Help With 900S Convertible

[LennyD]

Hi all first post here, and hope I do not dupe any questions etc.

Just purchased my first Saab, and this site has been very helpful (thanks to all!) but I have a few questions that I could not find answers to.

It is a NG900S Convertible with just over 100K. I did get it at a fair price, and it seems to be pretty solid mechanically, has a good interior etc etc, but like many others it does have it's little problems

First Q is just what to do about the rain filter that Saab calls a roof? Of course the seller claimed it did not have any leaks so I did not give it any thought until the first drive after it had rained over night. It was leaking from the rails or channels of the roof on both sides.

I did apply a water proofing spray on it (3m scotch guard) and cleaned it up etc, but should I expect that to do anything? Are there any popular places for water to penetrate the roof?

By the third day of having it the trans mount let go. It was not an expensive or difficult repair (thankfully) but now you can feel a seriously annoying vibration in the cabin. Any ideas on this? Also note that i had read some place on the net that the aftermarket mounts were "mushy" so I had added a custom cut piece of vacuum hose (maybe fuel line not sure lol) to the half moon shaped opening. Could this have anything to do with it, or would it be a waste of time to take it apart and remove it, and would be better trying to locate the cause of the vibration instead of the possible lack of it being absorbed by the mount?

There are more like the roof not wanting to complete the up or down process without some help, and stuff with the SID, and more, but maybe I should ask if it is preferred to separate into different threads, or just jumble them all together in one?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[LennyD]

So it looks like I am not the first one to have very limited success with applying water proofing to the top. From the other threads I have read others have tried a couple different products but I did not see any reports of positive outcomes. There were many here and at other sites that never posted a follow up, but that just leads me to think they were not happy etc.

Has anyone had any success with stopping the leaks?

One thing I noticed is that others had reported water leaking directly through the material, but I am not able to confirm this is the case with this one as I have not actually been in the car during the rain.

There has to be something that is typical of the design or material that is causing this to happen. I mean I have had much less expensive vehicles that did not leak, and even one that had a seam split that was glued and sewn together (not the best way either) and never leaked a drop.

Could the long seams be the cause?

Please offer any info you have as this is going to drive me nuts lol.

[GREYCLOUD]

Hi
I don't know if scotchguard works.Use a dedicated waterproofing product for convertibles. I used a product available here in Australia called Renovo. You really have to work the liquid into the canvas with a fairly stiff brush , and I always do it twice. If rain doesn't 'bead' on the canvas, then it's not being repelled. I don't know if long periods of rain eventually penetrate the roof or not. A guy at an MG restoration garage told me, that , if you have a convertible you have to do this as periodic maintenance , otherwise, water will be absorbed into the canvas.
Secondly, your windows MUST have a good seal on the rubber weatherstrips.( meaning the glass must be firm against the rubber)
You Must have a good seal between the front and rear windows, especially the top of the front windows as they simply sit against the rubber. The front windows must sit at the correct height and sit tight against the rubber.
My advice is to work out where the leaks come from before making any adjustments to the windows. If your glass doesn't sit tight and snug in the roof rubber - then, if I was you- I would be looking at adjusting the height and incline of the glass until it does.
There are posts about 900s convertible front window adjustments on this site.
My 1995 900s was a leaky pain in the butt. Now it is dry and snug in all weather and we have had some very intense rain down here over our summer.
All my woes were caused by broken window regulator rollers and misaligned windows.
good luck.
Greycloud.

[jonathans]

as far as the transmission mount goes, the stock one is already pretty "mushy" but it might come relatively stiff when it's new. mushiness is the idea; it absorbs vibration to improve ride quality for the wine and cheese community.

a sportier mount will be stiffer making shifting smoother, but it will add vibration (pretty much all-around at all times in my experience).

it is possible the trans mount is not torqued all the way down.

it is possible that replacing it damaged one of the other two engine mounts, or similarly, now that the trans mount is new, the oldness of one or both of the other two is being observed.

http://photo.platonoff.com/Auto/2005...Engine_Mounts/

the convert is shaky to begin with. when i bought mine i priced out $2500 of repairs/upgrades ahead of time to mitigate its stock sloppiness. it includes all new mounts, and i did this same job.

[condaddy]

i had the same problem with a leaky roof when i got my car, i tried various differnt water ****ing stuff. nothing worked, and it did seem as if the water went right threw the material. i eventually got so pissed off about it i had new canvas top put on, costed me $1250. now i have not had a single issue with water leaking in. the guy who did my roof told me that it could of started leaking for several reason, main two were sun beating down on it over the years, and people going threw car washes with convertibles, he said that they use a high detegerent soap that is really rough on the roof. so if got a convertible wash it ur self and if u want to wash the top with soap get some that is not high detergent!

[LennyD]

Thanks for the ideas.

I think I figured out the vibe issue. One thing is that it seems the engine though it seemingly runs smooth still vibrates a bit at low rpm. Its not like a miss but I will be looking for any vacuum leaks soon. Second is that I had read somewhere that the cheap aftermarket mounts were a bit mushy and that someone had luck with adding a small piece of rubber into one of the voids to firm things up. I am not sure of the little piece of Vac line that was cut in half and put into the void could be the cause, but it is at the bottom of the mount where the weight is supported when there is no or little torque on the engine so I guess it is possible.

The vibe seems to be reducing with the miles since the install so maybe it will just go away, but will be looking it over while doing an oil change over the next couple weeks etc.

Now that stinking roof is another issue

I hear you guys on the idea that Scotch guard not being thebest product for this purpose, and my searches did provide info on people using various marine canvas waterproof products (which is what I originally intended to use until I found I had used up nearly every drop of what I thought was a new bottle that I had for treating the mooring cover on my boat lol).

My issue with this is two fold. One is that I know even the heaviest canvas needs constant attention on most boats if it is to be able to keep you dry in a heavy rain. I typically do mine twp or three times a season etc. The second IS that unlike marine canvas the material on our roofs has been laminated with some kind of poly or plastic type product that should make it 100% waterproof.

That is why I am so puzzled with the amount of water I am finding in the side rails etc. And am this thinking originally at least that it had to be from one of the seams in the roof or that the lamination had either separated or ripped in areas from age and the top being raised and lowered over the years.

Today will possibly provide me with some rain during a 180 mile trip I need to make so I may be able to find where it is getting through, but from what your telling me it sounds like this may not give the results I would like as if the material itself is allowing penetration then it could be from everywhere and I will be in for a wet ride

I am going.g to have to get the real canvas waterproof stuff for the boat anyway so I am planning on just getting extra to do the Saab etc unless there is some other product that has proven to perform better. So far I have not been able to find any reports on anything better except a few owners who had purchased expensive products but never actually followed up on the results so I figure it didn't work out well.

Still I keep thinking that there must be a few spots that typically go bad in all of these and no matter if a windshield to roof seal (which appears OK) or a seem in the top itself etc would make sense.

A new top is pretty much out of the question for the moment as its not in the budget lol, but I had thought about removing the inner liner and treating the underside with some kind of spray or brush on product that would harden to a flexible coating much like what is there from the factory but just not bonded etc.

I still have to address the motor or worn gear on the motor in trunk which seems to only work when you pull down on the motor real hard otherwise it just clicks. I do have an idea for this as a permanent solution as well as a simple temp one but I got to stop the in car shower first.

Thanks again for your help!!

[sankuspr]

Originally Posted by LennyD

So it looks like I am not the first one to have very limited success with applying water proofing to the top. From the other threads I have read others have tried a couple different products but I did not see any reports of positive outcomes. There were many here and at other sites that never posted a follow up, but that just leads me to think they were not happy etc.

Has anyone had any success with stopping the leaks?

One thing I noticed is that others had reported water leaking directly through the material, but I am not able to confirm this is the case with this one as I have not actually been in the car during the rain.

There has to be something that is typical of the design or material that is causing this to happen. I mean I have had much less expensive vehicles that did not leak, and even one that had a seam split that was glued and sewn together (not the best way either) and never leaked a drop.

Could the long seams be the cause?

Please offer any info you have as this is going to drive me nuts lol.

I applied a full bottle of 303 to my roof... No change, still leaks like a mother ****er.

[LennyD]

An over due follow up

Been crazy busy lately, and the weather has turned to the normal "too damn cold" for any legit reason to lower the roof, but after removing the tonneau motor again and bending it back into a position that would allow it to close flat against the driven gear assy (actually was even better than previous etc) it was working like it should.

Of course when I went to install the emergency release cable the damn thing popped apart and was a royal pain in the butt to get fully seated again, but it's all back together and worked flawlessly during three different tests.

I can not say how long it will take until it bends and starts chattering again, and I am leaving the C-clamp just in case but so far so good.

Now i am diagnosing what sounds like bearing in the serp belt drive that is growling and grinding away.

Hope it is just a bearing in one of the idler pulleys, but since I looked over the old receipts and saw that at least one of them was replaced I may not get lucky and it could be something more involved.

Will post a new thread if I run into any trouble on that one.

[LennyD]

Originally Posted by sankuspr

I applied a full bottle of 303 to my roof... No change, still leaks like a mother ****er.

I know its over two months and hope you got the leak stopped etc, but if not maybe this can help.

With mine it seemed the water was infiltrating the seams running down the roof front to back at first, but after applying various water proofing products it became evident that water was just soaking the entire roof and then running down both sides and collecting along the channel above the window seals etc.

From my research on the net and here etc it seems that this is not the only way water gets in and there are other popular spots that an otherwise well treated roof can leak.

The seal above the windshield is one of them, and the seals above the side windows is another.

With the many complaints online and the various service bulletins etc on these I know they must be common problems (also ones that were previously addressed on mine before I owned it), but also feel your pain as I know first hand how much it suks to have it rain on you inside a car its just no right lol.

If your still following this thread post up if you found the source and were able to fix it, or if your still figuring it out etc.