SRowell's Saab 9-3 Aero 2.8 V6 Turbo

[Eeyore]

He got his from Neo brothers for £120 I think it was. And do you really need a guide to remove a few bits of trim and two bolts? f*ck it, bring it to me and I'll do it one day for a hand job.

Sorry i was just told by other sources that it was a nightmare to do...

[Niall]

Nah it's easy. Hardest bit is getting to the lower UJ bolt. Take the drivers wheel off and you can do it from the arch with a few extensions.

[Eeyore]

Finally found time to get some work done on this and tom came over to help. Had the parts stocked for a while and work may be up in leeds so best to get these jobs done now!

First off was replacing the lipped rear disks. Had new pads so threw them in at the same time. pretty easy to do on this really!




Then on the front replaced the top mounts and bearings. A droplink wouldnt come off one side but that one was okay so we left it. THe passenger side the droplink was bad so replaced that side.




Steering is smooth now. Also swapped the tyres front to back as the rears were wearing on the inside because of factory camber and the fronts were wearing on the outside due to roundabouts and hoonagansim. There seems to be a lot of wear on the fronts in the centre of the tyre which would be due to over inflation. Not sure whats going on there as i set them to 32psi which seems to be the recommendation. New tyres will have to come soon. Ive had the car a year and a half now and these tyres went on last summer so theyve probably had about 12k on them which is decent. Will have to order some new ones soon. Havent taken it out on the road but hopefully will see some improvement. Cyclones just fit over massive saab brakes!

[lolsteve]

Leeds isn't far from Manchester

You really are a busy bee with both cars getting worked on

[Eeyore]

Leeds isn't far from Manchester

You really are a busy bee with both cars getting worked on

And the speedboat as well! Got that started for the first time this year!

[Eeyore]

Didn't get much done today but cleaned the engine bay and all the door shuts and boot shut etc. Rifled through the glove box and door cards and removed all the rubbish. Looking much better now. Unfortunately I parked it under a tree and birds have gone to town so I'll have to clean it all again!

[Eeyore]

So this has been missing the r from aero and the 9 from 93 for several months now. Finally got round to sticking the r on and gluing the 9 on.




and then it looks a bit more loved now. Electrical tape over the 9 as i didnt want it to slip down and end up glued halfway down the boot lid!

[Poodle]

So you didn't want to make it the first Saab Aeiou then, disappointed.

[Eeyore]

Update just had another oil change at 144700 miles. Another 6L of 5w30 Shell Helix. Other than that its all going well! Getting 33MPG on the motorway and 29 otherwise. Gets 40MPG when on cruise at 50mph.

[Eeyore]

Update. Somebodoy rear ended it at a roundabout but the tow bar saved mine and broke the front end of the audi. A few dents and scratches but not worth going through insurance. The missing NSF jacking point has now been replaced for £12 posted. The replacement EVAP valve is currently being shipped from the states will which solve the starting issues after filling up with petrol. Front brake pads replaced after the front rights were worn out. Front lefts only half worn which makes me think they have been replaced not in pairs. Getting 34mpg with BP ultimate.

[C2K]

Such a dramatic mismatch is normally a sign of a lazy caliper or sticky sliders.

[Eeyore]

Such a dramatic mismatch is normally a sign of a lazy caliper or sticky sliders.

the stickier sliders had the most worn pads. everything is greased back up now.

[Orta]

Dude sucks to hear someone shunted you. Any pics post-accident? Is the Saab ok?

[Eeyore]

yeh its all fine. Theres some dimples in the rear bumper and a few scratches but not worth doing anything over. Somehow int he netherlands at the campsite another scrape appeared on the bumper... and theres a few marks where the boot lid was opened up onto the mast of the sailing boat i was towing. All small things but its getting further away from being mint.

new evap valve has arrived so that will stop the starting issue that happens when you fill the tank up. Also fitted the replacement jacking point on the NSF which was missing since i bought it.

When i went to netherlands i found the headlights were already adjusted to point to the right... explains some of the flashing ive been getting in the uk. I can adjust one side but not the other as the engine bay is full of engine.

Otherwise all good.

[Eeyore]

150,000 miles now and still going strong. Needs another service so will have to buy all the bits and get it done over the bank holiday along with fitting the replacement evap valve. Brakes are working well and were tested when someone went to park on the opposite side of the road whilst i was overtaking on a country road. Very close to binning it but luckily just a trip up a bank with no damage. the van driver didnt even notice i was there!

[Eeyore]

Serviced at 150700. New oil and fuel filter took 30 minutes to change so nice and quick. Evap valve fitted and no more issues when filling up at petrol stations.

[Eeyore]

Checked the air filter and its pretty clean so left that in for the next service. Cleaned inside and out!

[Eeyore]

Still going strong. bit of clutch slip going on. ive fitted a dashcam now which has been really useful. Its just in the cigarette lighter at the moment but i have a hardwire kit i will be fitting soon. Its invaluable and id recommend it to anyone.

[Eeyore]

Had a few issues with this getting a bit hot. One of the turbo coolant lines had a pin prick hole which was dumping coolant over the turbo. Managed to use self amalgamating tape and lots of cable ties to get me home.

I then cut one of the pipes and used a joiner and some fuel line to fix it and wrapped in tin foil to stop any melting.

Now ive been trying to find replacement pipes but they are only available with the expansion tank for £90 and neobros arent willing to split. Found a vauxhall shop which has the pipes for £6.25 each so ordered those and hopefully they will arrive and be correct.

[welshpug]

done two clutches on a 1.9 dth engines over the last few weeks, not too bad to work on really.

bit of a faff having to drop the subframe but with a 2 post ramp and some big trolley jacks it is doable on your own.

any chance you could get a picture of where the towbar wiring is plugged into the rear fusebox?   got a towbar to fit on one and all I have is a standard 7 core cable lol

[Eeyore]

done two clutches on a 1.9 dth engines over the last few weeks, not too bad to work on really.

bit of a faff having to drop the subframe but with a 2 post ramp and some big trolley jacks it is doable on your own.

any chance you could get a picture of where the towbar wiring is plugged into the rear fusebox?   got a towbar to fit on one and all I have is a standard 7 core cable lol

mine was a plug and play kit. it goes into a unit on the passenger side below the side window.

[1616six]

Yeah on these you can get a trailer module which makes it plug & play into the REC in the boot next to the rear fusebox

Other than that it's a case of old school wiring it up to each wire with a relay etc. Just have to be careful with the Canbus.

[Magenta Sunset]

Still going strong. bit of clutch slip going on. ive fitted a dashcam now which has been really useful. Its just in the cigarette lighter at the moment but i have a hardwire kit i will be fitting soon. Its invaluable and id recommend it to anyone.

what camera did you use?

[Eeyore]

Still going strong. bit of clutch slip going on. ive fitted a dashcam now which has been really useful. Its just in the cigarette lighter at the moment but i have a hardwire kit i will be fitting soon. Its invaluable and id recommend it to anyone.

what camera did you use?

"Dash Cam, ARAS 1080P Dual Lens Car Camera,170 Degree Wide Angle, Novatek NT96655 Front Camera + Rear View Camera + Picture in Picture + Built-in Super Capacitor (No Internal Battery) [Upgraded from B40 B40-C A118C B60]"

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01F...UTF8&psc=1

Reason i bought this one is that it doesnt have gps (unless you get the extra module) and it has a rear camera which i felt was important after being rear ended. Bear in mind you will also need a class 10 SD card to go with it and a hard wire kit if you want to hide all the cables etc.

[Magenta Sunset]

looks a lot better than this;
http://www.coopersofstortford.co.uk/coop...dst09673i/
of which I have one in my works van (just in case)

[welshpug]

ahh damn canbus.

one of the two is currently throwing rear light failure warnings, whilst they're all working fine.

[Eeyore]

i had an issue. I bought a fancy led numberboard and then it wasnt compatible with canbus :/

[welshpug]

I had heard that LED's weren't a good idea, not enough current! could solve that with a few resistors I'd imagine.

[Eeyore]

So previously I had fitted the dash cam but hadn't got all the bits to fit the hardwire kit. Tonight i fitted the hardwire kit using a mini fuse take off. Really easy to do and no wires hanging around now. Hardest bit was getting the wires behind the air bagged a pillars.

Still got lots to do. Need to replace the tow bar electric hinge as its currently cable tied to the tow bar. Steering is still sloppy. Need to order a new uj. There's a few knocks which is probably the drivers drop link that I couldn't get off previously.

[Eeyore]

The two coolant pipes from the vauxhall spares site were perfect and I fitted those up. £15 or something silly for them delivered. Couldnt find them anywhere else on their own yet alone at that good a price.

Need to connect the rear camera up to the dashcam and see how that works. Annoyingly the power cables are to the rear camera so i need to find a power source and earth at the back of the car.

Once i had fitted the dash cam hardwire kit the left headlight blew. Annoying as they are D2S bulbs. Halfords want £180 a bulb etc and they are down to £80 on ECP. Ebay gets them down to £60. Eventually found the philips ones which were £45 a pair. Philips i believe are the OEM bulbs used by saab. Apparently they are meant to be replaced in pairs etc and it takes time for the colours to set in so Ill put both bulbs in. Theyre 6k bulbs which should be white with a hint of blue.