote all
Oil under acceleration, in a turbo car, generally means Turbo oil seals (and probably bearings).

Just check out how much an exchange unit costs.

145k miles not surprising that the turbo needs work.

I'd go for Turbo over valve stem seals simply because the latter suffer from a combination of age and wear, the age is not there, whereas the Turbo bearings can and do wear with mileage, the resultant movement causes the seals to not seal very well.

daytona365

1,773 posts

163 months

Friday 28th August 2015
quotequote all
Are turbo units with worn seals liable to go Baaam at some point and lose all oil/oil pressure, or is this unlikely ?

vtecyo

2,122 posts

128 months

Friday 28th August 2015
quotequote all
mcdjl said:
Exige77 said:
(2013/145k)

Is this a typo ?
Sorry, year/mileage.
Yes there does seem to be some oil on the underside- turbo/non gear box side but no obvious source. The occasional puff when accelerating, heavier closer to start up.
I think that's what he meant... it's done 145k miles in 2 years?

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

125 months

Friday 28th August 2015
quotequote all
vtecyo said:
I think that's what he meant... it's done 145k miles in 2 years?
2013 must be an error, anyway. Saab went south in late 2011 - always assuming it's one of the VERY few new-shape 9-5s. The old one was dropped in 2010.

I suspect 2003.

Either way, 145k miles - it's turbo seals.

sealtt

3,091 posts

157 months

Friday 28th August 2015
quotequote all
My old 996 Turbo (2004) used a LOT of oil, maybe 1 litre per 750 miles.

My old M6 (2013) which was the 4.4V8 Turbo engine also used a decent bit of oil, I'd estimate 1 litre per 4k miles.

Both cars were from main dealer, mechanically fine. I guess juicy turbo engines can really get through the oil, not sure if it's the same for diesels. My current car - a Range Rover SDV8 which is a 4.4TDV8 - has not used any oil since I bought it 3 months ago and done 10k miles.

mcdjl

Original Poster:

5,438 posts

194 months

Friday 28th August 2015
quotequote all
vtecyo said:
I think that's what he meant... it's done 145k miles in 2 years?
yes its an error...d'oh. As you guessed 2003.

V8RX7

26,766 posts

262 months

Friday 28th August 2015
quotequote all
A litre every 200 miles is clearly excessive.

However an 03 145k Saab I'm guessing you paid around £500.

Cars at this level it's very much buyer beware and if it runs, that's about all you can expect.

Try thicker oil 10-40

lostkiwi

4,584 posts

123 months

Friday 28th August 2015
quotequote all
V8RX7 said:
A litre every 200 miles is clearly excessive.

However an 03 145k Saab I'm guessing you paid around £500.

Cars at this level it's very much buyer beware and if it runs, that's about all you can expect.

Try thicker oil 10-40
Thicker oil is very unlikely to help unless you make it akin to grease, but that creates other issues.

The good news is that if the turbo is fubared a replacement CHRA (cartridge for the turbo) is not a lot of money (around £100 or so). Its just a bit of a pain to do.

thebraketester

14,192 posts

137 months

Friday 28th August 2015
quotequote all
V8RX7 said:
A litre every 200 miles is clearly excessive.

However an 03 145k Saab I'm guessing you paid around £500.

Cars at this level it's very much buyer beware and if it runs, that's about all you can expect.

Try thicker oil 10-40
^^^ This.... try 5W40 or 10W40. Start withe the "quick" fixes first.

mcdjl

Original Poster:

5,438 posts

194 months

Friday 28th August 2015
quotequote all
thebraketester said:
^^^ This.... try 5W40 or 10W40. Start withe the "quick" fixes first.
The dealer had an oil change done when I bought it which was 10W40. I think thats all gone now. (and it did cost me more than that)

lostkiwi

4,584 posts

123 months

Friday 28th August 2015
quotequote all
Turbo CHRA:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Saab-9-3-93-2-3-Turbo-Co...

Your turbo should be a TD04-15T so this would be correct.

paulmakin

653 posts

140 months

Friday 28th August 2015
quotequote all
some saabs do get through a bit of oil - it's usually the turbo. it starts off with a little bit on start-up and then quite a bit more on WOT. one of my 9-3 Aero's has been driving around like this for at least a year, more embarassing than anything else at the moment.

when it looks like the HG is weeping (it will, give it time) try a head re-torque before anything else.

paul