Belt and Pully system in newer saabs

Its been aproblem with all Saabs, not just the newer ones. At 40K on my 92

2.3 I was advised that I was pushing my luck so I took my 9K to the dealer for a new belt and pulleys. When I picked up my car at the end of the day, they had only replaced one pulley, telling me that everyting was fine. Fine untill I turned the key one morning afew months later and the pulley on the tensioner seized and snapped the belt. I had top pay for towing , new belt and of course all new pulleys. Lesson learned. I read somewhere that all the pulleys are too small which results in excessive speed (RPM) which kills the bearings!

Not true - C900s and 99s don't have serpentine belts, so no idler pulleys or tensioners, and very few problems.

Not true - C900's do have an idler pulley. Although you were right there is no serpentine belt nor is it as problematic.

Erm, no they don't. But you had me thinking for a while.

There are two belts:

crank pulley > water pump > alternator (sometimes a double belt) crank pulley > ps pump

Now if you have AC (not many UK C900s do), then you have a third belt, and an idler pulley.

crank pulley > AC compressor > AC idler pulley

But this is of no consequence, since it could disintegrate without any effect on the rest of the car.

That's what I was talking about.

You're probably right. Don't have my '89 C900 anymore so I could not verify. Got destroyed in a car fire two summers ago after a car wash.

That sounds like an interesting story...

I knew there'll be someone curious to ask. See,

Yaofeng

in article snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com, Yaofeng at snipped-for-privacy@bmwe30.net wrote on 28/09/2003 15:58:

A sad story and one we can all learn from. Has anyone found a good place in a C900 to locate a fire extinguisher?

My initial thoughts were:

1. In front of the passenger door - some passengers like to put their feet there.
2. Passenger side of the gubbings box - obviously, driver-side would be a no-no, but it just looks ugly here. Also, it's difficult to deploy from here in a rush from the driver's side.
3. On the front passenger or either rear passenger arm rest - nope.
4. In front of the front passenger under the glove box - potential knee injury for passengers? That's why we don't like the key there on the driver's side.
5. Under the rear seat - rear passengers might fiddle without knowing there was a fire extinguisher there?
6. Driver's side arm rest - who really drives with their arm there? It's more comfortable on the window ledge. Might fall off under pedals?

I suppose it comes down to individual people's circumstances and whether certain locations prove a problem to them or their passengers.

I still haven't found a most-suitable permanent location for mine, but I'd rather have one somewhere than not. My extinguisher is currently in the driver's side door pocket (which I no longer use as a bin), but it flags about a little.

In light of this story, I'm going to buy a bigger one to fit in the boot - like, I don't have a boot full of speaker system ... A small one at hand is good, but a bigger one for once the small one has run out is much better.

Also, make sure it's actually going to work when you need it. Replace old ones after any use and make sure it's "in date" and up to pressure. You can use out of date single-use ones to actually find out how useful they will be for certain situations.

Where do you guys & gals keep yours?

Inquiring minds need to know ...

Paul

1989 900 Turbo S

That's where mine lives. If you get a long narrow one, you can fit a 2lb powder extiguisher in the pocket. This is sufficient for any car fire as long as you catch it at the beginning.

On the subject of extinguishing - if using a small 2lb extiguisher on a car fire, the trick is to discharge the whole thing in one go. This is far more effective than doing one burst, realising that it wasn't enough, doing another burst, realising you've run out, etc. Just get nice and close, point and discharge until empty.

in article bl75u9$8t238$ snipped-for-privacy@ID-152899.news.uni-berlin.de, Grunff at snipped-for-privacy@ixxa.com wrote on 28/09/2003 18:30:

Hmmm. It's not an ideal location really, it is? It's handy, but does get knocked about a bit. Has yours got battle scars and kinks yet?

I discharged an out of date one once to see how it handled and figured exactly that - might as well sod the cleaning up job and make sure you've got a car left to clean by spraying the lot, eh?

I know car fires can spread very rapidly, so I thought an extra, larger one in the boot would be a good idea. At what point do you decide it's all over and run away though?

Paul

Just been to look at it - I only check the pressure gauge once a year or so. It's been in the pocket for about 4 years, and all it's suffered is a little paint scuffed off. Since 4 years is nearing the end of it's service life (5 years, then it gets replaced), it's not doing too badly.

When I was doing chem research, we had a day of fire fighting training. Got to play around with powder, co2, foam and water extinguishers on a range of fires. Good fun.

Powder is by far the most effective on this type of fire, partly because of the powder's high thermal capacity. It soaks away a lot of the fire's energy.

As you say, cleanup's a real bitch, but I figure it's a lot easier to clean up a well powdered car than a completely burnt out one ;-)

And there lies the danger. There's no doubt that a 10kg extiguisher would be far more effective, but are you going to empty out the 1kg extiguisher first, then get the 10? That wouldn't make much sense. You'd go for the 10kg first. But the

1kg is nearer.

You've also got the extra cost of maintaining (refilling at regular intervals) the 10kg extiguisher, and the inherent danger of carrying a high pressure cylinder in the boot (you do have a green diamond pressurised gas sticker on the back of the car, don't you? You should ;-)

I reckon if I have a fire and I can't out it out with the little extinguisher, it's not meant to be.

in article bl7bng$8diek$ snipped-for-privacy@ID-152899.news.uni-berlin.de, Grunff at snipped-for-privacy@ixxa.com wrote on 28/09/2003 20:09:

Yeah, I'd run for the bigger one if my 0.6Kg one ran out and the car was still on fire. But ...

Whoa! Looks like the one in the boot is out :( I knew there'd be some bloomin' legality about the matter. Where does the (UK) law stand on mounting a small extinguisher inside the car? Does the green diamond warning sticker count for the smaller ones as well? I'm talking about the kind of thing I can buy from Halfords.

Okay. That's when I should run for it then :)

Cheers,

Paul

I was only kidding about the sticker - you need to be carrying over 25 litres before you have to consider one :-)

I routinely carry 30l of liquid nitrogen, so I have one on a magnetic backing which I can stick on/remove.

AFAIK there are no legalities to worry about re. carrying a bigger extinguisher (< 25l). But it would personally worry me to carry a large one in the car on a regular basis.

At last, a use for cup holders. (Now tell me C900s lack them.)

More seriously: is there space under the front seat(s)? A proper retainer would be advisable, of course.

-- Andrew Stephenson

The fire was a fluke. It was my first and I don't expect it happen to me again (fingers crossed). So I havn't got any fire distinguisher in my car. It left me with only two SAABs now.