blue smoke

I took my 9-5 in for this very reason, was told by the local dealer that the turbo seals are going. I'll live with it for a while until it really goes. Tends to be more prominent when I start the car and it's been sitting in the hot sun and barely noticeable during the winter (upstate NY is cold)

if your car is under warranty, get it fixed.

how many miles?

Sonds like valve seals to me. good luck papa

If it was a V4 or B engine that would be my idea too. But since the later models have hydraulic lifters, I do not think they have valve stem seals...

-- MH '72 97 '77 96 '78 95 '79 96 '91 900i 16

H engines (with hydraulic lifters) certainly do have stem seals. But I don't think that this is the problem in this case.

But a puff of blue smoke after start up -is- a typical sign of worn/broken valve stem seals.

-- MH '72 97 '77 96 '78 95 '79 96 '91 900i 16

Yes, no argument there - but for a 2001 9^3, it's far more likely to be turbo seals.

"MH" skrev i en meddelelse news:d8meur$utf$ snipped-for-privacy@news4.zwoll.ov.home.nl...

Saab's do NOT need changing of valve stem seals......!!

Cheers!

My 2001 9-3 (75 000km) suffers from the same thing but not as often as once a week. I notice the "blue puff" maybe once or twice a month. I have the 2.0t Ecopower engine in my 9-3 and I found the below link that may explain the "Puff"

If there is a build up of sludge in the turbo forcing oil through the turbine seal, why does this puff not happen at every startup?

keith

Well, I can show you the broken valve stem seals that came out of my SAABs.... OK, I admit, out of a Ford V4 engine. Renewing those seals

-did- cure the blue smoke on startup.

Really? Then how do you suppose they seal the valve stems?

-Fred W

An OHC engine has cam followers and hydraulic lifters sitting on top of the valve stems, covering the valve spring and valve stem, so the cam follower prevents oil from leaking along the valve stem into the inlet/exhaust port. I would think there is not much need for an extra rubber or plastic valve stem seal inside the spring. I know the 8v OHC engine has those seals - but no hydraulic lifters.

"MH" skrev i en meddelelse news:d8n7st$ebb$ snipped-for-privacy@news4.zwoll.ov.home.nl...

Good, you said it yourself! It's NOT necessary to change the seals on the Saab 2,0 and 2,3-litre engines...

Cheers!

I never said it was necessary to change them, just that they exist.

-Fred W

Nevermind Henrik, I looked back through the thread and see that you said the very same thing. ;-)

-Fred W

Last time I did a head gasket on a T16 900, the new gasket set came complete with stem seals. So I replaced them at the same time. The old ones didn't look bad, but were certainly not as tight as the new ones.