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Saab 95 - Turbo - loss of power?

18K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  ccash 
#1 ·
Hi all, first time poster so please bear with me!

I have a 1998 Saab 9-5 (4-cyl, petrol, LPT Ecopower), with stacks of miles on the clock (160k).

It’s been running fine, until around two weeks ago, when it lost all its ‘usable’ power. By that I mean, it will drive ok, but is noticeably sluggish. For example, go up an incline and it’ll struggle to maintain the national speed limit, even in 3rd gear.

My immediate thoughts were the turbo wasn’t working, or there was a blockage to the injectors (being an LPT model I have no turbo gauge, so I can’t be certain).

I can’t see any other notable problems, i.e:

No warning captions

Starts fine, first time and idles normally (fuel pump powers up on first click of the ignition)

No smoke from the exhaust either on start up or after running up.

Smooth revs – no surges or splutters when driving (I carefully revved it at idle, and it went through the rev range ok).

No clanks, noises or bangs that would worry me, its simply just the drop off in power (Also, there was no symptom preceding this drop off in power, the effect seemed to just happen without related problem or other warning sign).

What I’ve already changed:

New sparks plug fitted
Air filter changed

…..Both to no effect

Any ideas? I’ve heard about checking for vacuum leaks (?) but I really don’t know how to do this. I’ve also read about a ‘waste gate’ valve or ‘blow off’ being faulty – it doesn’t appear too expensive or difficult to replace – might this be worth a try? (Please see the attached photo, is this item the correct gate/blow off valve?)

Thanks for any help you can be!
 
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#2 ·
Has the clip that attaches the wastegate rod to the turbo come off?

 
#8 ·
I wonder if it is the same for 2005 Aero (I have 2006 spec TD04 turbo). I have a photo taken previously and this is how it looks from this angle. I can't really see a clip but there seems to be a small thingy.

Is there also a certain number of threads on the westgate rod? Someone told me that he recalls 11 threads connecting to nut and I have 8. What difference would it make to have 3 less threads?
 

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#4 · (Edited)
On the turbo which is under the big silver triangular heat sheild at the front of your engine - make sure its cold before you start to play!

I think the sheild has one 13mm nut holding it.

 
#6 ·
Thanks!

Well the clip appears half-broken, but the rod is in place and stays put when I apply a bit of force.

Thats a shame, a detached one would act as you describe and its a very cheap fix :cry:
 
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