Potential New Owner and Member

My advice would be to take the old '92 Volvo back off your son,... & give him something cool...

As long as the SID display is good, there is really no problems with the 900 S model equipped with the 2,3 litre 4-banger. No direct ignition cassettes to go bad, no timing belts to fail, etc.

If the SID shows all it's pixels then hey you're set. It a 5-speed?

I'd like to see frequent oil changes if you have all the reciepts.

Huh? Of course it has a DI cassette. All (recent) SAAB engines do...

I might go with smaarty on this one, the 2.3 has a distributor coming right off the end of the camshaft. I don't really see the need for a distributor AND a DI...

Oh and by the way, I believe the 900 I used to own was a 1995, it had glass square headlights, not the aero type plastic ones.

Jerry

Well I'll be damned. I just looked in the EPC and sure enough the non-turbocharged 4 cylinders did have conventional distributor type ignitions. My 98 900S turbo sure has the DI cassette.

I meant to say 1985, is that just me wishing I wasn't so damn old?

All post 1994 NG900's do not have DI cassettes, some do some don't.

Yeah, I just figured that out. It looks like the turbo charged engines do, but the NA 2.3L engines don't.

G'day Jerry - did you buy the Saab? I have a 1995 900S and although I love it to bits, it's had it's share of problems. Annoying things like the aircond compressor, the radio, the water pump, and this little plastic gizmo in the gearbox which kept breaking and stranding me in the middle of nowhere. But it's all fixed now and all worth it. And the engine itself is beautiful, it just goes and goes. Suspension - great, body - no rust, steering - fab, etc. My partner has an old Volvo 260 and it's a sturdy reliable vehicle (doesn't break often).... but he much prefers the Saab for it's driviing experience... it's definitely the more enjoyable of the two to drive. cheers, Cathryn.

Hi Cathryn, I will be going down on Wednesday to see it, evidently it had a bad tranny mount which is getting fixed. The dealer swears it will be out of the shop on wednesday. Here is a picture...

I am pretty excited, we used to own a very nice air cooled beetle, which we would take for drives up A1A between Daytona and Jacksonville, nice drive with the highway right on the ocean and no homes or condo's. I am really looking forward to this in a convertible, as we have convertible weather year round where I live. I am also very mechanically inclined, I used to be a service manager at an auto dealership, and I do have a complete set of snap-on tools and the ability to use them. I am not afraid of fixing the car, and jobs like head gaskets and timing belts are little trouble. Suspension work in a PITA though without a lift. I am only really worried about aquiring parts.

Jerry

Oh, here is a pic of my Beetle...

I would also be interested in hearing more about that tranny plastic thing, specifically what it is so I can be prepared should I ever get stranded.

Jerry

With parts, we've found a place called European Auto parts in Adelaide (Australia). They're great, friendly, ship quickly, and well priced. I imagine there must be somewhere like that near you? So far, I've not had any trouble finding the right part.

Except for the little plastic gizmo. I don't recall what it was called but what would happen is the gearbox would 'stick' in gear, usually 1st or second, or else the gearbox would just go completely sloppy, as if it had lost all gearing. I had to take it back to the shop about 4 times before they finally found this little round piece of plastic about the size of a five cent piece.The first few times I think it had 'popped off' wherever it was meant to come from; the last time, it actually broke. I think it's from the very centre of the transmission, if that helps? Hopefully someone more mechanically minded than me might have a clue what I'm talking about!

All the best, Cathryn.

That helps a ton! It sounds like a shifter bushing for a manual transmission, I had tons of problems with the same part on my Beetle, hard to get to, about a 2$ part though, and it is practically impossible to change gears without it. The good news is the one I am looking at is an Automatic!

Jerry