900 + 9000 roadside breakdowns - failure modes

Upon obtaining the factory service record from my dealer I found that the starter motor had been replaced. Saab Roadside service had been called to fix it, and I think a loaner car had been arranged. This was at about 10K miles, I think (have to go look to be certain). Makes me wonder what the guy who leased it actually did...

Harvey

in article bivt3n$dp54e$ snipped-for-privacy@ID-152899.news.uni-berlin.de, Grunff at snipped-for-privacy@ixxa.com wrote on 01/09/2003 17:45:

Good list Grunff. I'm packing my emergency kit now :) Oddly enough, I have only suffered from one thing on the list - the radiator top hose, which burst just as pulled up outside my house. It covered the street with fog as water poured all over the turbo.

Paul

I had that too, on my first Saab (83 900 GLS).

Good/helpful list. I would think "alternator brushes" instead of or well ahead of "alternator". And possibly the wiring connections/harnesses that go w/the elec components - like Hall sensor, corroded batt cables, etc (inferred for some, but not for all)

Interesting no failed (LH 2.2 turbo) boost pressure switches or O2 sensor preheater

I think alternator in this case is pretty broad, including brushes, voltage regulator etc.

The question I had asked people was "what failures left you stranded", which will mean that there are a whole load of common failures which don't leave you stranded which aren't listed.

The thing that really surprised me was the lack of DI unit on the 9000 list - especially when things like CV joints and even a broken con rod made it onto the list!

Ah, I see. I was being too partspefic

The con rod really suprised me too (and the DIs) - but I've only driven but never worked on a few 9000s. _Did_ the 9000 have a con rod weakness (which motor?), similar to the c900 2.1L head gasket/block problems? Do you recall/was there enough info that it was the rod (and not bearings given some forewarning)?

Yep, the DI once left me stranded. The car lost power on an uphill slope of a dual carriage way and came to a halt at an awkward and unsafe spot. The Fiat Croma I had for 10 years never got me stranded, although it had some problems, but they were mainly the poor quality of the interior trim.

Not as far as I know - I've only ever heard of a broken con rod on a Saab once, and that was it.

As far as I can remember, he was driving along the motorway, lost oil pressure, then saw bits of metal in the rear view mirror. They were bits of block and con rod. Who knows what happened!

I broke one on a '62 96 with x00,000 miles on it, in about 1993.

In the two-stroke, looked like I had a ring/port issue starting the whole thing, and chunks from that got into the big-end bearing. Made an awful thwappa-thwappa-shreeeeeeeik noise.

Dave "Probably not too relevant to an H engine..." Hinz

problems over 10 years of owning saabs, all old 8v 99/900's:

All were 10+yrs old when purchased...

headgasket 1 (99) cracked head 1 (99) sticking starter solenoid 1 (99) failed waterpumb (B series) 1 (99) sticking calipers (pre '88) numerous... Leaky heater valve 1 (900) fuel pump 1 (900)

(snip list)

I'll add my list of things that have stranded me in my Saabs -

'62 96 (2-stroke) con-rod came apart at around 200,000 miles '71 Sonett III (V4) Balance shaft gear disintergrated, limped home 1 mile. '68 96 DeLuxe (V4) Ignition system, probably coil (replaced most of sys.) '88 900T (16 valve 2.0L) - blew up third gear on the layshaft in the 5-speed, well out of warranty, Saab paid for it anyway because it "Shouldn't have broken".

The 2-stroke con rod thing, who knows. The balance shaft gear on the V4 was/is a known "It's gonna happen" kind of thing, and when it does (150K miles or so, give or take), you lose water pump and alternator, and it runs *very* unbalanced (balance shaft not turning, y'see). Replaced that with a nylon gear, no further problems.

The ignition stuff on the '68 was pretty much my fault, it had sat for years before I bought it, and that's how I learned that that needs to be replaced just as a matter of course in those situations.

The tranny in the '88, I was driving very enthusiastically through some great roads (twisty, hilly). Had to tow-dolly it home (the width of the state of Wisconsin...). I was in Amish country at the time, and happened to roll to a stop by one of the few "wired" (non-Amish) houses in the area.

That's all I can think of in 15 years. Of course, there have been flat tires, but nobody in their right mind would blame that on the car, would they?

Dave Hinz

Hi,

exactly that happened to me yesterday, after cleaning the throttle body wit= h brake cleaner,

i just didnt put it back on properly, you might get away with opening the c= lamp really wide and=20 pushing the rubber hose all the way to the throttle body and closing the cl= amp a bit stronge, but not=20 too strong, oyu dont want to break the throttle body. =20

you might be able to find that hose at a junk yard, and you should end up p= aying around 10 pounds for it. but i still doubt that the rubber hose is at fault, i think you just have t= o tighten it up properly

bye

simon

Well it seems to have distorted due to the way in which it was attached but yes, I have now pushed it right up to the throttle body and tightened suitable with a right sized screwdriver.

David.

Hi,

89 9000i - never left us stranded in 13 years.

what do tires have to do with the car ? someone thinking that way must be as sick as the person that put 3 screws into my right front wheel last year. *grr*

bye

simon

You *cannot* make a statement like that and leave it there!! What kind of animals bit your hoses??

I've heard that story. Squirrels apparently like the sweet taste of the anti freeze, but the propylene glycol isn't doing them any good. Animal groups recommend animal friendly anti freeze such that the squirrels can chew your engine up in relative safety.

Hi,

lol, let me look up the name in a dictionary, those kinda animals are quite common here in germany and they are known to bite any kind of rubber hose

bye

simon

common here in germany

Marten are related to weasels, I think...

Harvey

cheap at a saab dealer.

cheap at a saab dealer.

Yeah, martens, related to weasles - evil little b@stards. I never knew they ate hoses though. Good picture.