pennyjrich

hello ! would somebody care to tell me a bit more about a well kept secret called sludging ......

Roto

May I see your clearance?

It's not a secret at all...there's even been extensions of warranty on engines affected by it. All there is to it is sludge forming in the oil pan and clogging up the oil pickup tube. That would usually kill the engine, so most people drop the oil pan and clean itbefore it even becomes a problem. I've cleaned my pan when I got the car and 40K later I did it again, but it wasn't necessary the second time since it was pretty clean.

jjjive24

Hey Roto (and fellow forum members),
I am a proud new saab owner, I just got a very clean 2000 9-3 se. It is a great and very smooth feeling ride, I'm worried about this sludge business myself though. the car has 106k miles and seems well taken care of, but should I remove the oil pan and check for sludge when I change the oil? If sludge was built up would the motor act or sound funny? the first time you cleaned your pan was it nasty or fairly clean? Sorry for so many questions, but thank you so much for any help you can pass on to me!

boostpowered

it wouldnt hurt to drop the pan and clean it the clogging will rob oil from turbo and engine
http://memimage.cardomain.com/ride_i...0063_large.jpg
http://memimage.cardomain.com/ride_i...0064_large.jpg

Roto

There's really no warning when it comes to sludge related engine failure. Just drop the pan and inspect it... it can't hurt.

jmb952

Just purchased my first Saab, a 99 9-3 5-spd with 89K miles.
The sludge issue has me somewhat concerned so I'd like to clean out the oil pickup, pan. etc.
How difficult is it to remove the oil pan?
Thanks!

Roto

Not horrible difficult but you need to lower the front of the subframe a little. If you're not comfortable doing that - have a shop do that. The subframe gets in the way of the pan.

boostpowered

you can also unbolt the engine mounts and lift the engine with a hoist to get the pan off
like roto said if your not comfy have someone else do it

Roto

Oh...yeah, you can also do that. I don't own a hoist, so I never think of that

jmb952

Thanks for the info. I have access to a hoist and a lift so either way I go shouldn't be too bad.