Saab 9-5, third times a charm with struts

[mintwth]

1 hour ago, rainagain said:

another hose supplier

Think Roose Motorsport were making Saab hoses in a recent Car SOS. Could be worth a call

[rainagain]

I've been getting the 'water in fuel' warning popping up on the dash board now and again as well as a constantly illuminated ECU light on the dash. When I read the fault codes all I get is 'water in fuel'. When I got the car it was missing the water sensor for the fuel filter so I fitted a cheap one from ebay. I drained the fuel filter but it made no difference. I changed the fuel filter when I got it so it was probably due a change anyway.

My Saab has lost the fuel filter cover so the filter is a bit of a mess, it also looks like it's been seeping a wee bit of fuel.

Part of the yellow seal for the wiring plug is knackered and sticking out as well, just as I was starting to undo the filter it naturally started to rain.

So I had the joys of lying on wet cardboard in the rain. I removed the sensor and then the old filter. I used some of the diesel in the old filter to coat the seals on the new filter and screwed it back on with the sensor. It felt crap whilst spinning it on, you could feel the rubber seal catching. I started the car and stuck my head back under so I could watch diesel drip out the top of the new filter, excellent. I unscrewed the new filter and found that the bit of ground I was lying on was lower than under the filter so all the diesel that spilled out made it's way to where I lying, leaving me stinking of diesel for the rest of the day. I smeared some Vaseline round the seals this time and refitted it, perfect no more leaks.

Annoyingly this didn't clear the water in fuel issue so I'll probably have to buy a new sensor, I think I'll just grab a genuine Saab one from NeoBros on ebay for £20 and be done with it. 

 

 

 

[rainagain]

My new sensor arrived genuine Saab no less.

Looks like it’s been leaking a bit. (I flipped the car upside down for easier access).

I removed the old sensor and having learnt from last time I collected the diesel rather than letting it run down my driveway on to me. 

However I cleverly kicked this over and ended up lying in it anyway. I fitted the new sensor but I found it was actually leaking from the top of the filter. I couldn’t twist it any tighter with just my hands, luckily I had this jubilee clip lying around from when I fitted my new boost hose. I stuck it on and managed another 1/4 turn. 

Double success no more leaks and no more ecu light for water in fuel. 

[rainagain]

Next job was to finally replace the front struts after this happened. 

Needed to chop off the remains of the old drop link.

Then I had to unclip the brake hose and ABS sensor cable. The brake hose was well rusted in there. You can also see the state of the bolts holding the strut in  

I managed to get everything off but the bolts have a grooved section so you can’t unscrew them, you need to tap them out. This result in both of them have smeared threads.

I managed to restore the threads with a needle file but I’d love to know what I could have done to prevent this. 

[rainagain]

I also removed the track rod end with play in it, that has been an advisory on the last mot. A quick chop with the angle grinder had it moving.

The brake pipe and ABS cable was removed on the other side, it was in much better condition.

Then both struts were removed. 

[rainagain]

On 13/01/2023 at 10:03, rainagain said:

I just ordered two rear springs from neo bros, with express postage this comes to just under £120. After I placed the order I just realised for £30 more I could have gotten two front springs as well! Doh. No doubt one of the fronts will snap in the next couple of weeks. 

I remember writing this, check out the N/S strut.

Feckin spring is snapped. 

Just what I don’t need. Checked Eurocarparts, they are still mental and want £100 a spring. 
 

This is where it gets weird the O/S spring is in better condition (possibly a replacement?) and still has the part number on it. 

I googled this and this is a standard rather than sport spring. I’ve already fitted sport springs to the back so I better fit them to the front as well. I called round local factors the next morning and they all want ~£170 for two springs and have to order them in. Found some on eBay but with a weeks delivery.

So cheap! 😭 but too long to wait. 

[rainagain]

Back to Neobros. I figured lowered is about the same as Sport so ordered two of these.

Rather annoying I placed this order first thing Saturday morning and paid extra for pre 12pm delivery. But I’ve since found out they don’t post on a Saturday or the coming bank holiday so I’m now without a car until Wednesday. 

[grogee]

13 hours ago, rainagain said:

However I cleverly kicked this over and ended up lying in it anyway.

This. Only us experienced mechanics can enjoy this level of skill. 

Lately I've mainly been bathing in engine oil, but had a brief spell showering in petrol last year. 

[rainagain]

Springs arrived on Wednesday, before I fitted them I had a coolant leak to fix. The heater bypass valve was leaking.

Access to this is terrible with it being buried at the very back of the engine. The guides online recommended using a set of remote spring clamp removal pliers. The ones I got off eBay for £8 were pretty crap and I had to use a pair of mole grips to squeeze them enough to get the spring clamps off. They did definitely make it easier though. 

I fitted the new valve and transferred across the solenoid valve and the vacuum pipe. 

[rainagain]

The springs were just stuck in a box together so some slight damage had occurred in transit, not the end of the world but entirely avoidable. 

These are sold as 35mm lowering springs. My sport suspension is already 17mm lower than standard, so these should be 35-17mm = 18mm lower than the current setup. They look a lot shorter than this.

[rainagain]

A sensible person would have stopped here but I needed a car so I was sure they would be fine. I stripped the old shocks and amazingly the bump stops and dust covers were all in good condition. I’d bought new top mounts, the old ones felt fine but I replaced them anyway. 

Assembling each strut was very easy, as the springs were so short I didn’t even need to use spring compressors. 

I had new drop links to fit each side as well.

N/S done 

And O/S complete with new track rod end.

I slapped some rust proofing in each wheel arch when the struts were out as there was easy access. 

[rainagain]

And this is where the job went to shit, I lowered the car off both jacks and found it was low, not 18mm lower than it used to be but stupidly low. When I was young and daft I ruined the ride on a Corsa by fitting -60mm springs to it. My Saab felt lower than this. 
 
There’s no way I’d be able to get this over a speed bump. 

I was ‘slightly disappointed’ at this point. I’d wasted money on next day delivery, which wasn’t and money on springs which are useless. I cursed neobros and hit buy it now on the eBay springs. I’m going to complain to neobros, there’s no way these are only 35mm lowering springs, I’d say they are least 70mm. 

[Saabnut]

I stopped using Neos many years ago as their standards had become "we can make more" rather than quality. After many complaints it was mutually agreed they would stop advertising on UKS.

[Split_Pin]

The coils on those springs look thinner as well and not as beefy as the originals. Definitely not up to the job of supporting a heavy 9-5.

Decades ago, MMV Performance in Stirling sold me -50mm springs for my Corsa B but it was lowered more like 90-100mm as they were Nova springs and much lighter duty. They were almost fully compressed under the higher weight of the Corsa.

[rainagain]

11 hours ago, Saabnut said:

I stopped using Neos many years ago as their standards had become "we can make more" rather than quality. After many complaints it was mutually agreed they would stop advertising on UKS.

I asked them this morning if they could provide me with a postage label to return the springs. They said no. I used PayPal to pay for them so I’ve raised a case with them. 

[grogee]

22 minutes ago, rainagain said:

I asked them this morning if they could provide me with a postage label to return the springs. They said no. I used PayPal to pay for them so I’ve raised a case with them. 

Yep that's whack. Those springs look completely wrong to me, perhaps off a cooking 9-3 but nowhere near right for the nose-heavy 9-5. 

I feel your pain after having fitted them, the Neo Brothers can get to fuck. 

[N Dentressangle]

2 hours ago, rainagain said:

I asked them this morning if they could provide me with a postage label to return the springs. They said no. I used PayPal to pay for them so I’ve raised a case with them. 

What a bunch of chods.

I've found Paypal rather good at dealing with this kind of bollocks in the past, and suspect you'll get all your money back + p&p off them. Which will be satisfying.

[rainagain]

Look what turned up yesterday, proper springs.

I now have a car I can use again. 

[grogee]

11 minutes ago, rainagain said:

Look what turned up yesterday, proper springs.

I now have a car I can use again. 

Meyle to the rescue! I've used lots of their stuff, haven't had a problem yet. Well done getting it mobile again! 

[Wgl2019]

Not sure if it's been mentioned but Bill at Saabits is excellent. 

 https://www.saabits.com/

I have used Neo Bros and Parts for Saabs previously and the allegedly OEM quality parts are quite hit and miss. 

 

[jonathan_dyane]

One issue I found is that parts supplied by Saab Original are not necessarily of great quality. Example; I ordered a 'Saab Original' crank sensor from Bill expecting it to be Bosch who were the original supplier but it was actually ProParts which is what Saab Original now supply for this and several other product lines. My experience of ProParts has been that they are usually shit quality.

I fitted genuine Bosch instead and from then on sought out known brand aftermarket like Febi and Meyle rather than Saab Original.

[Wgl2019]

13 minutes ago, jonathan_dyane said:

ProParts which is what Saab Original now supply

That's a bit shit..... I had some crap made by 'Professional Parts Sweden' in the past, wonder if they are connected?

[jonathan_dyane]

@Wgl2019 that's them 😞

[rainagain]

As per the question I posted in ask a shitter I noticed a horrible noise as I turned the struts, like the top mounts were sticking.
 

I removed the struts last night for literally the third time.
 

This is one of the new bearings 

This is one of the original bearings

That tiny difference in thickness and the profile shape makes all the difference. Bolted it all back together and it’s silent now. I’m getting faster as removing/replacing the struts did it this time in less than two hours. I’m hoping it’s the last time for a while! 

 

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