I purchased a 1989 8v turbo LE with 93,000 miles around a year ago. Soon after purchase I noticed a noise from the engine that sounded like a dry bearing. Bit like a skateboard in need of some oil. The noise did not seem to alter in pitch as the revs rose but would disappear altogether if the tickover speed dropped below about 500 rpm. Could do this by stalling in gear with the brakes on or by temporarily disconnecting a breather hose. Noise seemed to be emanating from front of the engine but was not the clutch release bearing (disengaging clutch had no effect) and could not be the timing chain (wrong end) and definately not the alternator, water pump or belts. Had the car serviced by Savage Saab at 97,600 including sorting the valve clearances. Amazing - the noise had gone. 101,000 and MOT time. Failed on blue smoke from the exhaust. I had been noticing intermittent puffs, usually after decelerating. Research sugested the Turbo. 101,500 and off to Ealing Saab for repairs. They declare turbo weak (?!) but OK and issue MOT. Smoke getting worse. 101,700 and I take turbo off myself and despatch it to Turbo Technics (excellent website). They declare it dead and sell me a service exchange unit. OK I'll tell you, just under £450 inc. VAT, collection and return. And to think the only reason I parted with my 1987 900i was that I didn't want to spend £500 on the gearbox.
Intermission for turbo fitting tips.
1) take the bonnet off - easy with a second pair of hands, only me for refit so used pully from garage roof - need to push this with nose of car to get the right angle but watch for bonnet catch snagging front trim. 2) jack car up high - saves all that bending and you will need to get underneath.
3) remove the bracing arm that bolts onto the engine block - only two bolts on block. 4) fit turbo loosely to exhaust manifold and refit oil and water pipes before tightening - none of them quite match. Real pig is the oil drain pipe. By the way, Turbo Technics recommend replacing the oil feed pipe in case of carbon contamination. Reading Saab quoted £97 so I took a chance with the old one.
5) bracing arm may foul on casting of new turbo, mine did, had to carve out a section - easy with a jig saw. Refit the bracing arm last and only then tighten bolts to exhaust manifold.
6) can now fit elbow to exhaust downpipe. This appears to fit without a gasket - anyone know any better?. I primed the turbo with engine oil before refitting the feed pipe but as this drains straight out didn't seem much point, especially as its recommended to give the engine a good cranking to get the oil circulating before firing it up.
Back to mystery noise. Its back! Now the only things that have changed are the turbo and the oil. As recommended by Turbo Technics (them again) I've used Mobil 1 fully synthetic (what a price). Stumped between 0W - 40W or 15W to 50W - I plumped for the latter. Now could it be the oil that is leading to the noise. It may be that when I purchased the car it was running on fully synthetic oil and subsequent garage oil changes have used something more affordable. Do Saabs not like fully synthetic motor oils? I'm suspicious that using semi-synthetic oil in the 900i gearbox was what done for it. Now know this not recommended. Partners 900 SE (serviced by BPV) has - according to the invoices - been topped up with EP75 gear oil and is going strong after 190,000 miles with not a hint of a whine. Oh yes the noise - any ideas, is it serious? Plan is to run for a thousand miles and then if noise still there try another oil change (sob) with semi-synthetic. Oh boy.
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Jeff Curtis
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30-03-02, 11:43 PM
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