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I did a deep dive on spark plugs and from what I have read, multiple turbo owners seem displeased with the EVX, though some also like them a lot. I did seem to get the opinion that the older BCP7EV "golds" where the best plugs but where discontinued. A lot of the hits for BCP7EV actually yields champion plugs instead. So I found 8 of these for a good price and bought those: 
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Jul 25, 2023 11:53
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I had been looking at a high idle issue and it was looking really weird, but a person on the UKsaab site had the right of it and it was easily testable too. Turns out the diaphragm in my turbo bypass valve is broken.
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Jul 26, 2023 16:08
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I assume driving with the bypass valve broken isn't bad for the motor, just high idling, the air is metered air so the ECU knows about it. Also I found a finnish company that makes Saab wheel arch trim, by the meter. It's not actually original, but accoring to the people recommending it, it's better. Easy to install and easy to remove for cleaning. Apparently the original are a PITA to install. This is a car with said trim:  10 euros per meter + shipping. I'm also hankering to do a LED conversion in my instrument panel. The light is so drat weak I thought it was broken, but one night when it was dark and cloudy enough I could see it worked. I'm thinking of using white light led ones with suitable resistors. I think a rheostat should be able to dim such a led too. 
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Jul 27, 2023 13:13
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Some self education on bypass valves (or dump valves or offloading valves as they are also called in swedish)quote:A bypass valve/dump valve is used to prevent the turbo from stopping completely abruptly when the throttle is temporarily closed. When you have a certain charge pressure on the turbo, the compressor wheel spins a lot, and when the damper is closed, it becomes like a wall the turbo has to work against, and it stops abruptly, and the turbine blades can be damaged by this. I should keep off the gas pedal in other words until I get my new dump valve (like the sound of that).
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Jul 27, 2023 13:55
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So apparently I have broken my vacuum canister. I sprayed all kinds of fluids around there and there's some sensitive rubber in the check valve that crumbled up and now it leaks from there. Then I broke off the smaller fitting trying to remove the lines again!!! So it was really borked then. I have attempted to repair it. I drilled out the hole for the smaller fitting and made a new one. Tried to make it from steel first but trying to drill a 2mm hole in steel and cheap drill bits = broken off drill bits. So I had some PTFE rod I made it from. I used sikaflex to seal it but made it a snap fit so there's mechanical holding, I don't think sikaflex will work that well but hopefully it will seal. I made a PTFE fitting for the main line too and sikaflexed it in place. I think it is now sealed up but I need to buy a check valve to put on the line instead. I am not sure how it will hold up over time, I will take a photo later of the repair. I am thinking I might make a whole new vacuum canister, from PVC pipe and end caps and use proper metal fittings on it. I could probably have made last nights fittings from brass. Thank god for having a lathe.
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Jul 28, 2023 07:11
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Sure been having a lot of issues lately, small ones, that I caused. Here's the vacuum canister with the PTFE parts, I think it's holding vacuum but I cannot tell because I still haven't gotten hold of a check valve yet. I still am thinking if I should make a new canister entirely, perhaps from PVC pipe, or maybe I could tig it from stainless. Depends on how this works out... While waiting for the turbo bypass valve I made this professional looking repair to prevent the vacuum leak from affecting the idle:  Once I clamped the vacuum hose I felt the car drove nicer, RPMs dropped not just when idling but when driving and changing gears. It also became able to pull itself a head on idle in first gear, previously it died unless you gave it gas. It also became easier to change gears! Particularly 1st and reverse. Of course! Then I drove to work and when I got there I saw I had no side indicator light, the one near the vacuum canister. It had blown clear off and I will likely never find it. BUT! Maybe 100 meters from my job there lives a guy who has 5-6 900s in various states of disassembly and half his house is a saab spare parts warehouse. He gave me an old indicator light for free! I cleaned it up and it looks pretty good now. I've bought a rear bumper from him for the strip and also the trunk lamps, here's what those turned out like by the way. I had real trouble getting them to look clean inside first, but I tried spraying oil inside and that made the plastic look like new. I used my own mix (Ed's Red) that I got in a spray bottle because too much money was going into buying WD40.   
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Jul 29, 2023 07:21
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His Divine Shadow posted:(or dump valves or offloading valves as they are also called in swedish) I've only ever heard it called "dumpventil" på svenska, just out of curiosity what was the other one? His Divine Shadow posted:I should keep off the gas pedal in other words until I get my new dump valve (like the sound of that). Unless you're racing it, I don't think it's usually a "make one mistake, explode one turbo" type thing. But it seems to me the thing that would keep the turbo safe would be when if you're at any significant amount of power, to let off the throttle slowly and let the turbo slow down a bit before letting off it completely to shift. Also a sufficiently old plastic tube between turbo and engine can sometimes make a functioning single-use blowoff valve.
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Jul 31, 2023 08:05
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I got three names for it and from the guy who described the function the name Avlastningsventil is to him the most correct from a descriptive sense. Dumpventil Bypassventil Avlastningsventil I did race past an old man doing 80kph on a 100kph road last week, in a brown 900i !!! That's my main saab experience prior to being an owner myself, an old saab 90/900 driven by an old man or woman doing 20 below the limit. I've seen like four 900s in traffic just last week, including a black aero looking 900 going by slowly near my house, which is kinda crazy since I live a bit "to the side".
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Jul 31, 2023 09:22
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Well the vacuum canister repair failed unfortunately. I'm currently building a new one. I found this empty can with a thread that I was able to fit a brass T-piece to. It seems like a suitable candidate. Ordered some banjo fittings so I gotta wait for those. It feels like a bit of a janky looking setup even if it works. Maybe I'll paint it black or something. Just some photos, into the woods on some tiny rear end road, looking for blueberries (billberries).   We got a 10l bucket filled at least
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Aug 1, 2023 11:17
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Ahh finally, today the new bypass valve arrived, as well as my two sets of spark plugs. I had to work outside and just managed to get it done before rain started coming down. Original valve, It's incredible how caked in oily goo it was, I noticed one of the clamps holding it on where broken, plastic clamps so go figure. I replaced one temporarily with a zip tie.  And the old plugs, PO used NGKs atleast, BCP7ES plugs  I think they where nearing their end of life   Now the car feels a little friskier perhaps, the boost gauge does go a little higher now. I actually don't notice a huge difference. I do think the cables should be swapped eventually.
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Aug 1, 2023 18:53
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Ah well new issues, been raining a lot here. I decided on a hunch to check the trunk because I read something online about them leaking. Well the trunk lid doesn't leak it seems, but it does around the rear tail light from what i can tell, maybe a little from the other tail light also. And there was water on the bottom. Water was under this rubber mat stuff which I think is sound insulation and I had to start removing it. I think it will all have to go so I can get it all dried out and the rust removed. How to treat the rust? -Remove the rust and paint the bare metal with epoxy? -Or zinc primer? -Or nothing? Just use raw linseed oil and keep it covered? -I am thinking I might both epoxy and then use linseed oil, particularly on all the seams to get the linseed oil into there and stop rust that I can't see. What to replace the rubberized layer with later? -I think whatever I put in there should be easily removable again incase this happens again. I think this was meant to seal so water couldn't get in there but it clearly failed.  I need to remove the taillight to see why it leaks past it but very likely the seal is bad, I found some hardened sealer like siklaflex or somehing in there crumbling away. Think it's some earlier attempt to fix it. Also found these "flaps" on the bottom, they seem to open into the bumper if you push on them, they can open outwards but not inwards. Not sure what their purpose is. 
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Aug 4, 2023 04:44
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Got the light out but it was difficult, the bolt had rusted itself onto the screw and then it spun in place. Had to cut the screw to get it out.   I think I can epoxy in a new screw, I got some pretty good epoxy metal for this. But... I put it down and came back and the amber section has developed like three cracks!  OK OK maybe I can fix this, I saw a video where someone ground out the cracks and filled them with clear epoxy.... E: Guess I got lucky, found a spare for 10 ! I'll still work on fixing this one, need something now. And might be good to have a working spare. His Divine Shadow fucked around with this message at 20:19 on Aug 4, 2023 |
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Aug 4, 2023 20:14
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The new light, looks dirty, but intact.  What it looked like under the lamp, will put some raw linseed oil here and around all the seams, after I remove most of the rust:  Since my existing light is kinda knackered already, and I got a spare coming. I am thinking I will after repairing it, sand the exterior, from 240 to 1000 grit and then clear coat it with 2k clear coat. I did that on my headlights for my Yaris and it turned out great.
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Aug 5, 2023 07:00
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Work in progress, some of the cracks A diamond bit worked well at making grooves  Epoxy glue having dried and now in the sun for a while. Waiting so I can start sanding. 
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Aug 5, 2023 13:08
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And sanded to 800 grit  Post clear coating, still not cured:  The cracks are not gone, but perhaps less noticable, or not. It won't leak however through the cracks, which is important. Now it's a lot shinier than the left hand lamp however. I dunno if I should do the same to that light, because then I will have to also sand & coat and the spare light when it comes... It might be worth it however. I do like the look of the smooth plastic, all those ugly marks and numbers are now gone. edit, more frontal photo without reflections 
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Aug 5, 2023 17:29
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Cause people in saab club only write cryptic messages or nothing at all, try to ask this in here. Should there be a vacuum in both the manifold and the valve cover when the engine is not running and testing it with vacuum pump? Drew this fancy diagram, Green is OK and red is not OK.  His Divine Shadow posted:Well the vacuum canister repair failed unfortunately. I'm currently building a new one. I found this empty can with a thread that I was able to fit a brass T-piece to. It seems like a suitable candidate. Ordered some banjo fittings so I gotta wait for those. Saabismi on sairaus. 
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Aug 6, 2023 05:53
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You mean the finnish saab club? It seems real slow there last I checked, I mostly write on the swedish forums and UK one, a lot more life there. I too have vacuum issues, not engine related anymore. I have an entirely new vacuum tank now, and it is holding it's vacuum from what I can tell, the check valve is working. But the air selector switch isn't making it's typical hissing noises anymore or really selecting anything. If I put it into the "high" mode the fan blows harder, though nothing comes from the centre valve. Now only tested with the car standing still so far. Not really sure what's the cause. It's like the components inside get no vacuum, though I haven't disturbed or touched anything in there. I guess I need to inspect the vacuum lines inside the dash, starting with the one coming from below the air filter which I have touched multiple times. How do I most easily access these? I looked at removing the lower dash but it looks like I have to remove the instrument panel and everything for that, which sounds crazy to me. I noticed if I pull the vacuum line that goes under the air filter and into the compartment, there's a hiss as the vacuum from the tank is equalized. That makes me wonder if perhaps the line is plugged behind the vacuum fitting, since there are things there in the dash that would "use up" the vacuum and it's not being used up, so to speak. So maybe it't not leaking inside, maybe the line is plugged somehow?
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Aug 6, 2023 06:44
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His Divine Shadow posted:You mean the finnish saab club? It seems real slow there last I checked, I mostly write on the swedish forums and UK one, a lot more life there. Yeah, the finish one. It's slow but there are people who know everything about Saabs, too bad they can't write and use inside lingo. Do you have vacuum pump? Thats pretty easy way to test the hoses. Have this one and it has been working fine. https://www.toolpacknet.fi/fin/alipainepumppusarja_laser-p-713525-0/
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Aug 6, 2023 08:10
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Nope I need to get one but biltema which I looked at wanted like 70 so I was looking 2nd hand, but I'll probably get something like that. Earlier today, new stainless screw attached with JB-weld equivalent (Devcon WR-2)  And the tail light is back on the car. Had some rain and I washed the car earlier and no wettness around the light. All I did was remove the gasket and put it back. Weird and I don't think it'll last.  This feels pretty typical otherwise. I create new problems when I try to fix something. This is not the only thing I'm struggling with. The air selector switch isn't doing anything anymore and no air is coming out of the center vents, although everything else like the cruise control works (apparently sensitive to vacuum leakage) and I have tried several vacuum tanks and check valves. Broke the original tank with brake cleaner that splashed on the check valve so it shriveled up and started leaking. What I think is that I managed to do is, I somehow pluged up hose or the coupling that is located under the air filter for the cabin, as I fiddled around there, that's where all the vacuum comes to the air selector as I understand. I have to test with a vacuum tester to be sure. I hope I can somehow unclog it, otherwise it's looking quite dark if you want to get access ot the other side. Seems like basically the whole dash has to come out. And who knows what else I will break trying to remove that...
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Aug 6, 2023 19:19
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New wheel trim arch arrived, aftermarket stuff, made from PVC, feels like rubber. Comparison with the old wheel trim.  New one is mounted on the front drivers side:   Looks good I think, bit beefier than factory but nice. Wasn't so nice looking underneath however. Lots of rust, on the inside of the wheel well too. Looks like I got more welding todo come winter. Hosed it down with Dinitrol ML and then loads of grease inside the trim. It's just held on by friction.
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Aug 8, 2023 17:27
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The thicker arch trim looks amazing, to me, a past owner of a 900 with cracked wheel arch trim. Also your...shaved taillights look great. It's been about...10 years since I owned a Saab...maybe some of my old posts are here. Owned a couple 900's, a couple Viggens. Have been in a great mental state for some time now and decided to self sabotage with a low power '10 9-3 Aero XWD.  Seems to be in decent working order or at least felt fine on the 5 hour trip back home from Oregon to Seattle. Will detail it this weekend and give it a shake down.
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Aug 15, 2023 04:28
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drat that looks clean. Turbo X wheels, even
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Aug 15, 2023 04:31
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Posted in the what did you do to your car thread but figures it fits here too, typical saab issue. I should be able to seal it up tonight once I have primed the inside. Already painted rust converter inside and around it. Hoping it's back to driveable condition tomorrow. I checked out the left side and there's some rust there but nothing remotely as bad as this was. I cleaned out the inside of the drive tunnel and coated it with linseed oil.
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Aug 15, 2023 10:29
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Saabs are odd, but I don't think the hood is supposed to overlap the door. Good thing the hood was open.
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Aug 15, 2023 16:03
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And repost here too for good measure: Welded up the drive tunnel side walls. Pretty big welds, but I went over it more than once and pretty high current, figured better it's strong than good looking. Was getting dark, gbut the car's rolling again. And yes I noticed the plywood piece, thanks to this photo I realized to go back out and remove it. 
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Aug 16, 2023 06:10
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Today I replaced the fuel pump, it came quickly from Sweden. Old pump, noted the mark and oriented the new one in the same direction. The new one also had a float, which I think is a level sensor but is a separate unit on this car so I just ignored it.  I am not going to discard the old Saab pump, but will find a new pump for the armature to refurbish it and have it as a spare. The new one is proparts brand which doesn't have a good rep... Would be nice if I could find a saab NOS pump to put in.  All back together and sounding much quieter.  Forgot to take a picture of the new pump, but this is what it looks like: 
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Aug 17, 2023 19:10
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And and I had this thing made to remove the retaining nut. It barely worked, should have been slightly larger. But it worked, barely.
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Aug 18, 2023 07:09
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His Divine Shadow posted:And and I had this thing made to remove the retaining nut. It barely worked, should have been slightly larger. But it worked, barely. Looks familiar.   The '04 Arc just sputtered on me and went from high to medium boost in rapid succession. Turbo didn't have any play and airway was fine last I checked. Didn't throw codes, but can't get to my Tech2 to try to get a realtime reading (yet). Noticed racket from the compressor with the windows down. Joy.
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Aug 19, 2023 22:13
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Always something with an old car. Some photos from last night, went to a boot fair and saab meet.      This Saab 90 was one of the nicest cars there IMO      
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Aug 20, 2023 08:08
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Based on the conditions of most other 900s I've seen this weekend, I think mine is exceptionally well maintained. Only the two convertibles I saw looked comparable. All the others had worn paint, flaking, rust spots, missing parts, missing emblems. I did notice my car got some decent amount of attention when it was parked in the VIP section. This is the first year I've been to Juthbacka Fair and not paid parking, they waved me into the veterans parking lot and that's free if you get to park there. I feel bad I forgot to take photos when there, I was so set on looking around the fair and we where there from 9-14 and I think we managed to see most of it. Usually we might be 2-3 hours longer. Lots of cool cars, from giant american cars, even a 100 year old working Model T. To the really really tiny Fiat 126 and everything in between. Lots of Volvos too, some in real nice shape. Anyway had my seat back out because it failed again. Same fault again as what originally did it in I think, the metal gave way. I was thinking of welding but nah too risky. I drilled a new hole, again, but a smaller diameter and further away, just big enough so I could get the spring in. I hope it holds.   Also put in some strips of 4mm plywood between the springs and one strip in the middle to even out the pressure a bit.  
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Aug 20, 2023 14:36
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Found some vintage Bosch fog lights cheaply I don't seem to have any preinstalled mounts so I will have to fabricate my own.
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Aug 22, 2023 04:56
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I feel like the stock brackets were DIY adjacent anyways...
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Aug 22, 2023 21:03
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Also looking for rear splash guards A rarity it seems for post 87 models when they where re-designed. I personally feel that when they made a big mistake when splash guards where no longer a legal requirement. They are great and practical things that prevent your car from soiling itself and throwing rocks and crap at other cars. They also look good. Give a car a certain style. A maturity of sorts. Like this car's an adult.
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Aug 23, 2023 07:15
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Captain Kosmos posted:Saabs are odd, but I don't think the hood is supposed to overlap the door. Got this fixed it cost 500 and the guy charged only for 1 day not 1,5 it took. That's still 10 times what the car cost 
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Aug 25, 2023 05:23
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So what's it look like now then? And you got a car for 50? I replaced some of the trim with a glue on strip. I replaced the missing parts for now. Once I figure out to remove the drat things I'll have it all replaced. The adhesive stuff is much more reflective, which some people don't like, but I do.    And I've been cleaning out the bosch fog lights I got. They have no CE mark so they are older than 1984. Made in Sweden, not bad for 10 Treated with plastic restorer to the left, just cleaned with soap and water on right.  There's some rust, I put linseed oil on it... I figure that's good enough for now.  Plastic restorer on both  
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Aug 25, 2023 19:21
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His Divine Shadow posted:So what's it look like now then? And you got a car for 50€?  There was difficulties cause it's a Saab and the door had moved forward and it didn't closeup properly. The guy promised to paint it for free if I get the paint. The color is one of the harder ones to get. A family friend was going to send it to the wrecker, dad heard about it and bought it for 50€, then paid 50€ for new clutch that local garage had lying on the shelf's. Yeah pappa betalar 
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Aug 26, 2023 14:15
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Decided to stop being lazy. Time to catch up on the daily. Gapped / replaced plugs with current NGK suggestions for B235R. Valve cover gasket was weeping just enough for a dabble of oil near cyls 3 and 4; Common. Tightened down. Put on an aftermarket DI (what I have left on hand). Kicked the AC on high and took the 8%+ grade at about 80 on high boost. No misfires. Car's happy. Something tells me my lead food will return and I'm going to lose my 28MPG average.
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Aug 26, 2023 23:57
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I have a 29mpg and am unhappy with it... Shooting for 33mpg or 7l / 100km. Still neeed new wires and I looked at the rotor and distributor cap, they looked fine so I didn't change those. Will take another look at the timing later. ----- Last night I tried to remove the front bumper, to figure out why the right lower side has a noticeably bigger gap on the right side. Noticeable under the front lights. I ended up fighting with some rusted bolts holding the front bumper to the side bumpers. It defeated me on the left side, on the right I cut it away but couldn't even get it on the right side.. Photo of what it used to look like, note the steel wire and homemade trim...  The two big bolts holding the front bumper where no problem with an extension for leverage. Once I got it off I could tell the side bumper piece was not mounted onto the bar that it's supposed to go on, was sitting lower. I tried removing it and mounting it back on the rail properly. Then height wise the side piece lines up properly, but would not come forward far enough. After a lot of fiddling and removing some things that looked broken and also trimming the new wheel arch so it wouldn't be in the way. This is as good as I got it, feels like the front bumper sits too far out and also a bit low , but I am not sure. At least the gap is smaller now.   And the gap between the hood and front lights have always been uneven and worse on the right side.   Real good on the left side. The side adjuster pieces on the hood were both maximally retracted. I increased the gap on the left side and it made the right come down a little but it's still bigger on the right  Still I suspect this car might have been in a collision or something, though I got an extended report on the car before buying it and nothing was mentioned there. So if anything happened it wasn't anything that the insurance company got involved with. I need to get the front bumper off again and start measuring things.
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Aug 27, 2023 07:43
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Tried applying some yellow headlight film, first time ever so I did a lot of misstakes, apparently you can use heat to make it go easier. Will do that on the next one. 70W 24V lamp running on 12V gives a suitably weak shine to work as a position lamp instead of a blinding fog light.  Here's a 24 and 12 volt H3 lamp both running on 12V. Hard to see on the photo but the 12V one is more than twice as bright. 
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Aug 27, 2023 18:33
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| # ? Apr 28, 2024 12:33 |
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His Divine Shadow posted:Tried applying some yellow headlight film, first time ever so I did a lot of misstakes, apparently you can use heat to make it go easier. Will do that on the next one. If you are looking for position lights here's NOS Talmus https://www.tori.fi/uusimaa/Talmu_huomiovalot__117193797.htm?ca=18&w=3 Does the 900 have a socket for position lights like the 99 has?
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Aug 28, 2023 04:14
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