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Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: Power steering fluid leak
« on: 02 December 2024, 09:18:21 PM »
Well... I had one 
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Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: Power steering fluid leak
« on: 02 December 2024, 08:44:58 AM »
When I repaired the seal on my old 9-3 I think it was actually a split along that mould line, although it might have been that I damaged the tank while replacing the seal but I don't think I had any evidence of engine oil in the PS reservoir in the first place.
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Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: Carlsson coolant level issue.
« on: 25 November 2024, 11:22:55 AM »
I vaugely recall that even though they revised the coolant tank that they still cause issues on the V6, just not as often.
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Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: White smoke and rough idle for 10 seconds - only between 10 degrees C and 28 C
« on: 20 November 2024, 09:37:47 PM »
93179047, 93184794, 51005951, 71019398, 76004481.
The thing is, my previous ones were 00445110243 (none of the above).
The first 2 part numbers are Saab, the next 3... I guess if they are in WIS then they are Saab part numbers, the last part no. is a Bosch part number. No idea if they are compatible with each other.
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Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: What I Did To My Saab Today.
« on: 02 November 2024, 09:27:50 PM »I took the new 9-3 into indysaab yesterday for a checkover, they identified a few minor issues that need sorting.
The Y part of the twin exit exhaust is starting to blow, they recommended it gets welded up before it fails as this part is no longer supplied by Saab. There's a nail in the NSR tyre which is repairable (I hope this explains why it's got a slow leak), NSR diff seal is leaking and NSR CV joint boot is insecure. They also noted that the headlight washers are not working, I'll take it back to them and get it all sorted in the next couple of months.
I finally got a chance to take the car back yesterday, all of the above got sorted and the oil leak from the brake servo pump was fixed so hopefully that's it until MOT and service time. Indysaab are also asking Hirsch if my car has one of their mods, I was told it was Hirsch when I bought it but have no way of verifying this... fingers crossed.
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Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: Odd Diagnostic Code C0547 04 (CIM) but no symptoms.
« on: 06 October 2024, 12:17:18 PM »
I vaguely recall seeing stored codes for this kind of thing in the past and no apparent fault, they didn't return after clearing so perhaps a momentarily bad contact or something could raise it.
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Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: Odd Diagnostic Code C0547 04 (CIM) but no symptoms.
« on: 05 October 2024, 01:43:21 PM »
Does it reappear after you clear it?
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Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Advice
« on: 28 September 2024, 12:35:05 PM »
That was the earlier 9-3, 2001 and earlier
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Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Advice
« on: 27 September 2024, 10:58:41 AM »
The diesel engines (which were sourced from Fiat) are typically a bit more unreliable than petrols, usually emissions related stuff (EGR and DPF) and some of the wiring would sometimes corrode and cause issues where the wiring loom went around the back of the engine so it wouldn't be unusual to have to solder in replacement bits of wiring which if done badly would cause further issues (I have some horror stories of some cars being butchered), sometimes they will get failed diesel injectors too.
When I worked in a Saab specialist I did some comparisons based on real cars which we serviced between diesel and petrol and to really save money you needed to be doing 12k miles a year in a diesel over a petrol, more like 18k a year to really see a benefit as diesels being that bit heavier would wear out tyres and brakes a bit more quickly and cost a bit more to service. A lot of people who were trying to "save money" would get a diesel when they were doing only 6k a year and then have lots of EGR and DPF issues that would cost decent amounts of money to fix as they only did short drives. Although, that data is now over 10 years out of date.
When I worked in a Saab specialist I did some comparisons based on real cars which we serviced between diesel and petrol and to really save money you needed to be doing 12k miles a year in a diesel over a petrol, more like 18k a year to really see a benefit as diesels being that bit heavier would wear out tyres and brakes a bit more quickly and cost a bit more to service. A lot of people who were trying to "save money" would get a diesel when they were doing only 6k a year and then have lots of EGR and DPF issues that would cost decent amounts of money to fix as they only did short drives. Although, that data is now over 10 years out of date.
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Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Advice
« on: 26 September 2024, 01:23:56 PM »
Where abouts are you in the country? Someone can advise a good local specialist, I would not take it to a citroen garage as they will not have the contacts and knowledge for how to repair certain things cost effectively and will just reach out to the saab parts network which can be expensive.
I wouldn't worry too much about a lack of history, the car I just bought has a bit of a mysterious gap although it was being serviced. However, saying that, it depends, has the oil not been changed in 20,000 miles and 10 years or is it just missing a couple of services? I think it unlikely it didn't get oil changes, you might want to take a look at the mot history online and see if that tells you anything. I would also say it really depends on the price of the car, it should be priced to reflect this and tbh if I bought it then I would be taking it to a local specialist for a full service and checkover so would want this reflected in the purchase price, I would also be looking carefully at the cars overall condition, what are the tyres and brakes like for example? Is the hood clean and bodywork shiny? What condition are the wiper blades in? Is the interior clean? That would give a good indication of how it's been looked after.
I wouldn't worry too much about a lack of history, the car I just bought has a bit of a mysterious gap although it was being serviced. However, saying that, it depends, has the oil not been changed in 20,000 miles and 10 years or is it just missing a couple of services? I think it unlikely it didn't get oil changes, you might want to take a look at the mot history online and see if that tells you anything. I would also say it really depends on the price of the car, it should be priced to reflect this and tbh if I bought it then I would be taking it to a local specialist for a full service and checkover so would want this reflected in the purchase price, I would also be looking carefully at the cars overall condition, what are the tyres and brakes like for example? Is the hood clean and bodywork shiny? What condition are the wiper blades in? Is the interior clean? That would give a good indication of how it's been looked after.
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Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: What I Did To My Saab Today.
« on: 20 September 2024, 10:02:30 AM »
I took the new 9-3 into indysaab yesterday for a checkover, they identified a few minor issues that need sorting.
The Y part of the twin exit exhaust is starting to blow, they recommended it gets welded up before it fails as this part is no longer supplied by Saab. There's a nail in the NSR tyre which is repairable (I hope this explains why it's got a slow leak), NSR diff seal is leaking and NSR CV joint boot is insecure. They also noted that the headlight washers are not working, I'll take it back to them and get it all sorted in the next couple of months.
Also got to say that indysaab are still a great place to take a Saab, honestly some of the most knowledgable and trustworthy people out there. They also had a very nice 9000 Carlsson there yesterday, not seen one of them in a long time!
The Y part of the twin exit exhaust is starting to blow, they recommended it gets welded up before it fails as this part is no longer supplied by Saab. There's a nail in the NSR tyre which is repairable (I hope this explains why it's got a slow leak), NSR diff seal is leaking and NSR CV joint boot is insecure. They also noted that the headlight washers are not working, I'll take it back to them and get it all sorted in the next couple of months.
Also got to say that indysaab are still a great place to take a Saab, honestly some of the most knowledgable and trustworthy people out there. They also had a very nice 9000 Carlsson there yesterday, not seen one of them in a long time!
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Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: Aero rear exhaust muffler
« on: 17 September 2024, 06:20:58 PM »
It was taken by copart, no idea what happens after that. I suspect they might just drop them in the shredder. 
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Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Jobs not going to plan?!!!
« on: 17 September 2024, 06:20:18 PM »
I also remember having to replace something on my first car which was an Austin Maestro which was a weird mix of metric and imperial fasteners, I stripped everything out after lots of swearing and having to change tools a lot to find that the part I need to remove was held on by an imperial headed screw which was recessed and I didn't have a socket for... I ended up having to put the car back together to drive to Halfords and buy a socket to fit and then do the entire job again the next day.
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Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Jobs not going to plan?!!!
« on: 17 September 2024, 11:00:01 AM »
This is why when working on a car I try to go slow with no time pressure and to check every step, as once something starts to go wrong it just makes you more frustrated and you get tired and then make silly little mistakes, it's so easily done, I've been where you are so many times before. I remember trying to replace headlight bulbs in my girlfriends Astra a few months ago, the first side was *easy* the second side the clip and bulb were refusing to co-operate there was so little space... it was starting to get dark and it was cold and what should have been a five minute job took nearly an hour!
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Classic Saab 9-5 (MY 1998-2010) / Re: Steering Wheel Airbag on a 2006
« on: 16 September 2024, 03:48:01 PM »
There's a bit of a trick to it, you have to slide/lever the clips off. I am 99% certain that it's the same mechanism on the 9-3 so this video might help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSr878xklYY this one is for the 9-5 but not as clear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKTvCwRMy6Y there are other videos on youtube though so I'd suggest having a search on there.