Hi we are new to this forum and I am posting this on behalf of my hubby who hates computers!! Sorry if I'm in the wrong place for posting.
We have a Saab 95 HOT aero 2002 and until recently all was running really well. The other day the engine management light came on and we lost performance on the car. Hubby took it to our local garage and they put it on their machine and it came back as an engine misfire. He was advised that the problem would be either plugs or coil. However he has changed both of these and we still have the problem.
The car runs well until you put in under load. It feels as if it wants to go but for some reason the turbo just doesnt want to kick in. If you put your foot down very gently it will start to pick up.
Does anyone have any ideas as what could be wrong as we dont want to keep wasting money on changing parts that dont need to be changed. My hubby is very mechanically minded so can do most things himself but has no idea as to what is going on.
Any help would be very much apprecited. Thanks for reading
Welcome! :)
I'll move this thread to the 9-5 forum.
I take it that your local garage is not a Saab dealer or specialist? If they have a machine that can read general error codes stored by the car computer, it may not be able to read the codes that are specific to Saab. If there are some of these stored, they would probably pin down the fault. The £30-£50 it would cost to get the codes read properly is a lot less than the £200 or so that you must have spent on plugs and the ignition cassette (coil?). Unless you got a cheap Chinese copy from ebay which are often bad straight out of the box.
Loss of power could be caused by so many things, that it's really not worth guessing and doing trial and error.
The only cheap thing you can do is look for split inlet pipes and vacuum hoses that control the opening and closing of the turbocharger bypass.
Whereabouts are you? Someone may know of a Saab specialist near your that is cheaper than a main dealer.
Which spark plugs did you use and which coil did you use? If you're not using the exact NGK plug specified for your car then you will have problems, don't bother with any other plug that cross references, it *must* be NGK only. Also where did you get the coil pack from? As sgould said if they are not genuine SAAB items then they won't work properly. Do you know what the fault codes were? If you can tell us it would help us give you some pointers.
One other check. Has the rod under the heat shield at the front of the engine fallen off the turbo? If so the wastegate will be open and the turbo will be bypassed. Not sure that this would show a check engine light though?
Parts 35 & 36 corrode away. This allows the rod to fall off.
(http://gallery.me.com/hahnenuk/100629/Screen-20shot-202010-02-06-20at-2013-40-13/web.jpg)(http://gallery.me.com/hahnenuk/100629/Screen-20shot-202010-01-31-20at-2017-01-26/web.jpg)
It's under the shiny heat shield over the turbo bottom right of picture
(http://gallery.me.com/hahnenuk/100629/DSC02528_2/web.jpg)
Hi thanks for all your replies and help. Hubby has checked everything mentioned and still have the problem. DI was genuine and he has used the proper plugs.
Think the next thing to do is to take it to Saab as we are just throwing money at it and not fixing the issue. Will they just tell us the fault as hubby can do most things on cars so wouldnt need them to actually fix the fault
We are in Watton which is approx 25 miles away from Norwich. If any one could recommend somewhere to take it would be great.
You need to find a dealer or specialist who has a Tech-2 and get them to read and clear the fault codes. Of course just having the codes doesn't mean you can necessarily diagnose the fault quickly as you really need a copy of the SAAB workshop information to see the fault finding procedures for each fault code, some of the fault finding procedures can take some time so if you just have the codes read it won't tell you how to fix the car.
There are a few Saab owners around Norwich and Watton. I used to know the area when the in-laws lived there, but I've not been there for a while.
You could try here (http://www.saab-specialist.co.uk/repairs.html). I don't know them personally, but they have got the right diagnostic tools. Right by a station, or hire of a loan car possible.
Cheaper alternative than above- any decent garage will have an OBDII reader, which should be able to pull any performance related fault codes. Let us know what they are and we can point you in the right direction. :)
Carol
I live in Norwich and your nearest main dealer is Thurlow Nunn in Hall Road Norwich. They have the equipment needed and ask for Paul Brown master technician - he is very good and I recommend him. There isn't much worth knowing that he doesn't about 9-5 aero's! I used to take my 2003 aero to him for fault diagnosis.
The other nearest main dealer is Ipswich!
I would not recommend using Robert Holden out at Salhouse as he'll find something wrong immediately that HE has to fix. The other Independant is Hannants in Swaffham but..........
Bset bet in our area is though Paul at Thurlow Nunn. used him for past 10 years now as he's stayed with Saab even when it went from Holden Saab to Sabers and now Thurlows.
Anything else on the car I trust to Pete at City Tyres in King Street - grubby looking old workshop but nothing grubby about their work - excellent and he's by far the cheapest in East Anglia for tyres. Call elsewhere and then him and he'll always beat others. Just had pair of Continental Sport Contact 3's fitted to my 9-5 est 225/45 17 94Z and both tyres fitted and balanced for £214!!! Or go for a mid range tyres Falken 912's and have 4 for £285
QuoteI would not recommend using Robert Holden out at Salhouse
That does shock me as I've heard nothing but praise for them on the other forums :)
Somewhat coincidentally a good report today on another forum - http://www.uksaabs.co.uk/UKS/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=81698&view=unread#unread
Hav eknown him a long time (since 1999) when I bought my first Saab a 9000csi from him. All was fine to start with at his original garage but then when he moved he was always finding something wrong with the car even if it went in for just an oil change and yet he'd sold me the car and said was a good car!
The last straw was when I visited just to have a seatbelt swapped (original had tear in it where caught in the door) and he told me he was concnerned about my 9-5's timing chain and how noisy it was. I thought it was odd as it seemed very quiet and expalined it was a new one only done about 3k. He told me it had been put on badly and wanted to book me in for fixing. I said let me get second opinion and he got really shirty about it saying garage that did it didn't know what they were doing and if i drove much more I could need a new engine. I explained it was Abbott Racing and he said 'well there you are - never trusted them, they just play with em, always having customers come in asking for Abbott bits to be taken off'. I took it straight to main dealer really worried and slightly paranoid engine was going to go bang and just asked them to listen. Master tehcnician said 'to what'? I told him and he said engine was superbly quiet. He said they'd had several people saying things like this about them. He could find no fault with timing chain or the whole car and said Abbott's had done a good job and engine prob good for another 75 - 100k. I put on another 55k of problem less motoring before selling with 198k on clock.
I reckon he needed money to pay off a big loan for his new garage!!!
I'm sorry but i do not trust him any more. I personally know of others who have had similar problems.
The chap on uksaabs has never had one before so telling him that would make him do things. If you notice he is saying don't over do these engines; he just doesn't agree with tuning so is he rigt ond Hirsch, Maptun and Abbotts wrong?
QuoteThe chap on uksaabs has never had one before so telling him that would make him do things. If you notice he is saying don't over do these engines; he just doesn't agree with tuning so is he rigt ond Hirsch, Maptun and Abbotts wrong?
I don't get your logic on both these comments? if you've never had a Saab before and someone explains things to you why would it make you do things? and also I understood he meant don't over tune as things can go wrong?
I haven't used them myself or know them but from what I've read they are decent, I have also never read any bad press against them (12yrs of daily reading) either and the Saab forums are full of people who want to complain ;)
I guess you may have just had a one off bad experience???
Without a reply from the owner we will never know the whole story? anyway I'm glad you now have and trust another garage as we all have one thing in common, Saab's :)
To be fair, of all the Saabs I have owned, every time I have taken them for a service or MoT they have always had something else wrong with them that I did not know about. This includes Saabs still under warranty, so the problems were covered, but also ones that were out of warranty. One of these was when I took my 9-5 Aero for a service and the dealer said it needed new timing chains, tensioners, and something else, which I forget for the moment. Basically a mammoth job with a mammoth price. Luckily the car was three days within the eight-year engine warranty period.
Looking at the points you raise, objectively rather than subjectively, if I take any car to a garage then I believe they are not doing their job properly if they fail to highlight issues, with a vehicle, of which you may not already be aware.
Every garage, be they franchised dealer or independent, has the right to advise a customer of recommended maintenance. The can quote for the work, but they can not force you to have the work done, nor retain you vehicle against your will (unless you have an outstanding account with them).
The stuff about them getting shirty with you, well, we only have your word for that and there are always two sides to every story. I may have misinterpreted your post but it does come across as you having a downer on them. Since they are not here to defend themselves I'd just like to bring back some objective focus.
Basically, if you do not agree with their recommendations simply choose not to take them up on their offer. Get the work done elsewhere or not at all. It is your prerogative.
(I have no direct experience of dealers or independents from East Anglia since I live in a different region)
OK folks, can we park any discussions about the merits (or not) of the garage in question; there are always two sides to every story that it is difficult to balance in an online discussion as opposed to face to face :).
Let's stick to helping sort the problem ;)