Steve79 fleet - Mileage and Mercurys

[Steve79]

On the way to collect a product from the land of pickled herring and meatballs.

Todays transport sponsored by my mothers well worn Daihatsu Charade

[Wingz123]

That’ll be to ikea then.... will you get it in the boot ok?

[Steve79]

Boot will almost be big enough to fit the charade into!

[Steve79]

Mission achieved

[The Moog]

That was quick!

[Steve79]

Bristol to bath only 25mins!

[The Moog]

No breakfast shot but bonus points for the Ma

[Steve79]

Jealous that Jim Bell had acquired such a fine Swedish automobile and somewhat relieved that i did not have to burden myself with yet another purchase, i concluded that i should really get on with selling the XJ8 or the Turbo Kettle.

 

However....

 

This is where we are today

 

 

Its a late 2005 Saab 9-5 2.0 Vector Auto estate. 

 

I always kind of regretted selling the 2.3 LPT estate that i had. i didn't really give it a fair chance and should have invested a little more time in it. With most of the 9-5 estates that are available currently are either stellar mileage (yes i know saab are impervious to high mileage) or lower mileage and stellar prices. I prefer to spend as little as i can and want as much as i can for it. This sometimes works out and others failing spectacularly.

 

I'd seen this advertised on scumtree three weeks ago for an extremely derisory amount and had sent a the seller a message, but never heard back, hence my interest in the one Jim Bell now owns. Fortuitously, the same day that he bought it the seller from gumtree contacted me. Arrangements were thus made to view.

 

It was originally advertised as a non runner but the owner had someone come to check it over and had got it running.

 

It transpires that the owner has had the car since 2011 and up until 6 months ago had been the paragon of reliability. The car had been used to go to work and upon restarting at the end of the day had failed to provide electricity. A duff battery was diagnosed, replaced and all was well for about a week until another failure resulted in a repeat performance and then was abandoned on his driveway.

 

Jump starting was a no-go as the battery was completely dead but with a new battery we were off. The tappets quietened down after 10-15 seconds and idled and drove fine. Monies exchanged and off home we went.

 

About 10 mins into the journey i was greeted by this

 

I knew the oil was low so not a major concern but the battery warning light explained a lot. Duff alternator me thinks! But again not a surprise as i had a feeling that this would be the case and factored it into the offer i made to the owner.

 

I turned all non essential electrics off (inc night panel) and made it home ok.

 

So what do we have?

 

 

All Pixels present - check

No Faulty aircon stepper motors or flaps - check

Got no wood - check

 

Grotty - check

 

Delphi check reveals nothing untoward aside from a few errant airbag codes.

 

Its in chronic need of a service and there is a boost leak somewhere but on the whole is quite a nice drive and am well happy. 

 

It seems to go a lot better than the 2.3 as well with less turbo lag. The overall plan is to tidy it up, and get Karl at Noobtune to work his magic. Currently 150bhp but 220bhp is easy and cheap to obtain.

 

I'm away for a few days now but will get a mutimeter on it when i get back but a dodgy alternator won't be a surprise!

[Saabnut]

If there is no history of a sump drop and strainer clean, do it now, if not sooner! This is what has killed most 9-5s, and after doing it, make sure it has the updated PCV kit and only use fully synthetic oil, not semi.

 

Sorry if I am teaching you to suck eggs, but with these things done it will live forever, if not it will die soon!

[jonathan_dyane]

Oooh mind, looks lovely but the alternator is a bit of a pill! Might be worth dropping the subframe and rebushing it while you’re on, and dropping the sump...

[SiC]

If there is no history of a sump drop and strainer clean, do it now, if not sooner! This is what has killed most 9-5s, and after doing it, make sure it has the updated PCV kit and only use fully synthetic oil, not semi.

 

Sorry if I am teaching you to suck eggs, but with these things done it will live forever, if not it will die soon!

Isn't this likely the revised engine (silver cam cover) with the revised PCV system that is far less likely to cause sludging?

[jonathan_dyane]

They still do it though, alas.

[Saabnut]

Isn't this likely the revised engine (silver cam cover) with the revised PCV system that is far less likely to cause sludging?

 

Yes, it is, so only a 99% chance of imminent death!

 

Seriously, they are much better than the early ones, but I would still do it, it is far from uncommon on the later ones.

[Steve79]

Yep, revised pcv were fitted from '04 model year onwards. Just got to ensure that only fully synth oil is put in it.

 

Apparently the oil was done within the last 12k, yeah right! It's as black as night!

[clayts450]

If there is no history of a sump drop and strainer clean, do it now, if not sooner! This is what has killed most 9-5s, and after doing it, make sure it has the updated PCV kit and only use fully synthetic oil, not semi.

 

Sorry if I am teaching you to suck eggs, but with these things done it will live forever, if not it will die soon!

 

Is this the same on the early 9-3s out of interest ? From what year was this no longer a 'thing' to worry about ? (Like Steve I find myself looking at Saab estates more and more these days)

 

EDIT - Oh hang on, that developed quicker than I thought, seems to have been answered already

[SiC]

Is this the same on the early 9-3s out of interest ? From what year was this no longer a 'thing' to worry about ? (Like Steve I find myself looking at Saab estates more and more these days)

 

EDIT - Oh hang on, that developed quicker than I thought, seems to have been answered already

The Saab 9-3 built from 2003 on had a complete different engine to the 9-5. The 9-5 engine has a linage right back to the 80s and before. The 9-3NG engine was a mostly clean sheet design done in conjunction with GM.

[Jim Bell]

That looks horrible. Well done!

No wood and no boost gauge. Misery!

[GeordieInExile]

"I turned all non essential electrics off (inc night panel)"

 

Sorry, are you saying Night Panel is non essential?!

[Steve79]

Turned on night panel to save volts

[Steve79]

Multimeter put on car, lack of participation from alternator causes this...

[Steve79]

Having had a think about this, i'm actually wondering if the alternator might not be shot after all.

 

When i first picked the car up there was no hint of any warning lights on the dash, even when test driving it. It was only when i accelerated hard that that the battery light came on and didn't go away.

 

It looks pretty oily around the alternator area and am wondering whether the belt has got contaminated and is slipping. It also might explain the momentary whirring noise when the car is first started.

 

Any thoughts?

[Saabnut]

Possible, certainly, but it is far from unheard of for an alternator to fail on these

[jonathan_dyane]

Sounds unlikely although given the alternators *handy location I can see why you’re looking at alternatives...

[MikeR]

11.6v with the engine running is not good .....  its not even a full battery !

[Steve79]

Due to new house purchasing, holiday and other life events, I'm ashamed to say that I've down absolutely zilch to the Saab since buying it.

However, this will be changing next week where it'll be going in for MOT and having a new alternator fitted.

I've also found myself considering fitting this

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F133121524606

https://www.saabplanet.com/new-saab-9-5-product-seamlessly-integrates-tablet-and-stereo-installations/

[Zelandeth]

That's a lovely neat solution to getting a modern entertainment/navigation system fitted isn't it (if that's your thing anyway).

Never seen anyone putting something that polished looking together before...well impressed.

 

[Steve79]

I've neglected this thread for too long, like the Saab!

Its been sat unused since i bought it as life, new home purchase and a family holiday have conspired against me. Something had to be done as i'd procrastinated long enough!

It needs a new alternator, i'm too tight to buy a new one and don't trust the cheap refurbs on ebay or anything that Eurofartparts have to offer. 

Luckily Faceache yielded a suitable candidate less than a mile from my house. 

Right year and 140amp alternator less than 6mths old for £50 - WIN!

I got distracted upon arrival though due to the badge on the back

Hmmm, Aero you say! No sir its actually an Aero Hot that was running about 425bhp before it suffered catastrophic OMGHGF. 

Its owned by a UKSAABS member who's had many 9-5's and has just bought a 59 plate Aero 2.3 running a Noobtune stage 3 remap, about 350bhp.

Lets just say i thusly purchased a mitsubishi badged item from under the bonnet along with the alternator. I'm also pondering on the Bi-Xenons as well as i can have these for a ridiculously cheap price.

If anyone is interested, its still got a stag lpg kit attached with wheel well tank. The interior is also complete and is unmarked tan leather (non ventilated). SID is also in perfect working order. If anyone wants any parts let me know asap as he's weighing anything thats let by the end of next week.

Its going in for MOT next week and then the ECU is off to Karl at Noobtune for a stage2 remap.

[Fraz]

I do like a nice Saab..

[Steve79]

Sop, the day hath arrived and the man from the ministry is inspecting fitness for her majesty's highway. It's not looking too bad.

However, the man from Del Monte arrived and he say NO!

 

 

 

 

 

Not the end of the world. Just a bit of G3 on the lights and new bulbs and wiper blades.

Because Saab, the subframe has got to be dropped to get the alternator out, which is going to take a few hours. Told my mate who's doing the mot and work to drop the sump while he's at it and clear any shit out and refill with fully synth and a new filter.

Watch this space...

[Steve79]

Current state of affairs. The path of least resistance has now been travelled and subframe has been dropped.

There doesn't seem to be an easier way of getting the alternator out other than this method. It has still taken 6hrs to get to this stage due to some of the bolts being practically inaccessible even to those with hands the size of Donald Trumps (very small)

Interestingly the alternator looks brand new but is completely full of oil. Fingers are pointing at the oil filler cap which was loose when i first looked at the car before I bought it. It requires one to push down with some force and then twist to close it rather than just twising closed like a conventional cap.

It seems the PO or the garage he used for servicing just twisted it, thus explaining why that side of the engine is mired in oil.

Now the subframe is out, the sump is getting dropped for a thorough scrubbing and then engine refilling with fully synthetic which is the ONLY oil that should be put in these engines.