I want to beat a Saab engineer to death with a blunt spanner...

I've owned a whole bunch of cars, including (the ones I can remember) Saab, BMW, Rover, Volvo, Honda, Citroen, Renault, Triumph, Mini, and a few others - dating from 1968 to 1996. I have to say that overall, the C900 wins hands down for ease of maintenance! (The e30 comes a close second, in case it's listening)

[a] This was a mistake they made on the CIS models. It's dead easy on the carbed and the electromechanical bosch injection setups. [b] Try doing one on a 9000!

Erm, ok, you found the big one. ;-)

I never try to undo anything without emptying half a can of plusgas on it, and never put it back together without big dollops of copper grease.

This one puzzles me - what could be easier than the PS belt??

A bit tight, but far preferable to having to crawl under the car to get at it, no?

I gave up on removing drain plugs a looong time ago. All my oil comes out through the dipstick tube by suction.

The gearbox is a major weak point in the C900. It's an awful, awful gearbox.

One word - PlusGas!

Grunff ( snipped-for-privacy@ixxa.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

I'm *used* to Citroens... My mind works in a chevron kind of way...

Not wrong.

Heh. Thanks, no thanks.

That *WAS* with PlusGas....

Doing a PS belt on a car where the pump pivots. The pivot bolt was seized solid in the body and on the bracket - the nut was off completely, but the pump WOULD not move, without severe leverage abuse. Yep, PlusGas used.

You've done one on a CX, then? - No, it was the size of the one that was on there. No way would it have come out - hence under poor maintenance rather than design, although it would have been tight with the alternator and cooling pipes on.

Mine seems OK at the mo. Fifth is a bit of an acquired skill, but it'll now reverse without a death grip on the lever.

Hell, yes. Ally head. Stone cold, plenty of Copaslip going back in.

Did you swear at it enough? I suspect not.

The good news is that it's very rare for them to grenade - they fail slowly over tens of thousands of miles, getting louder + louder as the do.

Grunff ( snipped-for-privacy@ixxa.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Oh, yes. It got sworn at..... The only way it would move AT ALL was to lever it firmly with a prybar braced against a lump hammer. Even that got movement of a few mm at best.

Unfortunately, my Swedish doesn't stretch far enough to threaten it sufficiently in it's native language.

It was a concern. Since this is quiet at the mo, that's good. BTW - ATF is the right stuff? It's what was in there, and plenty of it.

??? Noooo!!!

This is a manual, right?

Or did you mean the PS pump?

Air filter is easy, if you undo the intake bellows first...

When a standard small filter is fitted, it's no problem to remove. Never had a problem myself, but I suppose if it's a turbo there's more stuff in the way...

Grunff ( snipped-for-privacy@ixxa.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Yep, manual 5-spd.

The stuff that came out was DEFINITELY ATF. Red, thin. Looked like ATF, smelled like ATF, tasted like ATF.

Hmmm. The Haynes Book'o'Lies reckons thin engine oil. S'pose ATF's a better substitute than if I'd chucked gear oil in, though....

It seems to work nicely enough at the mo.

chris ( snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

I did that. Then I put it back on. It made no difference. Luckily only four of the six self-tappers were still there. Even more luckily, they still had heads.

Take the self-tappers out holding the base of the canister to the AFM (or whatever it is) on the side of the injection pump.

Remove the 10mm bolt holding the canister strap.

Wiggle the old filter out, wiggle the new filter in.

Reassembly is the reversal of the removal procedure. Bwahahahahaha.

Engine oil (10w40) is the recommended. I've also used Redline MTL and Honda MTF, both of which work really well.

I really don't know enough about ATF properties (particularly film strength) to comment on what will happen.

in article w37xb.4070$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfep4-glfd.server.ntli.net, chris at snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote on 26/11/2003 19:22:

Thank the Almighty Adrian doesn't have an intercooler and associated pipes. There's acres of room to swing an air filter around in a 900i :)

Paul

Don't use ATF its got friction enhancers in it. Manuals don't like it at all. AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sure it wasn't ford MTF thats also red, smells like ATF and tastes like it but isn't its not got the friction enhancers in it. In normal 900's I use Rover MTF for Honda based models as its actualy the Honda MTF but 4 quid cheaper. In all my tuned stuff (the Saab and others) I use Royal Purple Oils. Not cheap but the C900 box loves em.

Matt

Ah, friction enhancers eh? There's a disaster in a bottle...

Strange...The LT77 'box used in rovers and jags and land rovers and sherpa vans uses ATF ?

**-** ( snipped-for-privacy@btinternet.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

- Thinking about it, I don't know if it's *that* bad - I know that Citroen LHM systems recommend engine oil as an emergency alternative, but the 'merkins tend to run them with ATF (cheap..) and don't really suffer problems except for slight accelerated wear over thousands of miles - and this in 2500psi hydraulic systems that don't have seals between piston and cylinder, as the tolerances are so tight.

Gawd knows... I have no idea when/if/where it was last changed - but the service history is complete and 99% Saab specialist. Oh, except for the Mr Clutch receipt in there...

Hiho. I was planning on getting it back up on the ramp again before we go - get some skid plating under there, and fit the coil spring assisters if/when they turn up - so looks like it's drain and refill time.

The Volvo M45/46/47 manuals do as well.

Bill

Try changing the filter on a 2.0 litre 9000 - it's located in the rear

- you need to turn the wheels to the left, lift the car with a floor jack, snake your body between the wheel and jack, then then bend your left arm up and around frame members, and drive shaft to reach the filter. As you attempt to work your wrench onto the filter, you'll more often than not catch onto tubes that are in too close a proximity to the filter, and then once you do hook onto it, you need to be mindful of the hot wire your wrench may come in contact with feeding the starter. Then comes the fun part - as the filter comes loose, your arm is bathed in hot, dirty oil, and if you forget to place a large quantity of paper towels between the frame members and the filter, you'll collect a pool of oil that drips out onto the drive shaft, which steadily flings it off onto your exhaust, creating such a lovely smell.

I was pleasantly surprised when I got my 2.3 litre 9000, to find the filter up front

All of which are an older design of box where the friction enhancers will help the synchro's "bind". Gear oil can be too slippy or too grippy. Depends on the box. And from experience I'd say it really wasn't a good idea to use it in the Saab box. Theres ATF and MTF for a reason. All this is just based on my personal experience of course, judge for yourself what thats worth but I am known for buidling the odd car, the odd very fast car.

Matt

See above post