extended oil changes are the main killer for turbo bearings,increased end float on shaft,the seals can give way also..

bear in mind what a turbo goes through,powered by exhaust gases(700+degrees and spins at in excess of 14,000+rpm)

 

Thanks aerojon, that i understand but what is the benchmark on lifespan? (I know it varies from vehicle to vehicle but like what is the rough gestimate on how far it can go)

 

As long as oil changes are done within a reasonable amount of time and you use a good quality synthetic (prefer to be dexos approved), it should last you the life of the vehicle if not a VERY long time. I had 180k miles on a VW turbo and it had little shaft play when the motor itself blew.

 

Calgary, no way;ol;

Whoever told you that appears to be less tech savvy than you:lol:. Yes, replacing a turbo is quite expensive but with regular maintenance, you'll see much longer than 150k. You can blow the engine in a brand new non-turbo car in less than 50k by ignoring maintenance.

There also isn't a "guesstimate" on how far a turbo will go, we aren't seers. I've owned multiple 900Ts with over 200k on them (and 20 years of driving) with perfectly working turbos. A friend of mine (who also lives in Calgary) has a 2006 9-3 with almost 180k. I wouldn't worry about it much.

 

Thanks wardak33, saabhutter (Calgary mate ) for sharing your opinion.
I use the Mobile 1 Oil as per owners manual, but have to ask 2 more questions?

1) How often i should oil change (they say every 10K) but what would you guys recommend?
2) Where can i buy oil filter online, so i have them ahead of time when i am due oil change.

Again, appreciate your help!

Cheers,
Sam

 

i know the TD04-15T on some og9-3's and 9-5's can last typically 200,000 miles, oil changes are key and shutting off the car after the turbo cools down can also help. my 02 9-3 with the TD04 has zero shaft play at 91,000 miles.

 

shutting off the car after the turbo cools down can also help.

Sorry for asking, i am still learning what do you mean by this?

 

re turbo longevity

As long as you are sensible, don't thrash the car when cold or shut down straightaway after a high speed run you will be fine.

Regular oil changes, I used Mobil 1 fully synthetic from when I bought the car etc.. that engine (9000 Aero) had over 367,000kms on did not use any oil at all, at least the dipstick level never changed in between services and the turbo still gave full boost. We did oil changes every 6 months or 10,000kms whichever came first (was usually the 10,000kms), the oil always stayed clean in between changes unlike our 9-3 which seems to dirty fairly quickly.
Our 9-3 gets new oil at the same change intervals. Can't help you with the oil filter as our local specialist mechanic supplied them.
One thing important with the 9-3 is to make sure you pick the right viscosity for your car as putting the wrong one in can ruin the engine, I am pretty sure our 9-3 suggests only to use 10W30 or 10W40.

Its a shame some idiot in a Holden Rodeo 4WD ute tried to use our 9000 Aero as a substitute for brakes whilst stopped at traffic lights (partner was driving) so the car was written off but still had a great engine...despite the high mileage.

Teddy

 

As long as you are sensible, don't thrash the car when cold or shut down straightaway after a high speed run you will be fine.

Regular oil changes, I used Mobil 1 fully synthetic from when I bought the car etc.. that engine (9000 Aero) had over 367,000kms on did not use any oil at all, at least the dipstick level never changed in between services and the turbo still gave full boost. We did oil changes every 6 months or 10,000kms whichever came first (was usually the 10,000kms), the oil always stayed clean in between changes unlike our 9-3 which seems to dirty fairly quickly.
Our 9-3 gets new oil at the same change intervals. Can't help you with the oil filter as our local specialist mechanic supplied them.
One thing important with the 9-3 is to make sure you pick the right viscosity for your car as putting the wrong one in can ruin the engine, I am pretty sure our 9-3 suggests only to use 10W30 or 10W40.

Its a shame some idiot in a Holden Rodeo 4WD ute tried to use our 9000 Aero as a substitute for brakes whilst stopped at traffic lights (partner was driving) so the car was written off but still had a great engine...despite the high mileage.

Teddy

10W30 or 10W40? Must be an Aussie thing.
Ours is 0W30/0W40

 

i just bought a 04 9-3 linear for my sister in law yesterday, it seems to have some valve chatter on a cold start, and is loud while driving with windows down, i went through service records only to find out they have been using 10w30. im looking to change it out immediately to 0w40

 

@Teddy, so nice of you. Thanks for your input. Really sad to know your car got smacked... The more i read the more questions i have, sorry about that. I have three more questions

No worries!

1) You said shut down straightaway after a high speed? --> What does that mean, i mean i always shut down the car after i hit complete stop (confused), am i supposed to do anything else?

Basically I mean after a high speed run when the engine is working hard & the turbo is spinning hard (much faster than the engine speed) when you slow down and stop the car let the engine idle for a minute or so, that way the little turbine (in the turbo) slows down and stops because they run at very high temperatures being driven by exhaust gases. Although our little turbos are water and I presume oil cooled as well when the engine is stopped the pumps stop pumping the water and oil around thus the turbo temperature gets hotter and the turbo cooks a little. Think heat soak.
Just use common sense and the turbo will be fine.

2) Oil Change every 6 months or 10,000 Kms --> I don't drive much, my next oil change or 6 months are expected in JAN 2013 but i have only driven 5,000 Kms. Shall i go ahead and change the oil or wait for 10,000 Kms?

I would change at 6 months if it was me, our 9-3 is due soon as well and we have done about 5,000kms in 6 months, no big trips this time around


3) Last time, my mechanic used Mobil 1 synthetic 5W/30, i have been reading about 0W/30 v.s 5W/30, and the the major difference is 0W is much better for cold temp less engine wear on startup (i am in Calgary and its always -5 to -25 Celsius in Winters). Also my vehicle is always parked in underground heated parkade where temp is always (20 Celsius) and i always warm up my car until the RPM is less than 1.

Thinner oils warm up faster and the oil circulates around the engine quicker, you also get better fuel economy because of less friction in the engine. However there is a downside as oil temperature increases the lower viscosity oil break down faster and offer less protection, now whether this is significant with modern oils I don't know. I would run the recommended viscosity for your climate, here in Canberra the odd occasion we might hit -7C or -8C but it is not that common, but we can hit 40C in summer so we need an oil that will cope with a wide variation in temperature.


Anything else, myself (rookie) should be aware of. I love my SAAB. The best i have driven.

Just have fun we are enjoying our car, although the ignition has been playing up and we are getting the dreaded "steering lock malfunction" which probably means the CIM needs replacing (some sort of ignition module)

Love you all and thanks for your kind help.

 

@Teddy and @Saabhunter:

Really very grateful guys, appreciate you educating me about turbo, totally makes sense what you guys said about turbo. From here on i will put my car idle for 1 minute before shutting the engine off. (Don't know what the old owners did to this car, it has already 160K kms now, so i will start doing it from tomorrow)

@Saabhunter: Yes Sir, i will follow your advise and will get 0W40 Mobil 1.

One last question, i was readying another thread regarding oil change and what not: http://saabworld.net/f69/saab-9-3-oil-change-instructions-2-0t-2-0t-engine-193/

For my Jan 2013, oil change i am going to buy this oil filter:
http://www.eeuroparts.com/Parts/39188/Engine-Oil-Filter-HU692X/

Shall, i go ahead with this or would recommend anything else. Also @saabhunter, where would you get your oil filters here in Calgary?

Thank you.

 

Experts i found this link to be very interesting http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-225488.html

Doing copy and paste from this link what are your thoughts:

I just got off the phone with them, they no longer support GM-LL-A-025.

EDIT:
after some digging, I did find that the GM dexos1 rating is replacing GM-LL-A-025. The following Mobil products in the US carry it: Mobil 1 5W-30, Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5W-30, Mobil Super 3000 Formula D1

http://www.gmdexos.com/licensedbrands/dexos1licensedbrands.html
http://www.gmdexos.com/aboutdexos.html