For 1990-2009 cars

### Engine Oil

At the refinery, crude oil is separated by heating and distilling it into gases, light fuels, solvents and lubricating-oil base stocks. After being further processed, the base stocks are selectively blended and fortified with additives to produce an engine oil with the desired properties.

Engine oil, then, is a sort of prescription. It contains different ingredients to do different things. Some of these things are done by the base oil, the rest by the additives.

### What Is Engine Oil Supposed To Do?

It Should Lubricate - That's its primary job, to provide a separating film between moving parts and thus control friction and wear.

It Should Cool - Engine oil is the principal coolant for the pistons, main bearings, rod bearings and camshaft. As such, it removes up to 10 percent of the total heat load generated by the engine.

It Should Seal - The sealing function is to seal combustion pressures. Even though most pistons have two compression rings and an oil ring, high pressure gases (containing unburnt fuel combustion products and water) can still leak into the crankcase through ring gaps and microscopic valleys in the cylinder walls. This normal leakage is called "blowby." Oil is used to fill in the valleys and reduce that leakage.

However, oil can't be expected to seal the canyons in a badly worn engine. Nor can it effectively seal a brand new engine until the parts have seated themselves. That's why oil consumption is occasionally higher for the first few thousand miles during new vehicle operation.

It Should Keep the Engine Clean - Combustion contaminants and dirt in the oil are unavoidable. But such particles tend to clump. If clumping is allowed to take place, sludge and varnish may follow.

Good engine oils are designed to prevent the particles from clumping and hold them in suspension. When the oil is drained, the suspended particles come out with it.

It Should Make Starting Easier - This is strictly a cold weather requirement. When it's freezing outside, an oil should be thin enough to give the engine a fair chance of starting. Yet as the oil gets hot and thins out, it should not become so thin that it won't lubricate or seal properly; that's what multigrade oils are for. Some of them (and all those that Saturn recommends) are designed to work in almost any temperature range.

It Should Prevent Rust and Corrosion - Metal can actually rust or corrode in oil, if the oil contains water or acids from the combustion process. A well-formulated oil protects against rusting by putting a chemical film on metal parts, shielding them from water. It protects against acid attack by neutralizing the acid.

### Additives

Additives are chemicals that give fresh engine oil its custom-made properties. Although used in small amounts, they provide a tremendous boost to the performance abilities of engine oil. They, in fact, represent the major difference between the oils of the early 1940's and the highly advanced prescription oils of today.

### Most Commonly Used Additives

Anti-wear Agents - In highly loaded parts like camshafts and valve lifters, an oil film is usually squeezed so thin it breaks. This would mean damaging metal-to-metal contact. When the oil film breaks down, these agents react chemically with the metal surfaces and form a protective coating that reduces wear.

Detergent-Dispersants - Combustion contaminants and dirt particles in the oil tend to clump, which can lead to sludge and varnish deposits. Detergent-dispersants are the additives that not only keep the engine clean but also stop such particles from massing. They work by surrounding the particles, most of which are invisible, with a shell of molecules. This action causes the imprisoned particles to repel one another. It also makes them a part of the oil, like cream is part of homogenized milk. They cannot settle out on engine parts or clog oil passages.

Oxidation Inhibitors - These are additives that allow oil to lubricate when it's hot.

Oxidation is a complex chemical reaction between oil molecules and oxygen. As the operating temperature of an oil goes up, so does the oil's oxidation rate. And unless an oil is heavily enriched with additives to fight oxidation, all sorts of undesirable things could happen. The worst of these is that the oil gets thicker and thicker - permanently.

Thus, a driver who waits too long between oil changes or uses low-quality oil and embarks on a cross-country trip during the summer may find the oil oxidized to a point so thick it won't drain out of the crankcase.

Rust and Corrosion Inhibitors - For every gallon of gasoline burned, about a gallon of water forms as steam. Most of the steam goes out the tailpipe. But some of it leaks as part of the blowby gases into the crankcase, where it becomes acidic. Water build-up in the oil increases with short-trip driving. If it weren't for rust and corrosion inhibitors and regular oil changes, engines would wear because of that water.

V.I. Improvers - V.I. stands for viscosity index. Oils having a high viscosity index tend to thin out less when heated and thicken less when cooled. V. I. improvers are used to raise an oil's viscosity index for all-season operation. Without them there wouldn't be multigrade oils.

Foam Inhibitors - Foam can result from air being whipped into the oil by moving engine parts, which could lead to oil loss, hydraulic valve lifter noise, and improper cooling and lubrication. Foam inhibitors weaken the surface tension of oil, which causes the air bubbles to break more readily.

Pour Point Depressants - The pour point of an oil is the lowest temperature at which the oil will flow. Below that temperature, wax crystals form, grow and interconnect, then solidify or "freeze" the oil. Pour point depressants lower this freezing temperature by coating the wax crystals as they form, thereby checking crystal growth.

Friction Modifiers - These are the newest members of the family of additives in modern oils. They further reduce surface friction between moving parts. Friction modifiers, along with low viscosity, make "Energy Conserving" and similarly labeled oils possible. Such oils can increase a vehicle's fuel economy by several percent.

### Oil Container Labels

The American Petroleum Institute (API) logo is a circle divided into three sections. The top half of the circle is the "API Service" section, which is used to indicate the quality of the oil. The lower half of the circle is the "Energy Conservation" section, which indicates the oil's degree of fuel efficiency. The center of the circle is the "Viscosity" section, which is used to indicate the viscosity of the oil. The oil container should have a "Starburst" label instead of the doughnut shaped symbol.

Multigrade Oils - These oils make seasonal changing unnecessary. They contain viscosity-index improvers that enable each oil to exhibit suitable flow properties at both ends of the thermometer.

They have labels like SAE 5W-30 or 10W-30 or 15W-40. Some may have labels like SAE 5W-10W-20W-30, in this case, just ignore the middle numbers and read the oil as SAE 5W-30.

### Oil Can Save You Gas

Many factors are involved in determining the overall fuel economy obtained when driving a vehicle. One of the factors is the fuel efficiency of the engine oil being used.

In addition to being rated on the basis of their performance and viscosity, oils are rated on their ability to reduce the amount of fuel consumed during driving. Oils are rated against a reference oil in a standard engine test much like the ones described earlier in the "Oil Performance Ratings" section.

In this particular test, the fuel economy is measured and compared with that of a reference oil. If the tested oil provides at least 1.5 percent better economy than the reference oil, it is labeled "Energy Conserving II." These energy conserving designations are indicated on the lower half of the API logo to indicate fuel efficiency. Energy Conserving II oils should provide the best fuel efficiency, followed by Energy Conserving oils, and finally, followed by the lease fuel efficient oils, ones that don't contain either designation.

### Synthetic Oils

Compared with conventional motor oils, the synthetics involve different chemical processes and ingredient percentages. However, the base stock still comes from crude petroleum, and the additives are virtually the same as those commonly used.

From a performance standpoint, they work well, especially for engine start-up at very low temperatures. But, based on all the information, synthetic oils can not be left in an engine any longer than conventional oils (extended use is the principal claim of synthetics). They can be used, but must have the right service category, viscosity grade and fuel efficiency designation for the vehicle. The oil must be changed as specified in your owner's manual.

A second category (beginning with the letter "C") also exists. These oils (CC, CD, CE, etc.) are intended for diesels, like in trucks and bulldozers, and by themselves are not suitable for gasoline engines.

### Viscosity

Viscosity is resistance to flow. Thick oils have a high resistance and, therefore, a high viscosity. Thin oils have a low resistance and, by the same token, a low viscosity.

A Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) number that appears in the center of the API logo. The SAE number defines the viscosity grading of oils, both single-grade and multigrade

Single-Grade Oils - "Single-grade" refers to oils whose labeled viscosity applies at one temperature only. In general, single-grade oils indicate their viscosity by a single number, for example SAE 10W or SAE30. The higher the number, the thicker the oil. The W (for winter) tells you that the labeled viscosity applies at a subfreezing temperature. Otherwise it applies at 212°F.

Most non-W oils thicken when the temperature drops, which makes cold-engine starting very difficult or downright impossible. Many W oils also thin out too much in warmer weather, which hurts their ability to lubricate and seal.

### Engine Oil and Oil Filter Replacement

#### Tools Required

SA9210NE Oil Filter Wrench

1. Drain engine oil.

1.1. | Remove the oil filler cap.

1.2. | Remove the oil drain plug and drain the oil into a container.

Important: Loosen the oil filter carefully and allow the oil to drain from the filter. Removing the filter immediately after loosening it will allow the oil to drip on the axle shaft boot.

Important: If the oil filter is difficult to remove or install from the engine, or the oil filter fitting remains inside the oil filter upon oil filter removal, replace the oil filter fitting with a new oil filter fitting.

Important: The cylinder block sealing surface can be damaged if the oil filter is removed using a chisel or screwdriver. If the filter's steel is separated from the base plate, a 10 mm allen socket or wrench can be used to remove the filter base plate, and threaded attachment adapter. Clean the adapter and cylinder block threads before installing the adapter.

2. Replace oil filter:

2.1. | Using SA9210NE , remove the oil filter.

Tighten
Tighten the oil filter fitting-to-block to 30 N·m (22 lb ft)

| Important: Ensure the oil filter gasket is removed from the cylinder block. Do not over tighten oil filter.

2.2. | Inspect and clean the oil filter installation surface. Wipe the oil pan drip deflector and pan rail dry prior to installing a new oil filter.

2.3. | Apply clean engine oil to the gasket of a new oil filter.

2.4. | Lightly screw on the oil filter until resistance is felt

2.5. | Using an SA9210NE or equivalent, tighten the oil filter an extra 3/4 to 1 turn.

3. Fill with engine oil:

3.1. | Clean and install the oil drain plug with a new gasket.

Tighten
Tighten the oil pan drain plug to 37 N·m(27 lb ft)

3.2. | Fill the engine with new, recommended Energy Conserving II multigrade (API grade 5W30 with a starburst label) viscosity oil. Do not use other viscosity oils such as SAE 20W-50.

3.3. | Install oil fill cap.

Drain and Refill Without Filter Change: 3.6L (3.8 qt.)

Drain and Refill With Filter Change: 3.8L (4.0 qt.)

Dry Fill: 4.3L (4.5 qt.)

4. Start engine and check for leaks.
5. Check the engine oil level after the engine is OFF for 5 minutes, add oil if necessary.