[c900]

One being the genuine oldstock Saab wiper blade assy's fitted a year ago have decayed and now need to be replaced again. Fortunately 400 mm ones are easy to get from auto parts stores (Tridon brand is common here) but none seem to cope well with the extreme curvature of the front glass.

Second one being that the coolant tank is down to just under minimum.

Since the car got parked up in July last year I've had it running a handful of times and last time was a cpl of months back.

Seems to make me think there's a weep or leak somewhere, or (hopefully not) a head gasket issue. I thought I'd found and sorted all the hose connection weeps.

Anyway car has had it's first clean in about a year, so it looks a lot nicer.

 

[Germaniac]

One being the genuine oldstock Saab wiper blade assy's fitted a year ago have decayed and now need to be replaced again. Fortunately 400 mm ones are easy to get from auto parts stores (Tridon brand is common here) but none seem to cope well with the extreme curvature of the front glass.

Second one being that the coolant tank is down to just under minimum.

Since the car got parked up in July last year I've had it running a handful of times and last time was a cpl of months back.

Seems to make me think there's a weep or leak somewhere, or (hopefully not) a head gasket issue. I thought I'd found and sorted all the hose connection weeps.

Anyway car has had it's first clean in about a year, so it looks a lot nicer.

You may want to change only the rubber part or switch to those "aero" or "hybrid" blades which are more flexible.

Maybe the cap or the coolant tank itself has become brittle over the years.

 

[c900]

Found the coolant leak after moving the AC compressor and bracket out of the way to start removing all the belts and pulleys.

it's coming from one of the basically new Mackay hoses joined the back of the water pump manifold. Not a big leak but there's a nice little puddle of green, so over the course of a lot of months, and with each day's heating up and cooling down of ambient air temp, it's probably weeping some out each day.

So that's solved for now.

Too hot (over 30C) to keep going.

I noticed (oddly) that when I took apart the Volvo-style 3-pin plug and socket for the CPS (just for shits and giggles at the moment) the connections were not really tight, but can't say if that might be the 'ghost' I was chasing. I'm going to re-build the CPS with new stuff and still replace the connectors too.

 

[Germaniac]

Too hot (over 30C) to keep going.

Take a break, make a journey (at the moment we have 10°C and a slight drizzle).

 

[c900]

I have shade from a tree where the car is parked until about midday, then I pack up and stop.

This is the sneaky leak I found (look for the puddle of simple green).

https://flic.kr/p/2ohobX6
I am up to removing the AC belt extension of the crank pulley (3 m6 bolts with 10 mm heads).

 

[c900]

Crank pulley is removed, and I now have the CPS assembly that I re-made with a Bill at Saabbits kit also removed. I've noticed the back of the crank pulley (where the trigger vane ring for the cps mounts) has a good amount of gunk on it, and the CPS itself when removed has some of that all over the sensor head. See pics below.

https://flic.kr/p/2ohDY1J
https://flic.kr/p/2ohEfn1
It's very possible the stuff has compromised the operation of the sensor? I can't figure out where the material has come from.

The pulley came out easily once the bolt was removed. It's a new (at the time I re-did the CPS last) one. Not OEM (they're NLA). When I did the CPS previously I'd also done the seals on the oil pump assembly (both the o-ring and the main seal for the pulley).

There is, I've noticed, an oil leak from the top of the motor (could be valve cover gasket needs replacing) at the CPS end. Not a major one obviously.

Apart from the valve cover gasket, where else could external oil leaks at the 'front' of the motor be coming from?

 

[jvanabra]

Valve cover, timing chain cover, head gasket, or crank seal.

That gunk shouldn't compromise operation but might shorten the life of the sensor. Hot oil or rubber on there won't make it last longer, that's for sure. The Hall sensor is a magnet, and it looks like you've got some filings fur on there too.

 

[AUSSIE900]

Valve cover, timing chain cover, head gasket, or crank seal.

That gunk shouldn't compromise operation but might shorten the life of the sensor. Hot oil or rubber on there won't make it last longer, that's for sure. The Hall sensor is a magnet, and it looks like you've got some filings fur on there too.

The filing fur might suggest a balancer that is/was ( perhaps a previous balancer ) hitting the TC/oil pump . Seen that before , once spotted one at a wreckers where the balancer had worn a hole into the oil pump , right up till that moment I was trying to figure out why a very clean looking 900 was in the yard.
Craig if you are 100% sure the crank seal is good , expect the valve cover gasket as the source

 

[c900]

One thing I also noticed was the main seal for the crank pulley (which was new fitted by me when I had the oil pump housing off last time) is sitting 'proud' of the housing. Is it supposed to be like that? I don't have any tool to seat it so might have to take off the oil pump (not filter!) assy and fix the seal. See pic.

https://flic.kr/p/2ohHaMS
I'll try to find pics I took when I did the CPS last time as I'm sure I got pics of the housing when I did the seals. Hmmm

 

[AUSSIE900]

You either havent seated it correctly last time or it has walked out on the crank pulley , NO it should not be proud and certainly not that proud , thats significant , I would start again with a new seal , if you want to risk this one then just use a flat block of timber and a rubber mallet.
The oil filter assembly is not relevant either way , perhaps you meant pump assembly .

 

[AUSSIE900]

Craig , just looking closely at the Pulley picture ,
The bonding rubber looks oil soaked , Are you sure it wasnt seperating and or wobbling ? , if it was it would be inclined to walk the crank seal out, I cant imagine you seated so proud on install.
At 1 oclock on the picture there is what could be abrasion marks where the pulley may have rubbed the timing cover .
I would check the TC for similar marks.
I would be very suspicious of that pulley , relatively new or not . Oil will ruin that rubber bonding os the inner/outer.

 

[jvanabra]

It's hard to tell, but that crank seal looks like it may be the SKF seal, which I've found to not fit properly and be prone to leaks. It's distinguished by the lack of coating around most of the outside. That could be part of the issue. It definitely should be replaced, and I would try to find an Elring or Corteco or National seal - they are all fully coated.

 

[Carfixer2]

I have found over the years if when you remove the crank pully the seal often moves forward or comes out. When it does it is time to replace it. On the other hand if I am removing the crank pulley I am replacing both the front seal and oil pump cover o-ring.

 

[jvanabra]

Especially with a new CPS, and one that came out covered in sludge... to me, that says leaks and I wouldn't take a chance on a new CPS. I'd pull that oil pump housing out, replace the front crank seal, and install a new o-ring.

 

[c900]

No evidence of the pulley doing anything untoward. I still have an older pulley and I compared them but they look the same in terms of the rubber bonding of the two sections.

yes when I fitted that oil seal for the pulley it was put in properly (flush) so I'm really surprised that in a year it's worked out so much. Dunno what brand seal. I know I have more of those (not exactly same make) around.

When I fitted that seal the o-ring on the oil pump housing also got replaced, and the oil pump fitted correctly with some vaseline to help it prime.

Even though I wanted the job to be done in a few days, it might now not be.

 

[c900]

So experimenting. Got a 50 mm push on pvc pipe cap and it's almost the right size. I think a 50 mm pvc press-on cap with much thicker sides will be close to spot on to try and fashion a tool from. This is the push-on cap sitting on the Victor Reinz seal.

https://flic.kr/p/2oi7VPu
Crank pulley ID id is close to 35 mm so big washers would need to be at least 37 mm ID.

What makes a seal like that work it's way out?

 

[c900]

And today I've got that 50 mm PVC pipe press-fit end-cap. Much thicker walls. Slightly overhangs the seal diameter but will give good 'engagement' with the outer ring section of the seal.

https://flic.kr/p/2oinejy
It might be tall enough to not need a massive 36 mm hole to clear the end of the cranshaft and could work with just a hole for the crank pulley bolt to go through (16 or 20 mm).

Under $5 from the local Bunnings hardware store.

 

[jvanabra]

But... Just remove the oil pump housing and install the seal with your hand. You can't see what you're doing down there, which is probably why the factory had a tool. I would be concerned about trying to get the seal in correctly blind with a home made tool. It takes five minutes to get the oil pump housing out and back in.

 

[c900]

Decided to take the whole housing out, but access to all the bolts is a pita. Much longer than 5 minutes (I'm not a mechanic doing shop-time based jobs!).

Ok so there 8 x m6 bolts and 2 x long M8 bolts holding the oil pump housing in place. I ended up taking off water pump pulley for easier access.

Also found the speedo cable getting in the way so unclipped it off firewall and it can be moved around a little.

I found some good pics here (dunno if it's a site maintained by anyone in this forum):

Saab 900 classic oil pump seal renewal

Close examination of the crankshaft seal where it's worked out of it's housing shows that the outer face has been rubbing against the crank pulley and it's down to the base metal casing. Probably the only reason the seal has not come fully out.

The amount of 'junk' I found around the trigger ring for CPS is possibly a combo of seal casing material (the orangey stuff) and dirt/oil.

https://flic.kr/p/2ojW9zE

 

[jvanabra]

Yes, that is either the wrong seal or was poorly installed.