| Saturns have a problem with carbon buildup on the oil ring set. It gets stuck in the piston groove. 2000 shouldn't have as much of a problem, but Saturns are EXTREMELY sensitive to carbon. You must change your oil on time with these cars.
ONe solution is to seafoam the oil and the gas, and for drastic measures, soak the piston tops with 2 oz of seafoam per piston for a night or two. Then, get what's left out of the cylinders, and put the plugs back in, and so forth. It will kill the mosquitos for a while after that, but it should reduce your oil consumption.
Another solution is a re-ring kit..
Go to saturnfans.com, nice forum on these cars. Saturns have trouble with burning oil.
Seems to be less trouble if you use synthetic (not synthetic blend) since it won't build up carbon deposits..
I am currently piston soaking my 96 Saturn, and if it works, I will do it to my 94 that has 360K miles on it.
Thicker oil will only build up carbon on your rings faster, the problem is a design flaw, the oil return holes on the piston skirts are too small, and the oil takes too long to drain out of the oil ring. Then, it builds up carbon from sitting there. THicker oil will only make this condition worse.
Good news is, Saturns are one of the easiest cars to work on.
If my piston soak doesn't work, I will be pulling the pistons out, getting new rings, and drilling bigger holes in my piston skirts, and using nothing but synthetic. Also, since I put huge miles on it, I am buying a filter relocation setup, so I can change the filter without getting under the car.
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