My 2001 Viggen had sludge..

[snowboardin58]

We heard some funny noises, including a(possible oil pump) whine. To make a long story short, we drained the oil and scraped, and found sludge. We dropped the pan and voila, the main bearing caps certainly had sludge on them. The pick-up screen was pretty heavily clogged, as well. We cleaned it all up, replaced the filter and 5 quarts of oil cranked her over a bunch, then started her, and the whine went away. It usually idles nicely now, but there is now again a whine when we hit the accelerator. We're going to have a Saab mechanic friend listen, but does anybody have any insight as of now? Is there a certain high capacity oil pump that could be recommended? Thanks

[project13]

What did the whine sound like?

[snowboardin58]

whiiiinnneee


no actually we thought it was a tensioner of something at first. It wasn't super high-pitched or super low-pitched. I'll try to record it.

[stamonkey]

Is it a bit like a super charger? Mine makes a sound a bit like a super charger at low rpms and when the motor is cold. I haven't really diagnosed the problem however.

I checked the top end for sludge and it didn't look too bad. I'm going to wait for summer to drop the oil pan.

[snowboardin58]

I think it is a bit like a supercharger actually.

I thought the 1999's wern't affected?

[stevehayes01]

What you could be hearing now is turbo whine from the sludge clogging/coking the bearings in the TD04. Is the noise varied as you get on and off the throttle?


Do you ever get any smoke or anything from the tail pipe? My guess is that you will be rebuilding the turbo soon unfortunatly.

[hkayssi]

Originally Posted by stamonkey

Is it a bit like a super charger? Mine makes a sound a bit like a super charger at low rpms and when the motor is cold. I haven't really diagnosed the problem however.

I checked the top end for sludge and it didn't look too bad. I'm going to wait for summer to drop the oil pan.

Wait for the summer
You'll need to buy a new turbo at least by then if you're lucky or a new engine if you're not.

Sludge causes oil strarvation. You need to fix that ASAP

That's if it's a sludge issue. Other causes for the whining is a bad tensioner pulley or water pump, steering pump or alternator. They all have bearings and when they go bad they whine too.

[earthworm]

The WP, alternator, PS bearings can be eliminated by releasing the belt tension.

Maybe this whine is from the turbo bearings.
Is it possible to use a hearing device here ?
I hate to guess.
But if the noise is in the engine and you plan to rebuild; why not rebuild the turbo??

[hkayssi]

Originally Posted by earthworm

The WP, alternator, PS bearings can be eliminated by releasing the belt tension.

Maybe this whine is from the turbo bearings.
Is it possible to use a hearing device here ?
I hate to guess.
But if the noise is in the engine and you plan to rebuild; why not rebuild the turbo??

Yes It could be the turbo bearings but that's why he can't wait till summer to check into it. It'll be costlier by then and the engine may be too far gone as well.

[lms]

Originally Posted by stevehayes01

What you could be hearing now is turbo whine from the sludge clogging/coking the bearings in the TD04. Is the noise varied as you get on and off the throttle?


Do you ever get any smoke or anything from the tail pipe? My guess is that you will be rebuilding the turbo soon unfortunatly.

My car makes this type of sound. Only when there is a load, can't hear at idle or when I rev it. Drives me crazy and it has me worried (2002). I pulled the valve cover and you could eat out of the negine it's so clean. But I guess the screen could be clogged? If I get off the gas, noise goes away. I have a new turbo, but noise is still there.

[stamonkey]

Originally Posted by hkayssi

Wait for the summer
You'll need to buy a new turbo at least by then if you're lucky or a new engine if you're not.

Sludge causes oil strarvation. You need to fix that ASAP

That's if it's a sludge issue. Other causes for the whining is a bad tensioner pulley or water pump, steering pump or alternator. They all have bearings and when they go bad they whine too.

Well, I have made it 25k with the whine. This noise only happens during the winter time or on really cold mornings. Keep in mind I have inspected the TOP of the engine for sludge and there was none. I plan on inspecting the bottom end this summer. It seems to me that the wine is just from the transmission anyways. My guess is that the oil in the trans is a bit cold. My Datsun makes the same noise only a whole lot louder when its cold. I'll have to wait for another cold morning to see if I can get a video for you kids.

My solution for the whine in the Datsun was redline manual trans fluid. I think I'll add that to my things to do for the summer in the Saab

[lms]

Originally Posted by stamonkey

Well, I have made it 25k with the whine. This noise only happens during the winter time or on really cold mornings. Keep in mind I have inspected the TOP of the engine for sludge and there was none. I plan on inspecting the bottom end this summer. It seems to me that the wine is just from the transmission anyways. My guess is that the oil in the trans is a bit cold. My Datsun makes the same noise only a whole lot louder when its cold. I'll have to wait for another cold morning to see if I can get a video for you kids.

My solution for the whine in the Datsun was redline manual trans fluid. I think I'll add that to my things to do for the summer in the Saab

If in gear under load, no boost does the noise go away when you let off the gas? Mine does. Anyone know what the oil pump sounds Like? In my case I would think that if it was the oil pump that I would hear it all the time?

[snowboardin58]

mine case sounds similar to lms', I think. If I can, I will record sound or even video. I ALMOST hope I need to rebuild the turbo, because I would get an 18T then!! but I want the hardtop tuned, not the vert..much better handler!

[stevehayes01]

Originally Posted by snowboardin58

mine case sounds similar to lms', I think. If I can, I will record sound or even video. I ALMOST hope I need to rebuild the turbo, because I would get an 18T then!! but I want the hardtop tuned, not the vert..much better handler!

See this is where you swap the 18T onto the hardtop and move the stock turbo from the hardtop to the Vert.



Are you getting any smoke at any time??

[stamonkey]

Originally Posted by snowboardin58

mine case sounds similar to lms', I think. If I can, I will record sound or even video. I ALMOST hope I need to rebuild the turbo, because I would get an 18T then!! but I want the hardtop tuned, not the vert..much better handler!

See if you can't get some good sound or video. I'll have to wait for colder weather for mine. I went to lunch, with no whine

[snowboardin58]

no smoke as of now. I'll see if my cell phone can capture decent sound, if not I'll upload a giant video camera file.

[stamonkey]

Ok, I have determined in my drive back from the office, with the windows down and my head hanging out the window, that the whine only occurs in second gear at low speeds and low rpms. Once the car has been driven for a bit, the noise stops entirely. The whine is very faint and can't be heard with the windows up. I am at 98k right now and have driven the car about 25k since I have owned. I have changed my oil with full synthetic every 3k miles, and changed the pcv about 10k ago. I also inspected the top end for sludge when I changed the pcv (and before I bought it). I burn no oil, and get decent gas mileage. Sooooo, I am sticking with my guess of a noisy transmission. In a month, when I head home for 6 weeks, I'll be dropping the oil pan, changing the trans fluid, and HOPEFULLY adding a Wazee pulley (if they are ever back in stock ).

[snowboardin58]

****. My Dad pulled the va;ve cover off the other day and its pretty bad. Luckily we havn't heard a tick or knock, but I assume that is the next step in the engine's demise. There is a lot of sludge up there, even on the cams and covering some of the bolts completely. Any advice? I want to tear the motor apart.

[project13]

Got any pictures?

Sorry to hear about it

[hkayssi]

Originally Posted by snowboardin58

****. My Dad pulled the va;ve cover off the other day and its pretty bad. Luckily we havn't heard a tick or knock, but I assume that is the next step in the engine's demise. There is a lot of sludge up there, even on the cams and covering some of the bolts completely. Any advice? I want to tear the motor apart.

Was the turbo ever replaced? Is the car smoking in the back? The turbo tends to be the first symptom of bad damage. Also SAAB extended the sludge warranty to 8 years. Is this the flood recovery Viggen? If so, I'm not surprised. I doubt SAAB would repair a car with a Salvage title even on a recall.