I have a 2000 9-5 2.3T that went to the dealer for a coolant leak. Discovered a blown head gasket. Dealer repaired head gasket and replaced valves. Since then the car has been idling rough, particularily when cold. Engine warning light comes on repeatedly. Dealer detects miss-firing. Dealer removes, inspects and replaces engine head and problem gets worse. After a couple weeks of diagnosis I get the car back with the problem unresolved. Anyone else ever run in to similar problems? Any suggestions?
As well, they have now told me my turbo charger is failing. Car has
170,000 Km on it. How long do turbos generally take before they fail? Is it worth having it rebuilt or should I replace it?
"kwbreezer" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
Assuming that there was no roughness when idling prior to the head gasket blowing, it sounds as if the problem was introduced during the gasket replacement process, so I would be leaning very heavily on the dealer. It is, of course, possible that the leaking gasket was masking another problem, but in my experience it can be difficult to track down such a fault on modern complex engine management systems yourself - which is why dealers have tech tools I guess. Also they are able to temporarily substitute replacement components to try to eliminate the fault. That's not to say that they haven't done something daft like left an intake hose or pipe not pushed fully home or a hose-clip loose, or a vaccum pipe loose/split. It does happen. A good dealer really ought, with all the resources at his command, to be able to identify and fix this. It's tempting to suggest trying another dealer - but then you probably lose any leverage you might have with the original one. As for the turbo failing, it does depend on the service history and how the car has been driven, with oil changes being particularly critical, but that sounds very premature to me. If it definitely is shot, there are plenty of options for replacement with rebuilt/reconditioned units. I'd be tempted to go to a specialist turbo company. I wouldn't entrust the job to your current dealer if he can't sort your other problems though. Good luck!
The main problem you have is the dealer. Unlkess this is warranty work I would not be taking it there for these repairs. Get the car to someone that has a clue...
The Garrett turbos on the Saabs of that vintage are notorious for early failures. I don't know if you have one, 2.3T sounds like a Mitsubishi unit. If you can take a look at it you can tell easily.
Missfiring sounds like something odd on the crankshaft position sensor or something related to the ignition... DI cassette? Perhaps when the head was installed one of the timing gears was installed off by a tooth. Why were the valves replaced?
DI Cassetter was replaced last summer. Valves were replaced because the dealer indicated that they were pitted and since they had the head off anyway they may as well be fixed (this is when I trusted the judgement of the dealer.). I am taking it to an independant shop this week that I have used for non-warranty work on volvos, vws and this saab for the past 15 years. I need another opinion from someone not related to saab. I will mention these ideas to them. Thanks for the input.
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