Clicking on hard acceleration

[Norfolk Jim]

I have MY07 9-5 Vector Sport Est Auto 1.9TiD with Hirsch upgrade.

Recently had EML come on with code pointing to DPF regen. Seemed to have sorted this by driving around in low gear with hi-revs. Car drives fine now but with a slight hesitation like it's trying to change gear?? Going to see if gearbox software can be updated..................

What I have noticed recently is that if I really boot it as she's getting towards 3500 rpm there seems to be a clicking noise from engine that gets quicker as revs rise. Doesn't matter which gear and it's only if you accelerate hard. No change in engine performance and have just assumed this engine does this but I do wonder if it is related back to the DPF issue and could it be the EGR??

The car has now done 114k and was service about 3k ago by dealers. Main and intermediate service done with fuel treatment.

Any ideas - is it normal? I don't recall it being there before it was serviced and just wondered if it was the change of oil that did it???

My gearbox issue still has very slight flare between 3-4 so hence seeing if software update - I noticed from service records that it had oil change at I think around 74k as Saab schedule but not by Saab dealer and it say's fully synthetic oil used. Could this be causing the current flaring as I understand the Saab 3309 oil is semi-synthetic??

Sorry 2 questions - not one

[Steve440]

I have a friend who overhauls gearboxes of all makes for a living, he has been kept very busy for the last few years overhauling Auto gearboxes that fail or start playing up once the have done 120,000 miles or about 200,000km. He has a belief a lot have a design life of this sort of mileage.

Maybe the noise is related to gearbox in some way?

With cars not rusting like they used too the manufactures have got to find a way to keep us buying new ones or  spend lots keeping the old ones on the road.

Steve

[Norfolk Jim]

Interesting Steve.

The clicking seems to be engine in my mind but hopefully be sorted shortly and told 'That's normal'...................................hope

[Audax]

With cars not rusting like they used too the manufactures have got to find a way to keep us buying new ones or  spend lots keeping the old ones on the road.

That's nonsense, people in the UK throw cars away because the number plate doesn't show it as being new enough, it's nothing to do with the reliability of the car.

If the gearbox is clicking then it's broken but the 5 speed unit in the 9-5 is very reliable if it's serviced properly with the right fluid, it don't believe it should flare as I think that software problem was fixed in 2006. I'd be more worried about the clicking noise being a bearing, pulley or pump about to fail on the cambelt drive.

[mikeloadsasaabs]

I'd be more worried about the clicking noise being a bearing, pulley or pump about to fail on the cambelt drive.

I'm sure that's reassured Jim! 

[Norfolk Jim]

Hmmmm - food for thought. Well the cambelt and water pump were replaced in November with Gates parts so it's only done 5 k since then and not long since service. It may be I never noticed before and since having DPF issue I now notice it.

The noise comes in around 3500 to 4000 and is gone after that and only on hard acceleration.

The gearbox issue has been there for a while and I did wonder about the fluid used but have found out it was 3309 spec but fully synthetic. WIS Audax, as you pointed out before, states use only semi synthetic but if that was the issue surely it would have shown up thousands of miles ago as the schedule change was around 74k mark. Perhaps checking if software is up to date may resolve it or do a complete change as best possible using genuine Saab 3309 stuff. Don't think it's ever had TCM update and car is Sept 2006 reg 2007 model.

[Audax]

I'd get all the fluid changed again, I'm guessing that the box could last for a long time with the wrong fluid if it's driven by Daisy but if it's driven by someone giving it beans then it wouldn't be so good.

Of course it could be a faulty part with the cam-belt or water pump but it's going to be hard to find out, in a way I wouldn't be that bothered as if the belt or pump failed then it's down to the person who fitted it to sort the car out and the 1.9 diesels fail safe so that the engine won't get destroyed but need £800 of work to fix them.

Other options might be a hole in a pipe or inter-cooler only showing up under certain amounts of boost of the turbo rattling, maybe the waste gate or something? It might be now that the engine can spin the turbo properly that you're hearing a turbo control valve or similar in operation.

Sorry, lots of guess work in there but a clicking noise is hard to diagnose over the internet! I would check out WIS for you about possible sources for the noise and if the box has software updates but I'm travelling at the moment and don't have a copy with me as I'm far enough away from home that even seeing a single Saab would be unusual.

[Norfolk Jim]

Thanks Audax.

I do have a 12 month Warrantywise Gold (Quinten Wilson)warranty on it that covers pretty damn everything apart from general electrical problems - i.e headlamp levellers! Sod5 law. I also had the labour rate changed from 50 to 90 per hour.

[Norfolk Jim]

Well eml light has been going on and off like no ones business but I've been too busy to get car into garage until yesterday when it happened again.

The odd thing was when cold the light was off and then along Norwich Southern bypass the light came on and struggle to get over 65 but oddly if you put your foot down hard it would kick down a gear, revs go up but not go any quicker? I presume gearbox was limiting the speed for some reason......................... Anyway got to my appointment only 15 miles away. Got back in car after meeting of about an hour and sure enough light was on but car drove without a problem so I simply called in at Thurlow Nunn and asked to speak with the technician I know. he came out with Tech2 and plugged it in. First it said DPF full then after starting car and revving to 3500 rpm it said only 20% full so he reckons it had done a regen just before I came off bypass before my meeting but he said he'd do a regen there and then................................tried to but it threw up a fault code relating to the cooling fan - stage 3? something about resistance or something. He explained that the car won't do full regen as insufficient cooling air will be going over engine when stationary  but may be doing part only when driving as we have had relatively warm weather recently. He's pretty confident this maywell be the main cause of all these eml's as nothing else is showing up, no old codes etc except the one relating to this and otherwise all running well. So car being booked in for him to investigate this resistance problem which he says could be simple connection or a sensor problem; he doubt's its the fan itself as that runs fine but is not getting the signal for this stage 3 which I assume makes it run faster to provide more air.

He did smile though as he said they'd actually had Vauxhall in because they've recently had loads of them come in with blocked dpf's and they are getting fed up with it. One customer with Insignia does nearly 1k a week and he still gets blocked DPF!!!!!!

[Audax]

tried to but it threw up a fault code relating to the cooling fan - stage 3? something about resistance or something.

The relay boxes for the fans on the 9-3 used to fail on a pretty regular basis, not sure if the 9-5 is the same or not.