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Saab 9-5 Idle Stall problems

Hello all.. I apologize up front for the long post, I'm detail oriented.

I recently purchased a 1999 9-5 SE 2.3L T Auto w/ 60K miles. The price ($8250 US) was good enough to justify dealing with some issues. The car runs absolutely fantastic on the open road. That 'sport' transmission mode is too cool. All components and features work.

The car had 'check engine' when I bought it, and two trips to the dealer fixed it up. Incorrect plugs, Trionic settings out of whack (1st trip - $225). Light came on again. Needed software updates from Saab due to component communication issues (being that I am a software engineer, it's ironic), (ironic Trionic?), anyway.. They did not charge me anything for the second visit. I now have ~350 miles on it with no warning lights. I must say I am just utterly impressed by the dudes at Ken Batchelor Saab/Hummer in San Antonio, TX. Absolutely superb service. However..

I am experiencing the problem which I have seen many other posts about. The car idles fine at times. It always idles fine in Park or Neutral. When I drop it into gear, it shudders and sometimes dies. Usually it just shudders and then recovers, until the next time I stop/go. When driving, I come to a stop and it shudders and often dies. Hot/Cold does not seem to make a difference in the behavior. Interestingly, when I got the car back from Saab, it did not have these problems until I had about 120 miles on it. It seemed to degrade over time. Now it is fairly consistent. It also seems to jerk around a bit when decelerating. Holding a steady velocity, there is no noticeable roughness, and acceleration is good. But transitions from foot on gas, to off, to on again seem.. not quite right.

I should also note that when I drove the car home from Houston (with CE light on), the car shut down (died) at 65 MPH, about 4-5 times. Flipped it into neutral, turned key off/on and cranked right up while still coasting.. running beautifully. This has not recurred since the dealer visits.

So, from what I've read, the (home cured) possibilities are:

  1. Throttle body needs cleaning..
  2. Crankshaft Position Sensor faulty.
  3. Turbo Bypass valve leaking.
  4. DI failing.

I cleaned the throttle body last night. Visual inspection revealed a very clean looking throat. While it pepped up for a few minutes, no real change in behavior.

The DI cassette 'looks' good, no signs of oil around plugs or coils. It may even be a replacement cassette.

Sucked on a vacuum hose (as best I could), and there was Zero give. So bypass valve should be ok, right?

Any other suggestions before I drop the $60 on the CPS??

Hell, for the first guy who hits the nail on the head, I'll paypal you a... ummm... Liter?

Thanks in advance for any help..

Reply to
Jef Gearhart
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I have a 1992 saab 900 and have been having some of your same symtoms. Went to the dealer today and they repalced the air mass meter. Any way why not check it before you bring it to the dealer. Check the tiny wire inside to see if it is broken if it looks ok then you can do another test. Disconnect the meter where the air goes through not the wires. Run the car till it warms up. After you shut the car off within seconds the little wire inside should glow for about 5 seconds. If it does your meter is ok. You might want a second person involved to shut car down while you watch the wire cause it happens fast. also could be o2 sensor on exhaust good luck papa

Reply to
PAPAGENE4JACK

Thanks papa. It may be a while before I have the chance to check it out, but I will keep you posted.

Just an update to anyone interested. The rough idle problem continued to degrade, until finally, yesterday, the old CE light reappeared. Very strange. Whenever it gets reset, the car runs great for a time (last time ~150 miles before first sign of trouble). Then the condition deteriorates until finally, the CE light comes back. I am told that the fuel/fire controls go into a default mode when this happens. Which might explain why the car acutally runs ok when the CE light is on! No stalling or rough idle.

Also, it would appear that the more the condition deteriorates, the worse the gas mileage gets. And it actually recovers a bit with the CE light on. So that means the computer is juicing up the Fuel delivery, right?

Reply to
Jef Gearhart

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