Saab 9-5, third times a charm with struts

[rainagain]

With my 307 dead it was time to get stuck into my Saab. First things first I gave it a wash. 
 

Dirty

Clean

[rainagain]

Then it was time to swap the battery for one that could start it. I managed to get this one for just £48.50 off eBay thanks to stacking two discount codes. I’ve never heard of the brand so it’ll be interesting to see how long it lasts. With a working battery, I transferred my insurance across so I could drive it to my dad’s garage. I was a bit shocked at my insurance jumping from ~£200 to £292!
 

Deed

 

Shiny

[rainagain]

I had booked an mot near my dad’s in case I was stopped by the Police. Ironically enough the garage actually called me to cancel it as I was driving rather than me cancelling it. 

 

First job was to see why the ecu light was on, I tried my little scan meter but it didn’t power up. Then I tried my Bluetooth reader. Annoyingly I had to unscrew the connector to plug this in. This also wouldn’t power up. I read in the HBOL that the cruise and obd share the same fuse. The cruise worked so I moved on to checking the pins hadn’t backed out. Which they hadn’t. 

 

I went back to the HBOL to check the pin out, it was then I noticed another bit of text saying the obd socket and the CD player shared the same fuse. The CD player wasn’t powering up so a quick check of the fuse box revealed a blown fuse. Double success sort of, working obd socket and sort of working CD player. It powers up but I’ve still got no sound. 

 

I read the codes, fearing the worst but just found one relating to water in the fuel. Which I cleared and it didn’t come back.

[rainagain]

With the fault codes clear it was time to tackle what I think is the hardest outstanding job, changing the abs ring.  
 

The hub nut was very very tight, but after some hammering and some heat I got it off. I the had to use the larger of the two hammers below to remove the strut bolts. Steel bolts passing through aluminium is never good. 

[rainagain]

Spot the ring difference 

I cleaned up the driveshaft and then heated the new ring up and tapped it on. 

[rainagain]

Next up was a quick check of the anti roll bar link.  Annoyingly enough whilst there was zero play in the joint one of the dust boots was knackered so I replaced it with a nice Febi one. 

[gadgetgricey]

Have you got the plastic battery cover?
Might have a spare for postage if you need one.

[grogee]

A fellow Saab fettler! I'll be doing a rear wheel bearing on mine soon. 

I can help with Tech-2 if you are around Midlands...

[gadgetgricey]

38 minutes ago, grogee said:

A fellow Saab fettler! I'll be doing a rear wheel bearing on mine soon. 

I can help with Tech-2 if you are around Midlands...

I am, but not using them at the moment. 9-5 in storage and 9-3 conv, due to make an appearance in a couple of months,
Cheers for offer though.

[rainagain]

1 hour ago, gadgetgricey said:

Have you got the plastic battery cover?
Might have a spare for postage if you need one.

That would be great, thanks. I don’t suppose you have a battery clamp as well? I’m thinking of robbing the one off my 307 as it’s not been picked up yet. 

[gadgetgricey]

will have a look tomorrow to see if its still there. Had a clear out a while ago, so not sure.

[rainagain]

Next on the hit list last night was the lack of wind screen washers. I started with the obvious and looked in the fuse boxes. Annoyingly my HBOL seems to have been written for an entirely different car despite being for the facelift model and the fuse numbering didn’t match what I had. I took the brute force approach and just checked every fuse. I thought I had a winner when I found this. 

This didn’t restore the washer but I now have sound from the radio!  
 

I moved on to trying to have a look at the pump itself to see if it has power. It looks like the tyre might have been rubbing just a wee bit on the arch liner. 

[rainagain]

I took out liner fixings and as the bumper was unclipped I got a look at the pump. 

Interesting wiring here, what he have is two wires twisted together under the gaffer tape, these run to a connector which has two small jumper wires, which then run to the pump. Being exposed everything was green with corrosion. Whilst trying to check the voltage with my meter I actually got the pump to burst back into life. So it looks like once I’ve ripped this mess out I’ll have a working pump. 

[rainagain]

During testing of the pump I started the car up to move it and I noticed the ecu light was back on. 

A quick google suggested the fuel filter needed the water from it drained. I eventually found the filter near the fuel tank and discovered the sensor was missing and the wiring was chopped and wrapped in tape. Luckily it looks like only the sensor wiring is damaged and can be unplugged. So I’ve ordered a new sensor and filter. 

[rainagain]

Talking about starting the car, it takes a fair few turns to start. Once it has started it chucks out clouds of unburnt diesel, then settles down to a nice idle. Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? AFAIK modern diesels only need glow plugs when it’s below zero and I’m assuming the compression is fine as it drives very well. 

[Jazoli]

11 minutes ago, rainagain said:

Talking about starting the car, it takes a fair few turns to start. Once it has started it chucks out clouds of unburnt diesel, then settles down to a nice idle. Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? AFAIK modern diesels only need glow plugs when it’s below zero and I’m assuming the compression is fine as it drives very well. 

Test the glowplugs and see if they actually work, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they were dead, or the relay controlling them was dead, it will affect starting causing symptoms like you are experiencing.

[Saabnut]

2 hours ago, rainagain said:

Talking about starting the car, it takes a fair few turns to start. Once it has started it chucks out clouds of unburnt diesel, then settles down to a nice idle. Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? AFAIK modern diesels only need glow plugs when it’s below zero and I’m assuming the compression is fine as it drives very well. 

Check inside the glove box etc, I had forgotten the PO told me the fuel filter sensor had been removed but he had a new one in the car. I did not bother and don't remember taking it out so it should still be there somewhere. The reluctant starting only started after it was laid up, it was fine when in use so should be something simple, glowplugs being favourite. These TiD engines always need glowplugs heating when cold regardless of ambient temperature in my experience.

[rainagain]

I finally got the washer pump wiring bodge out. Just drink this in. 

The two red wires were twisted to the car’s wiring before being covered in gaffer tape, then they were twisted onto the stubs of the wiring for the black connector. I’m no idea where this connector came from but it didn’t fit the pump. Next via some spade connectors the wiring was extended to the pump. I have no idea why anyone would have done this. It’s quite strange. 

[rainagain]

After cleaning up the car’s wiring using some old battery acid I had, I soldered two new wires onto it. Heat shrinking each join and then covering the whole lot. 

 

I then crimped on two small spades and covered everything with silicone sealant. Bit of a mess with the sealant as my tube had gone off at the end and I had to cut a hole in the side and squeeze the stuff out, but at least it should stop the corrosion happening again. 

 

Was this the screen washer fixed? Sort of, I now have a pump the pumps but all it does is soak the black material attach to the underside of the bonnet. It looks like all three nozzles are blocked so this is next on to do list. 

[rainagain]

Also does anyone know what this incredibly rusty piping is. To me it looks like a power steering cooler. I noticed it just behind the bumper. I want to protect it somehow but I’m scared to even wire brush it. 

[grogee]

11 minutes ago, rainagain said:

Also does anyone know what this incredibly rusty piping is. To me it looks like a power steering cooler. I noticed it just behind the bumper. I want to protect it somehow but I’m scared to even wire brush it. 

Can't see where you are but is yours an auto? My 9-5 has rusty pipes at the front. I've bought some replacements but haven't fitted them yet. They go to/from the trans oil cooler

[grogee]

@Wgl2019 knows loads about these

[rainagain]

Mines not an auto, the piping looks a bit larger than yours. 

[Wgl2019]

11 hours ago, grogee said:

@Wgl2019 knows loads about these

I know what I've had to fix on mine (which may be described as loads!)

Looks like power steering cooler line to me. I replaced when I did the front subframe, the lines are different on the petrol and diesel models iirc. 

Replacements are available if the worst happens but not cheap.

 

 

[Vantman]

If you need a set of pipes try here---https://www.saabits.com/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=power+steering

[Wgl2019]

41 minutes ago, Vantman said:

If you need a set of pipes try here---https://www.saabits.com/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=power+steering

and remember that there is a 10% discount code for members of the Uksaab forum.....

 

[rainagain]

On 3/2/2022 at 7:25 AM, Wgl2019 said:

I know what I've had to fix on mine (which may be described as loads!)

Looks like power steering cooler line to me. I replaced when I did the front subframe, the lines are different on the petrol and diesel models iirc. 

Replacements are available if the worst happens but not cheap.

 

 

Yep this looks like it, I might try and give it a gentle wire brush then some sort of rust preventer. Considering this is four years newer than my pug and 55,000 miles fresher it’s amazing how much corrosion is on various parts like this. GM cost cutting? 

[rainagain]

I pulled the material off the bonnet (finding evidence of nest at the same time!) and had a look at the nozzles. I’d initially thought the nozzles were blocked and tried my nozzle cleaning kit 

 

Despite it’s lovely wooden case cleaning the nozzles had no effect. I took one of the nozzles off and found the right angle part of it appeared to be blocked. I took one apart and it appears to be a one way valve (there is a rubber disc in the bottom part). However whenever I put it together it seems to stop all flow. 
 

It’s almost like the spring is too strong. If I remove the black plastic cup (the item second from the bottom in the pic) it lessens the tension and it allows some flow whilst still functioning as a one way valve.  I looked on eBay and found people selling these washer jets but they want £8 each! Which seems a bit steep to me.
 

I’m not sure what I can do with these, the middle washer jets has lots it’s cover as well. I’m wondering if I should just gut them all and make a cover for the one that’s missing it. Or I could nip down the scrappies and grab another set. 

[gadgetgricey]

On 2/27/2022 at 9:42 PM, rainagain said:

That would be great, thanks. I don’t suppose you have a battery clamp as well? I’m thinking of robbing the one off my 307 as it’s not been picked up yet. 

found the cover, pm me your address and will try and get it on the post. Fairly sturdy thing, so will just be wrappped in a bin bag with a label attached..

Sorry no battery clamp.

[rainagain]

6 minutes ago, gadgetgricey said:

found the cover, pm me your address and will try and get it on the post. Fairly sturdy thing, so will just be wrappped in a bin bag with a label attached..

Sorry no battery clamp.

Pm sent