SaabCentral Forums banner

New member with questions

1K views 14 replies 8 participants last post by  silversaab96 
#1 ·
Good evening guys,

I am new to this site so please bear with me if I am in the wrong place asking the wrong questions.

I have just purchased a 1988 Saab Turbo automatic which has 22 on the clock and so has done a fair bit of mileage, the turbo is water cooled and it has A/C.
I do not know anything about these vehicles apart from what I have read on the internet.

My first question is, the boost meter is sitting at the start of the yellow bar and not the begining of the white, is this normal and if not how do I adjust it to the correct position?

2, When driving along and I increase speed my gear changes are a bit slow in 'D' when going from 50kph to 90kph(about the 3rd to 4th) and so when I get to say 80kph it is still in a lower gear and I have to ease up on the gas which makes it change to a higher gear ie, doing 80kph and waiting for it to change to higher gear so I drop to 78kph(ease up on the pedal) and the gear changes to the higher gear and then we are off and sitting at a 100kph. How can I adjust this for smooth change up?

3, What is the best way to change the water in the radiator because mine does not have a tap or bung underneath the radiator and there looks to be no anti freeze in the overflow tank so I want to put some in?

4, What are the best plugs to put in and what should I set them at?

5, When car starts up in the morning, its revs go up and then down but does not go over the 1000 mark but gets close to stalling when low but when I drive off it runs normal. Is this normal or can I change it to the idle at one constant rev?

6, Can anyone tell me what the key hole on the drivers side front panel near the wheel is for(we are rt hand drive here in nz)?

I think that is enough questions for now, please keep the answers simple as I do not know any of the names of the items in the engine bay apart from the norm.

Your help with these questions will be much appreciated.:D

Regards
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Raferty said:
I am new to this site so please bear with me if I am in the wrong place asking the wrong questions.
Yep, this is the place... and welcome.
I have just purchased a 1988 Saab Turbo automatic which has 22 on the clock and so has done a fair bit of mileage, the turbo is water cooled and it has A/C.
I do not know anything about these vehicles apart from what I have read on the internet.
So you know that they go forever? When you say 22 on the clock, are you saying 22k or 220k? If it's only 22k you've got something very rare there...

My first question is, the boost meter is sitting at the start of the yellow bar and not the begining of the white, is this normal and if not how do I adjust it to the correct position?
This is normal. White is manifold vacuum, the boundary between white and yellow is atmospheric pressure, yellow is boosting and red is boosting hard. The needle should go about halfway into the red when pushing hard, maybe less so with an automatic.

2, When driving along and I increase speed my gear changes are a bit slow in 'D' when going from 50kph to 90kph(about the 3rd to 4th) and so when I get to say 80kph it is still in a lower gear and I have to ease up on the gas which makes it change to a higher gear ie, doing 80kph and waiting for it to change to higher gear so I drop to 78kph(ease up on the pedal) and the gear changes to the higher gear and then we are off and sitting at a 100kph. How can I adjust this for smooth change up?
This is a 3-speed box so there's no 3rd to 4th. I would suggest you first do an auto trans service along with a front band adjustment. There's a recent thread on this subject and there's another link in the C900 FAQ . You should attend to this as soon as possible as a maladjusted auto trans can get damaged fairly easily.

3, What is the best way to change the water in the radiator because mine does not have a tap or bung underneath the radiator and there looks to be no anti freeze in the overflow tank so I want to put some in?
My radiator has a drain c0ck in the bottom right hand corner. Look below the turbo. If that's not there, just undo the bottom radiator hose. While you're at it, have a look at the side of the block under the exhaust manifold. There's a small housing with two bolts. The smaller of these is a block drain plug. While you're flushing the cooling system, open that too.

4, What are the best plugs to put in and what should I set them at?
NGK BCP6ES or BCP7ES. See this post for more details. Our saabs do not like other plugs. Use NGK. If necessary, order them from somewhere...

5, When car starts up in the morning, its revs go up and then down but does not go over the 1000 mark but gets close to stalling when low but when I drive off it runs normal. Is this normal or can I change it to the idle at one constant rev?
More than likely a sticky air idle control (AIC) valve. If you look at the throttle housing (where the accelerator cable meets the engine) there are two 2cm hoses (one each side of the butterfly plate) going off to a valve with an electrical connector on the top. This is over near the end of the fuel rail (sorry, no pic). Take this off and give it a good cleaning with carb cleaner. You might get some unusual rev counts while the carb cleaner evaporates after you refit it but that should be short-lived.

6, Can anyone tell me what the key hole on the drivers side front panel near the wheel is for(we are rt hand drive here in nz)?
I presume that's some kind of alarm. Have you a key for it?

Have a read of the C900 FAQ. There's all sorts of good info there...
 
#4 ·
Comments

Good evening guys,

Thankyou 'cdaly' for your comments and links, I will start the tinkering tomorrow. I can get NGK's down at our local automotive store and the rest I can do no problem but the transmission adjustment might take me some time as I do not have a clue where the drain plug is for the trans fluid and how to adjust the bands.

I do not have a key that fits the lock by the wheel arch and there is no comments or pictures in the manual, I will try and see if there are any wires connected to it from having a look underneath and will put a picture on here.

My girl has 220k's on the clock hence the low cost I brought it at but she does drive like a dream, no dents and has a ton of power and take off when turbo kicks in. I hope she will last me for a period of time if I look after her like you guys tell me to.

Thankyou for the comments so far.:D
 
#5 ·
See above for most, I just wanted to add that a hunting idle is likely caused by:

dirty idle control valve (already mentioned)

misadjusted throttle stop switch.

failing air-mass meter, and...

vacuum leaks - most common. listen for the aforementioned hissing, as well as checking the turbo bypass valve to see that it holds vacuum. if not, then vacuum can leak internally through it.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Update

Today I pulled off the AIC valve(now know what it looks like, had to google for a pic) and gave it a clean inside and reassembled it but still have a small amount of increase/decrease in rev's on start up but I suppose I can live with that.

Got some NGK BCP7ES plugs from the Auto shop and asked them to set them for me as my manual said they are supposed to be set at 0.6mm, the guy behind the counter was very helpful but he did question such a small gap for the plugs so I showed him the manual and he said "that manual must be correct then".

I put in the new plugs and started her up but I could hear a slight ticking sound which was not there before.

Exactly what should these plugs be set at, being in mind I do about 40Kmh out and about 45Kmh back to home at night. The guy at the Auto shop asked me what sort of driving I do i.e around town or out into the country(high speed) I told him I go out into the country every day and so he gave me the above plugs instead of the BCP6ES's. Are the plugs right for my travel and are the gaps right(0.6mm)?.

cdaly wrote:
This is a 3-speed box so there's no 3rd to 4th. I would suggest you first do an auto trans service along with a front band adjustment.

Looking at the car manual in the Technical Data area at the back, under the heading Automatic transmission it states that my type of gearbox is a '4-speed with converter. is this right?

I have just read my intro to this forum and I forgot to mention that my car is a 1988 SAAB 9000 Turbo(hence the confusion on the gears);oops:

BTW, can someone explain to me the best easy way to keep the aircondition off when the day is not so hot?
And which button is best to use for driving, ECON or AUTO?

Regards
 
#7 ·
G'day Raferty,

As you have a 9000 you're actually at the wrong forum, try next door. But no big deal.

Yes, 9000's do have a 4-speed automatic.

0.6, 0.7 is what my manuals says too for the sparkplug gap, so it should be correct. BCP7ES is good, keep it that way.

Concerning the A/C or more precise the ACC (Automatic Climate Control). The ACC is and automatic intergrated system of airco, heater and ventilation system. ECON mean you switch off the airconditioner part, to increase fuel economy.
Having a c900 without ACC, but with airconditioning (that I can switch manually on/off) and a A/C compressor that needs to be changed, I come to the conclusion that when the new compressor is fitted, A/C will be on all the time. I'm very sure the compressor died because it was switch off (even though I let it run once every while) most of the time. Those compressor need lubrication, which they only get when they are running. mI prefer to spend little more on fuel, than replace the compressor another time.
AUTO means, you set the desired temperature, and the ACC does all the other things automatically, like opening air inlets, ventilator speed.
So, just set the temp, switch on AUTO, and forget about it. :)

Enjoy your 9000

Blacky
 
#9 · (Edited)
The BCP 7 ES is what you need especially close to sea level (as most of New Zealand is). I am at 1000 meters and ALWAYS use BCP 7 ES. Gap should be aroun d0.7 mm. The 6 heat range plug is a bit hot for these engines and won't last long.

For the 88 and older engine your hunting idle speed is almost always a dirty throttle plate. Later engines don't seem to suffer from this issue for some reason. I used to use FI type throttle plate cleaner regularly on my 86. Get a spray can of the stuff (for FI and catalytic converter safe) pull off the throttle housing rubber bellows, put a rag under the bottom edge of the housing and spray away, opening the throttle plate and spraying the back side and also "round the corner" into the AIC hoses. It shouldn't be necessary to actually take the AIC valve off but you did and cleaned it and that's good.
It's almost never the AIC that's the problem but on those 2.0 liter engines with APC (pre trionic) the throttle plate collects oily grime and slowly chokes off the idle air bleed that is supposed to sneak past the edge of the closed throttle. This reduces the air that can get into the engine at idle and the AIC isn't designed to fill this gap so you get erratic idle and stumble.

Two other things worth checking are the one way valve in the PCV system which is that grey and white thingy that sits in the small diameter vacuum line from the intake to the cam cover. This should pass air one way (towards the intake) but block air from the intake to the cam cover (stops boost pressure over pressuring the crankcase). Blow, don't suck on this line to test this valve or you might get some nasty oil in your mouth!

The other is the black plastic "hooter" valve that dumps boost when you close the throttle suddenly. The vacuum line to that should be checked by blowing into it. If the hooter valve leaks then you ridle can go wacky and you r boost will be uneven. This valve has a spring loaded diaphragm that seals the boost side of the intake from the upstream intake to the compressor until the throttle closes, then a vacuum is applied by that vacuum line which opens the hooter and dumps boost in a bypass mode to keep the compressor spinning but eliminate boost pressure waves that could otherwise actually bend your throttle plate!
 
#10 · (Edited)
Hey, woah cool another NZer

I've got a 9000 turbo, auto too :cheesy: Got it a month or so back really enjoying it so far.

Have fun, glad to see your auto has made 220k, mine does the exact same thing with the shifting and letting off the gas slightly and its only done 138,000km - came like that, figured it was normal. Mine also had erratic idle, had a listen in the engine bay and found a T-line leaking, plugged it up and tis all good now.

I wish I had a working ACC system at the moment! i'll be a happy chappy once thats sorted, thats for sure.


Check ya tranny fluid, and flush it if you can - i've got a haynes manual for 1985-1998 9000's in chch if you get stuck on anything. :D
 
#11 ·
Excellent help here!!!

Good evening guys,

Good to see I am NOW in the right forum.

Thanks for the advice and comments Superaero, all I have to do is identifer the parts you talk about and sort them out.
I have owned my car for nine days now and I want to get everything right with her and make sure she looks good, I have sprayed the bumpers and now they look good.

FruitLooPs wrote:
Have fun, glad to see your auto has made 220k, mine does the exact same thing with the shifting and letting off the gas slightly and its only done 138,000km - came like that, figured it was normal. Mine also had erratic idle, had a listen in the engine bay and found a T-line leaking, plugged it up and tis all good now.

I am still wondering about that changing to top gear and having to let off gas to get there!!!

I would appreciate borrowing your manual 'FLP' as I am in ChCh, in the Shirley area and work out at Burnham and it would be good to go through the book if that is 'ok'.

Thanks guys, have any more comments advice or hints?

Raferty
 
#14 ·
Pictures wanted

Good evening guys,

Can anyone send or point me in the direction of where I can find some pictures or drawings of the parts that 'Superaero' is talking about. FLP, is there any pictures in the book of the parts that you could email me?
The only thing I know is the AIC Valve, the rest are all new names to me and there are so many tubes, I can id the turbo, 'dizzy' and spark plugs!!!

Regards
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top