Hmm definate air in the clutch.

:-) Just as well you remind us what year is the car :-(

Does it have the removable plastic cover of the clutch. About 10 bolts to remove to get it off. From memory with the cover off, I had got to the bleeding nipple in a 1983 model. Stuff a rug with penetrating juices on top of it, roast for a couple of days ... etc.

If it snaps it is a matter of: a: access to it to drill it and tap it out (will be easy to do as it will have a guide hole on it already;

b. metal though might go down in the piston ... not good.

If it is getting worse, then air is getting IN and fluid is getting out. Bleeding it will not fix the problem UNLESS the nipple itself is the problem (which is unlikely).

Any leaks anywhere? If you can't see them they might be hiding in the slave cylinder.

For this job SAAB is probably easiest than most cars.

And a fat wallet with you ... if for example they say the slave cylinder has to be replaced.

Do you mean the steering knuckle? Ball jointie thingie at the end of the steering rods?

I would check again the two main ball joints on the upper and lower wishbones. I had a faulty one that passed many MOTs and only saw it moving when the load of spring was off the suspension. The suspension is such that it always has a load from the spring and it is difficult to see the ball joints having free play.

You have not considered constant velocity (CV) joints or was that the track rod ends?

:-(

Charles

Fluid level isn't going down. Before I bought it, the last owner had fitted a clutch and seals to the slave. Wonder if I have a leaky hose/pipe at the slave end? That might actually allow air in without the level appearing to drop.

The nipple is accessible by removing the AFM to turbo, and intercooler to turbo hoses, I didn't need to remove the cover, although I may have had to on my previous 900 and I'm sure the nipple was smaller.

in article snipped-for-privacy@news.individual.net, NeedforSwede2 at snipped-for-privacy@bouncing-czechs.com wrote on 16/11/2005 09:11:

A friend of mine described exactly the same problem, but added that one side felt like it lifted on slow/tight cornering. After a number of "alignment specialists" had their stab at it, an accident repair specialist in the same compound as my garage found the problem. The track rod end on one side had been tightened right up all the way and the other side had been adjusted to remedy that issue. Perhaps these laser alignment places see one side as the obvious problem and don't even look at the other side ... Who knows?

Anyway, when the fully tightened side was released and slackened off, the other side was also adjusted and the problem went away. It would seem that while the alignment was technically okay on the flat, with the wheels straight, it was pulling at one side on full lock and most noticeable at low speed.

Just a thought.

Paul

Hmm, interesting.

When I got the car, I noticed on the way home, the steering wheel was exactley one notch out of alignment. After correcting that, the car drives very straight and true, but has little self centering, and clunks on slow tight corners but is really smooth on faster or foot down corners.

Carl :-)

It will only take a little air to stop things working ... it will take quite a leak of fluid to notice a drop in the tank or a drip on the floor.

If the clutch was bad but is not getting worse then it has air but it is not getting any more air. If it is getting worse then it is getting more so it would help you if you find a leak.

Oops. Forgot. I did not have a turbo in either the '79 or '83 C900.

I will pass on this ... I don't know what is opposite the nipple.

Charles

The airbox and the airflow meter (and this is a Lucas not a Bosch) are opposite.

The bleed nipple can be very tight, but will usually come undone, I use a

Thanks for both Tom.

Excellent advice from you in the past, and again now. You helped on my old front handbrake 900.

I have a pressure bleeder (uses the spare) and a one man bleeder to catch the fluid, and a cheap tyre compressor.

I'm thinking about how the air got in there. I know they can be a pig to bleed hence the need for a pressure or vacuum bleed. Last owner replaced clutch and fitted new seals to the slave, while he had the engine apart rebuilding and fitted a replacment box.

I wonder if A) when he reassembled the clutch slave he didn't tighten, or cross threaded the master to slave pipe and it has leaked. B) When he fitted the seals, they weren't fitted properly or the piston/bore was damaged. And this has lead to the fluid passing through past the piston/seals?

Thanks for the advice about track rod ends. Pretty much concurs with Paul's thoughts, and my experience in my last 900. Would that kind of problem affect tyre wear and steering centering?

A fairly simple test to discover which end the fluid loss/air ingress is occuring is to push down or pump for a few strokes of the pedal and then hold the pedal down with a piece of broom handle, pinch off the clutch hose remove broom handle and leave for ten mins or so and then [leaving the clamp on] see if you can start the car and put it into gear without pressing the clutch pedal, If you can then the slave is holding pressure and not leaking, and it would be safe to assume that if it holds that amount of pressure that air is not being drawn into that end. From your description of the fault I would put money on the fault being that the rubber seals in the master cylinder have gone soft so that the fluid is bypassing the sewals on the first part of the stroke, the more pressure applied to the seals the more they spread and finally the clutch just about clears. The only other cause could be a badly worn clevis pin at the push rod on the cylinder.

Yes, tyre wear usually happens on the outside edge of one side and on the inside edge of the other. Yes the steering rack has a natural straight ahead position which is why the rack needs to be ``centralised`` . Regards, Tom, Saabtech.

Hmm, Quite possibly then. The car has very little "Self centering", even though it tracks a very true line. At the extremes of lock in either direction, I have to pull it back initially as it almost feels as if it gone "too far", almost like pulling it back over a hump or edge.