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I'm lost, and fed up!

1K views 20 replies 7 participants last post by  Palmer1980 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Today I go out to my car, fire it up, sit for a second or 10 like always, throw a CD in and start my drive to work. It's a nice day as those go, sunny, kinda warm and nice, after a ugly and rainy weekend. As I merge onto the highway in third gear like I usually do (it's a short poorly designed ramp) I almost get run the hell over by a corolla, and I have to downshift to second and floor it to avoid getting creamed. I always merge in third gear.

WHAT?

Upon further examaniaton, I realize the factory boost gauge is barely (1mm) going into the yellow, and my aftermarket boost gauge is only reading 5 psi. On my commute, I experiment with gears and throttle position. I find that in gears 1-4 I can get 5psi max if I floor it. In 5th, I get 5psi until about 3k or so, then it jumps to 10/11 psi and the middle of the factory gauge, just like normal. Upon my arrival to work, I gap the plugs to .39, look things over under the hood, and think things will be great.

On the way home, at a stoplight, I notice my idle is all loused up. As I sit, the idle goes from 700 to 1000 with dimming lights and all that fun stuff... It does this with the clutch in or out. If I blip the gas it goes away for a second, then comes back.

Facts:

New BPC (3 months old)
New Battery
Good preimum gas from the same place I always get it
New GS intake
Recently cleaned MAF with 3M eletrical motor contact cleaner
Fine looking vac lines
Newer proper NGK plugs with good gap
Drove 300 miles the day before with no problems!
Synthetic oil every 4k since I have had the car
Voltmeter off the terminals reads above 14 all the time
Throttle body looks clean and ok
I am setup to get a new DI next tuesday due to the recall
The fuel filter has not been replaced
I do not have traction control
No CEL's
Original o2 sensors.



I think this my be the longest post I have ever done, and if you get this far I applaud you. Any suggestions?

If this keeps up after the DI, I may bring it to a saab/volvo shop to get a second opinion.

GAH!!
 
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#2 ·
I'm leaning to this being the DI or something with the fuel delivery.


Anyone?
 
#3 · (Edited)
Has the wastegate become detached from the turbo, its only a small clip holding it on?

 
#6 ·
See, that's what I thought too...


It's odd, because sometimes it goes right to 10/11 psi and holds it, other times I'm lucky to get 5.

I'll look over the wastegate and the associated vac lines while my car is up tomrrow while I am putting my new 3" downpipe and 3" exhaust on :)

I hope this problem does not cause anyone to lose sleep.:suprised;
 
#7 ·
HTML:
On the way home, at a stoplight, I notice my idle is all loused up. As I sit, the idle goes from 700 to 1000 with dimming lights and all that fun stuff... It does this with the clutch in or out. If I blip the gas it goes away for a second, then comes back.
HTML:
Palmer, check the battery voltage, it should be on 13 ...

Your IAC needs checked, cleaned and oiled..,
but I am thinking that the lights should NOT dim, even if the RPM drops to 700.....

It seems as if all has been well covered, nevertheless, something is amiss with the boost control system.....
 
#8 ·
Voltage is just fine @ 14+! (checked yesterday)


I have a 2000 9-3, do I even have an IAC?
 
#9 ·
I know you said you checked all your vac lines, but go ahead and check 5 more times.. Sometimes they can appear to be fine, but just be 'gnarly' enough to allow leaks, especially on those hard to see 'undersides' on all the nipples.

8 months ago or so, I had a very similar problem. Sometimes weak weak boost, sometimes about normal. Never fully 'solid', but right up there near where it should be. Got worse over 3 days. In my case, the hard vac line that goes from the fuel purge valve to the throttle-body connection was snapped off where the rubber coupling meets the 'hard line'. Fixed this, and boost was back to 'normal'; solid pressure w/o fade.

Also, is your BPV making a hooting sound? I'm not sure of your milage, but it seems the units die around 100K + miles. Mine did just about when I installed an MBC. If this is ripped, it would be leaking your boost when you boosted -- And, IMO, it would be 'irratic' like it seems to be.

You say that 5th gear full bore 'go pedal' you seem to boost correctly; This, to me, makes sense for either the BPV or the vac lines. 5th gear is when your compresser is REALLY pushing air ASAP -- And it's seemingly doing so *faster* than your vac/boost leak... But on a slower boost level, it's leaking about the same as the input of boost pressure. (Does this make sense?)

Try to drive around and really 'blip' the throttle hard. But only for a few seconds -- See if the boost will hit 'near normal' levels, and fade...

peace,
bny
 
#10 ·
Thanks for all the help!!


It's sort of like that, If I blip it OR hold it down in 5th it's 5 psi until 2800-3000k rpms, then full boost. Only does this in 5th gear though.



No noise form the BPV that I can hear, anyway. I'm goint to print this thread out and do some troubleshooting this weekend. It's making me nuts!

Is there any other way to check the BPV?
 
#11 ·
Palmer1980 said:
Is there any other way to check the BPV?
Switch it with a known good one. As far as I know, that's the only way to truly know if it's malfunctioning or not; Mine was hooting now and then, thus I knew it was kaput (Yet, it's still in my 'junk room'; why do I keep this crap?)

Best luck, hope it gets all figured out...

Oh, have you tried running on base boost to see if you get your constant 5-7PSI? Unplug the electrical connector to the BPC to try this out...

Another thing to try, if you're not all worried, is to remove the line from the wastegate. I'm not certain what this will do on a T7 machine in regards to CEL's, etc -- But on a T5, it just lets the turbo spin till she pukes, or rather, until your ECU hits fuel cut. If you do this route, be prepared for a CEL to come on (Like I said, I believe this will happen in a T7 -- Anyone know for sure?), but it may answer questions...

You said you have a new BPC, but if you remove this line and hit fuel-cut, it's telling us that the BPC is having issues...

Let us know,

peace,
bny
 
#12 ·
Can't be your IAC if you have T7.

I would suspect your DI...have you had it replaced under the recall yet? I am having some small idle and electrical issues, and have checked everything, I suspect the DI. I am hoping to take it in for the recall soon.
 
#14 ·
Next tuesday @ 10am! New DI!

It's amazing, I actually got off the phone with the stealer, and I was happy!


Anyway, good call on the IC hoses too!

I'm going to unplug the BPC on the way home to see if that is it.

It could be the BPV as well, I was running a SMBC for a bit, until I got it on a dyno with an A/F meter and realized how lean it made my car run! I'll be sure to listen for owls under the hood...
 
#15 ·
Ok, update.

Now there is a rapid clicking noise coming from the engine compartment under power. If I am at a light and I rev it, I hear clicks, and if I pull away from a stop, I hear them as well.

I do not know how long the noises go, because at about 30 mph the wind nosie around my head out the window gets too loud. :)

It's a rapid clicking, like a clock but faster. And they stay the same speed regardless of the engine RPMs.

This is getting silly.
 
#17 ·
Two things to consider that may or may not be pertinent

1 - When the RPMs drop to 700, why do the lights dim ?
This does not strike me as normal--, with a generator - yes!
But not the alternator, particularly these new powerful ones.
14.6 at "1,000" RPM(idle) with the Saabs,Honda, and VW; But I was unable to test at 700 RPM.

2 - It seems as if the boost control is OK in 5th gear, but not the other gears.
The ECU must receive signals from the transmission as to which gear is engaged...The boost is limited (IIRC)during 1st and 2nd gear operation - which makes sense..
I think the problem is in the fragile electronics...
 
#18 ·
I thought it was the BPC as well, but it still made the noise when I unplugged it on the way home the other night. I also swapped it out with another one I have, and the noise was still there...

Good point about the alternator. I'll have to check that out again.

It is also not the purge valve on the passenger side shock tower. I cleaned that with out with WD40 and it took care or the nosie on the inside of the car.

I am crossing my fingers that this is all related to the DI/software update. I will know for sure tomrrow morning when mine is replaced.



Thanks again for the tips!
 
#19 ·
YAY!!



All fixed!

New DI and new MAF!

The best part?

No charge.

I boost like a champ, and for the FIRST time since I have had the car, my factory needle goes into the red.

It's like a childs first steps...
 
#21 ·
It was my idle.


It was bouncing from 1000rpms, to about 7-800 at idle, over and over and over again.

There was no CEL so they did some other tesing out found it to be faulty.
 
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