Saab NINES Articles

Updates

I think we will start with the good news first! Saab seems to be honoring their commitment on the 9/3 and 9/5 4-cylinder engines to a “t.” That is, if you have had an engine failure, had it repaired, can document service and oil changes as per the Saab letter/instructions; they are refunding the money paid for the repair. The bad news is that if the owner has not kept receipts/proof of service for the life of the car, the claims are rejected. Period! If you suspect your engine is sludged the Saab customer service line will direct you to a local authorized Saab dealer who will inspect or otherwise determine if you have a valid claim. The inspection, etc., will be paid for by the customer if the claim is rejected. I have heard of no leniency on this issue, so if you cannot prove service history, be prepared to pay regardless of who does the work. Service contract holders may escape the requirements because the service contract will only require records for your period of ownership. If you purchased your car “used” and got a service contract it may pay the bill if you have a failure. Most service contract companies will not repair your engine before it has failed. Normally preventative repairs are not paid for. We have had some of our customers on all sides of the fence. Saab is living up to their stated obligation but I think Toyota tried the same tact and now are repairing all engines without any proof of service. It is very costly to the manufacturer but brings future sales to the brand because of that goodwill gesture.

Recently I got a phone call from H.C.Thing in Denmark about the sludging issue. You may remember my interview with him at last year’s International Saab Convention in DK. It seems that H.C., knowing about the sludge issue, shopped long and hard before buying a 9/5 Aero in Germany. The car had been serviced per the warranty service manual and dealer stamped. Soon after the Aero arrived in DK it started developing timing or balance shaft chain noise. H.C., being an engineer by trade, investigated and found the engine to be sludged. He called Saab then followed instructions by taking it to a Danish dealer who sent the evidence to somebody at Saab who eventually authorized a repair. (It hasn’t been done yet so I can’t tell you the final results). In the meantime, H.C. went on the internet and found the information that I had written about the oil pumps (See NINES #275). His engineering training and experience told him to use his professional contacts to check out the pump design. The company he consulted had no idea what the pictures he sent pertained to. Their conclusion was that the 9/3 – 9/5 pump uses an expensive machine to build the pumps but once configured and installed the pumps are very cheap to build. On the other hand, the machine used to build the NG900/9000 pump is very cheap but each individual pump is very expensive to build. A guess of maybe $50 difference in cost to produce each pump was talked about.. If that were the case and Saab saved $50 on lets say 100,000 pumps per year………. The 9000 pump is much better and more reliable in design. Upon hearing and digesting this information, H.C. is having a machine shop build or modify a pump so we will have a 9/5 housing with 9000 gears installed. At this writing, he expects to give me the proto-type of this pump in Trollhatten when we attend the Saab Festival in June. We expect to install this pump in July for some long term testing and comparisons.

I have installed a Car Chip EX on my 9/5 Aero wagon as a starting point to monitor my engine performance. I will have a column about the results as soon as I can. I have used it just 1000 miles and haven’t downloaded any of the information yet. The car chip is plugged into the OBD II port and stores engine and car performance data. The data can be downloaded into a PC for evaluation. Further information is located at www.carchip.com. This unit costs less than $200 and anyone can install it.

I have also purchased a set of gauges that don’t require putting holes in the dash of my 9/5. This unit reflects the info onto the windshield. I will be monitoring water temp, oil temp, exhaust temperature and oil pressure, among other things. I will publish a “How To” for these gauges as soon as I can get them installed with some idea about how much expertise it will take to install them. With these gauges I hope to be able to establish some baselines for these readings.

After consulting with Mark Sakino, of OilMedic.com, we have come to understand that there most likely is sludging in engines that look okay to us. We had only believed that engines that have a buildup of sediment in the pan/oil screen were sludged. Mark has helped me to understand chemically how the oxidation occurs, how the oil additives prevent the oxidation, and what happens when the anti-oxidents are depleted. A thin film may build up first that coats the inside of the engine that hampers proper lubrication in the engine. We believe the only way to know for sure what is happening in the engine is to perform an oil test. That is: a sample of oil sent to the lab to see what it contains. The test being designed by Mark is Saab-specific so we can pin-point the progress of different components. Aluminum, brass, steel, lead, etc., all indicate different parts that are wearing. If all of you would take part in an oil testing program, we could establish a national data base. With one test per year, you would know if your engine fit on a normal baseline or was above or below the national average for all the components tested. The lab must know the kind of oil, etc., so the information would be invaluable to everyone in the Saab world. We could establish a “REAL” oil change interval for these engines that will help them keep going for a long time. Knowledge of the proper interval would allow us to change oil only as frequently as needed. Mark Sakino and another engineer we consulted believe that with testing we may find the source of the accelerated oxidation process. Hence, I will be monitoring the turbo-temperature, oil temperature, etc. We know that the turbos fail from time-to-time and we know that there have been some piston failures in Colorado in 9/5s. Neither problem was evident in the 9000’s or NG900’s. If you want to get started with the oil testing program, go to www.oilmedic.com and by the time this is published information should be there about the Saab oil test. Mark has promised a special price for Saab owners and has been very helpful with ideas and experience about oil and mechanical failures in other machines. We believe if everyone had an oil test, and oil pressure tested, we could know the engine condition. If eventually we can find what is causing the oxidation in these engines, there may be a way to change the part or modify it.

I have received e-mails and calls from many of you wanting recommendations. Until we get information on the oil test and actual oil pressure readings from a large sampling of engines, these ideas are still “just my opinion.” I wrote before and will stand by my recommendations to change oil every 4000 miles or 4 months, using full synthetic oil. (Saab now is recommending full synthetics). Annual oil and pressure tests will be very useful in predicting the life of your engine.

In my upcoming columns of NINES I will review the Car Chip EX, the value that the unit provides, installation of gauges on a 9/5 and a sampling of readings so if you choose to install gauges you will have an idea about the readings.

Lastly, we hope to report on our proto-type oil pump and the June Saab Festival that is now a four-day event in Trollhattan.

Gauge set that I have selected to install in my 9-5. It will reflect the reading on to the windshield and won't require cutting holes in the dash to install.

The CarChip is installed in the OBD II port to moniter engine and vehicle performance. On the 9-5 the port is covered by a panal which must be opened to install the unit. The cover being open does interfere with driveing the car.