Free Saab, suspension broken pre MOT

[rusty998]

As a first time owner of a Saab I am quite excited,  this may or may not have a happy ending, the car belonged to my brother in law,  he's has been using it for the last 6 months up until the MOT ran out, after a slow collection with the car in limp mode we made it home,  the car did run fine 6 months ago but now judders and coughs while puffing black smoke out the back, 

Its a 2005 55 reg Saab 9-3 sport saloon 1.9 tid Vector, it's a nice car to drive, has lots of toys and leather,  but it has not been cleaned in the last 6 months so toys and leather aside it disgusting,  it will stay that way until it behaves itself, I have just been out with my code reader and it has detected 3 codes P0400, P2279 and P0203, now ive checked on the web as to what might be the solution to these, the injector number 3 issue is well documented with much information available,  I'm hoping I can fix this with a loom kit or cable tie, the intake air system leak will probably end up with me covered in diesel Smoots from hunting for the leak, although the throttle body did look rather grim inside when I took the pipework off to it, the exhaust gas recirculation flow issue might be the EGR but it looks to have been replaced along with the inlet Manifold and swirl flaps, closer inspection is required to assess the build up of any gunk/smoots. 

currently the only picture I have of it, I'm sure more pictures will happen but likely to be of the engine parts covered in diesel crap for the time being,

First job will be removing the throttle body for a clean. 

[dozeydustman]

Welcome to my world......

These things get through EGRs

[rusty998]

The EGR will be coming off tomorrow to give me an idea of what it's like, I did this with my last two 1.9 tdi Fabia's to get a general idea of the condition of the engine,  as my brother in law didn't do great long journeys with his job this might be why it's being flagged up?

It should also give me an idea of the condition of the inlet Manifold,  the manifold looks to have been replaced recently but it is a modern Diesel so who knows? 

[Saabnut]

1 hour ago, dozeydustman said:

Welcome to my world......

These things blank off EGRs easily and cheaply

FTFY

[rusty998]

Best to blank it off Saabnut ? And this doesn't cause any other issues doing that ? 

 

[dozeydustman]

23 minutes ago, Saabnut said:

Welcome to my world......

These things blank off EGRs easily and cheaply

FTFY

Now an MoT fail

[Saabnut]

Mine passed recently! Guess it depends on whether the tester notices!

[dozeydustman]

1 hour ago, Saabnut said:

Mine passed recently! Guess it depends on whether the tester notices!

This is true. I can always try. Do you need a tech 2 to turn EGR off?

[rusty998]

I understand that if you remove the EGR then it's easily noticeable and you can fail the MOT,  I thought blanking the EGR off ment you still had it on the car but internally blanked off?

 

[Saabnut]

Good point, if the old valve is there and blanked who will know? Caused no problems on mine at all, and no Tech-II required

[rusty998]

I disconnected injector 3 loom connector yesterday to have a look at the connections for any green build up but didn't find any, I have reconnected this morning and plugged in the obd reader,  I removed the codes and it's now happy to run/idle, I'm sure once I take it for a drive the other codes for air leak and EGR flow will come back, the injector 3 issue might stay away but I'm going to disconnect it again and use some contact cleaner to see if that stops it coming back,  ì did read that a cable tie or two can also help keep everything working so I will give that a go, another issue with this car is all the rear lights are non functioning other than the high stop light,  so where is the fuse box on one of these please  ?

Just been out to look at the bulbs in the back and found green fuz on both connectors with mild melting bulb holder's 

 

[dozeydustman]

I’ve just been outside to mine as I needed to replace an indicator bulb (o/s/f) so while I was under the bonnet I had a look at my new EGR. My p0400 was caused by a dodgy connection. I’ve pushed it home and cleared the code, went out for 10 minute drive and hasn’t put light back on, but i have a feeling it won’t last, so going to get my dad to lock wire it on when I visit my folks this weekend.

The air intake on mine was caused by a swirl flap in the inlet manifold that jumped out, but as there’s no soot all over the top of the engine I would guess yours is going to be elsewhere.

EML probably won’t come on unless your doing 3000rpm or higher for 5 seconds.

[rusty998]

Thanks for the advice dozeydustman , I did think that was to easy, but it is encouraging that it wasn't miss firing and revving freely,  do you know of any Saab only breakers?

[dozeydustman]

Saab specific - no. Saabnut will be able to advise you better here. I tend to ring around local yards and see if they have any on the stacks if I need specific trim parts etc.

The 1.9TiD engine is shared with many Vauxhalls, Opels, Fiats, Alfa Romeos so you should be able to find new spares and service parts at a sensible price if you shop around. Just look for engine type Z19DTH if you have the 150bhp, Z19DT(?) for the 120

[Iamgroot]

Z19DT = 8V 120PS
Z19DTL = 16v 120PS
Z19DTH = 16v 150PS

Yours is 16v from the pics, I think it's a dth, but if you know your power output that will settle it.

Hope that helps! A lot of people run a non total egr blank on these engines, it's an egr blanking plate with a hole drilled in it to let a little bit through, supposedly keeps the light off but limits the door build up.

My experience comes from the Vauxhall's with that engine not the Saab's or fiats or Alfa's but that shouldn't matter.

[rusty998]

Iamgroot I have the Z19DTH 150 

When I drove the 6 months ago it was rather swift, I'm comparing it to my current Skoda Fabia with less ponies,  it's drives nice and is manual so no worries about the box , I have picked up an electrical connector set today from my father's home, hopefully I can take the connectors apart and rewire the damaged section, my Dad would be happy to know that he's still being useful to our family 

[Saabnut]

There are several Saab specialist breakers and many more individuals who break them when they die. Best thing to do is join UKSaabs, still very active for a one make forum of a deceased manufacturer, where all the help, advice and potential Saab parts suppliers will be readily available.

[rusty998]

14 hours ago, Saabnut said:

There are several Saab specialist breakers and many more individuals who break them when they die. Best thing to do is join UKSaabs, still very active for a one make forum of a deceased manufacturer, where all the help, advice and potential Saab parts suppliers will be readily available.

Thank you Saabnut

[Tetleysmooth]

 

https://rawsaab.com/

[rusty998]

Today after I had unblocked the toilet and then the drain my attention turned to the Saab,  I started with repairing the rear lights bulb holder's,  both had been burned and something had to be done as the SIC Saab warning display had flagged up all of the rear lower bulbs as dodgy , the terminal with the black wire's had dissolved on both side's internally,  so out with the gas soldering iron and a plan of action was made, there was no point trying to rewire it as OE due to the damage caused,  so bypassing the plug was the only way, plus if this worked I would save best part of £50 for both, that money can now be pushed towards buying a complete cambelt kit for the engine, some pictures of the damage caused,

So as not to disturb the crumbley plastic I worked out which part of the bulb holder's circuit the black wire's were connected to then sanded through the galvanised layer to make sure I got a good solder joint, then soldered the wire to it, I then drilled a hole and popped the wire through it 

Then to the Saab to see if they worked ?

happy with the results I went to deal with the EGR and associated fault codes, throttle body and EGR removed I could see they both needed a clean so set to them both with carburetor cleaner and G101, they came up ok but I failed to take a picture once done, 

the intake manifold was a little worse than the other parts but also got a good clean with the aid of a small screwdriver, Hoover, tissue, carb cleaner and a work light, again I didn't get a picture but it was clean enough,  I've put it all back together and I will take it out on a run tomorrow to see if it's repaired?

Stay tuned for possibly more diesel filth and general fixing/bodgery 

[dozeydustman]

Those EGR and inlet related stuff are in much worse nick than mine when I did it in April. This car looks like it's not done some major mileage for a while.

If you need a few bits, I have some spare parts courtesy of another shiter. I think there's a rear light cluster. I'll have a look next week as they're in my locker at work. They're from a saloon and as I have a wagon (estate) not all parts are compatible.

[paulplom]

Following with interest. I've got the 9-5 version of this. What's the difference between the 9-3 and 9-5? They both look very similar.

[Saabnut]

9-3 and 9-5 diesel shares the engine and floor pan but just about everything else is different.

[paulplom]

They look about the same size.

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

[rusty998]

13 hours ago, dozeydustman said:

Those EGR and inlet related stuff are in much worse nick than mine when I did it in April. This car looks like it's not done some major mileage for a while.

If you need a few bits, I have some spare parts courtesy of another shiter. I think there's a rear light cluster. I'll have a look next week as they're in my locker at work. They're from a saloon and as I have a wagon (estate) not all parts are compatible.

My brother in law is an estate agent so lots of short journeys in town traffic,  I don't think I need the light cluster but thanks for the offer 

[rusty998]

I have just taken this oot for a drive to get it up to speed, left it in 2nd gear for about a mile maintaining the revs above 3000 rpm, then a blast up the bypass and home, I am glad to report that a check with the obd reader has come back as no codes stored in the module!!! This is a good thing as I have a prospective buyer for my Skoda Fabia,  the Saab will need some new boots on the front as they are done, the rear tyres are Pirelli and have plenty of tread but cracking on the side walls which might be a fail? I will get the tracking done once the MOT has been achieved, 

[rusty998]

Today I have some time to get some more of the pre MOT work done,  I found that the right front shock absorber was wet, I thought at first that I might just give the shock a clean and hope for the best

Now I would not normally do this but cash is low at the moment so I thought give it a go with the intention of changing it when I've got the dosh, but on closer inspection I don't think I want to drive it as it is,

This is the left front shock looking okay, 

So to get this through as far as I can see it's going to get two new front tyres and a right hand side front shock, everything else is working and looks like it's in good order 

[Fraz]

eBay = cheap new shock. 
 

actually an easy shock to replace too. 

[rusty998]

I've found a new pair on Autodoc for a reasonably affordable price,  this will mean that I have to strip down both side's and replace them, I will see if the top mounts and drop links are any good when stripping down, if nothing else I will be certain that the shocks will be okay for a while 

[rusty998]

 

 

the front right shock is in a right old staight,  the spring has recently been changed though so a small win, the top bearings and mounts will be going back on,  the drivers side drop link nut just came off with no problem,  Have a close up of the offending strut, 

The tyres are King Meiler AS-1, they are all season remoulds from Germany,  I watched a documentary about the manufacturing process and thought well I'll give them a try, it was a toss up between two part worn or these, so that's what's going on and I will report back any issues if I have any ?

I will strip down the left side tomorrow and then just got to wait for the shocks to turn up