Has my car really had a sump drop/clean?

[pompey]

A few years ago I took my car to Offord Motors to get a sump drop and clean done. It was less than a satisfactory experience and I won't everbe going back. However, I'm wondering if they actually did the job or if they just did it in a reasy lazy way. The reason I say this is the other week I did the regular 6 month oil change a month or so early (baby due around the normal time of the sump drop so thought I'd get ahead on a few jobs) and the oil was pretty minging. Do you think this is normal for a car that has had oil changes every 6 months since the sump drop?

[Audax]

Depends, how many miles ago and did you get a new breather kit at the same time? Also what oil have you been using? It could be that they didn't do the sump drop but I find that unlikely, it's more likely that the 9-5 just turns oil black, of course if you've done enough miles and didn't get a new breather kit it could be sump drop time again already 

My experience is that I've found that the oil in the B2X5 series engines is that it goes black almost immediately it goes in on both the 9-3 and 9-5. I'm not sure of the exact mileages when the oil has been changed in my own 9-5 but it was done at 128k and then a sump drop was carried out around 130k which then caused the turbo to start smoking when starting from cold (I imagine that the increased oil pressure was forcing oil past the seals) so it then got a replacement turbo at 132k which meant an oil change and then another oil change at about 135k as the turbo oil pipe was crusty and starting to leak and it seemed a shame not to with the car already on the ramp. Every time the oil came out it was black and nasty looking, this was using either the genuine 5/30 Saab or GM oil that was available at the time along with genuine Saab oil filters.

God knows what it looks like now as it has been in for about 8k 

[pompey]

Thanks for the info, Audax. I'll have a look through my car notes again to see when exactly it was done but, seeing you say yours is coming out black after little time, I guess it's fairly normal.

I use Motul 8100 Excess 10/40 (I think) 100% Synthetic.

[pompey]

Just another question while I'm thinking about it... I was chatting with a guy last night who does some very crazy things to cars (such as putting Saab turbo engines into Novas and Vectras after remapping them up to 300 to 400 BHP!!!) and he thinks Mobil 1 oil is the best there is. He specifically said that engines he has dismantled that have been run on Mobil 1 are as shiny on the inside as the day they were made (or last overhauled). Does anyone have a view on how good Mobil 1 is?

[mikeloadsasaabs]

Does anyone have a view on how good Mobil 1 is?

Try this:

http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Car_Care/Notes_From_The_Road/Million_Mile_Saab.aspx

Just do a search on "million mile car mobil 1" .

[Audax]

In all honesty, any oil from a reputable manufacturer that meets the spec is going to be OK. The only engine failures I've seen where oil may have been an issue have been where someone put totally the specification in because they thought they knew better or they used the cheapest oil that money could buy.

If anything I'd go for an oil that costs less and change it more often, I've seen the GM 5w30 for sale at £20 for 5l when the top end mobil 1 is nearly £40, personally in this situation I'd go for the GM stuff and replace the oil more often but would always use a genuine Saab oil filter.

I've never seen a car suffer from problems caused by using the GM oil, on top of that I've seen a car where the owner had only used mobil 1 (and changed it every 6k) and they had a blocked strainer and needed a sump drop but this was caused by the breather kit and wasn't a problem with the oil.