[Louiseven]

2002 9-5 Arc Wagon 3.0t Engine support bracket?
Part number: x 5235544

Facing the car the left engine mount connects here. Well two of the three bolts on my car are stripped.
Does anyone have any experience changing this part? This is my first Saab, all help and suggestions are very much appreciated.
Would this also make a good opportunity to change the accessory belt too?

 

[Androda]

Just to check my understanding: Are the bolt holes in your 5235544 stripped? The ones which connect to 5235536?

If so, you ought to be able to drill them out to a larger diameter and tap for a larger bolt. Another option is to use a helicoil kit. My B235E had a stripped bolt to the wishbone mount point, and I used a helicoil on it to repair the threads instead of getting a new mount point.

Stripping these bolt holes is really easy if you try to remove the right hand motor mount (it's called right hand when viewed as though you're sitting in the car) without supporting the engine somehow. Always support the engine before removing those bolts. I use a piece of wood between my hydraulic floor jack and the oil pan.

I hope you're not saying that the holes which go through 5235544 into the engine block are stripped. That would be a huge pain to fix.

If you don't know when the serpentine belt was last changed, it's a good idea to change immediately. Speaking of belts, when was the timing belt / water pump last replaced? Those are high priority if you don't know when they were last replaced.

 

[Louiseven]

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer. Yes, to be clear the holes into the motor mount bracket are stripped. Not the the bolts into the engine. I will ask the previous owner if he ever had the timing belt and water pump serviced. Thanks again.

 

[Androda]

No problem, feel free to ping me with questions about the V6.

 

[rickf]

Welcome Louiseven!
I have the same car and I love it. Androda's ABSOLUTELY right. My timing belt broke on the way to drop my car off for replacement and it took a month in the shop and $2K in valve and head work to get it rolling agin! My ARC had about 100K on the clock. Replace about every 80K mi. It can be a DIY'r for the moderately experienced with a lot of patience.
You'll need a timing belt tool that holds all the cranks in position (online from 50-200$ depending on plastic to steel) and help from the terrific folks at FCP parts for making this great how-to video:

And yes, while your that deep into it, the thermostat, H2o pump. They're cheap and easy enuf when your there, a real PITA if you have to start from scratch later.
And check your heater bypass valve, known to wear out causing a subtle steady leak of coolant, it's on the firewall behind the throttle body.
I just completed refurbishing the front and rear end suspension and subframe bushings. WOW what a dif in my ride now with 160K on the clock! And I'd never done front end stuff before.
Vrrrooom!
There's lotsa collected experience on this and the SaabNet forums.
Best of luck and enjoy!

 

[Androda]

Yep, timing belt is doable at home with a few little special tools. I've done my timing belt and it wasn't really all that hard.

 

[Louiseven]

Spoke to the PO yesterday. He says he had the timing belt done two years ago. He’s a good guy and I trust him. I’m just becoming a little suspect of his mechanic. Cars wear out, I get it. However, of the things that are broken seems like bad mechanic work. For instance the front right wheel has some chatter. I jacked the car up and checked the wheel at 9 and 3 no wobble, same at 12 and 6. The brakes were serviced four months ago. Yesterday I noticed that the front right wheel makes noise under braking! The stripped bolt holes on the engine mount bracket doesn’t seem like wear but more like an accident or mechanical negligence. Torquing those bolts without relieving the pressure by jacking up the engine first. There is also a vacuum hose just nested on top of the fans! It has vacuum I have yet to trace where it’s coming from or where it should go. Speaking of the fans, sometimes they make a terrible noise. I checked yesterday, missing fasteners at the top.

And yes it’s leaking coolant, I will check the heater bypass valve later today, hopefully. Definitely need some front end work too. Oh and the dash is lit up like a Christmas tree, and no speedometer. From my research seems to be the ABS Module. So yea...it’s going to be a project. Thanks for reading

 

[Androda]

Coolant could be leaking from the oil cooler which is nested down under the intake manifold. Can you see on the ground what side of the engine it's leaking from?

If you get us a picture of the vacuum hose, hopefully we could tell you which one it is and where to reconnect.

 

[Louiseven]

Thank you very much.
It looks like its leaking from the center. I will give a look beneath the Intake Manifold in the morning. Pictured is what, I believe, is the Heater Bypass Valve. Appears to be dry.

 

[Louiseven]

I may have found the hose just by searching. This thread popped up: Replacing Radiator Saab 9-5 Arc 2002

 

[rickf]

Yep, that's the Htr Bypass and Yep, that's a silly floppy hose. Had the same 'freak' moment as that thread poster had when I replaced my rad on my 3.o.
2 years on a timing belt may not mean much, it's the Miles...not much after 80-90K is what I'm stickin to after mine broke at about 110-115..;(!
Best of luck and take your time taking down the christmas lights on your dash if none portend imminent demise...

 

[redaero-wagon-2000]

the heater by-pass is usually removed in these cars. It is useless. Do a search on it. The mount bolts strip from being over torqued.....never heard of stripping because I just was not used on the engine. Use Helicoils.

V-6 is a wonky GM engine. I personally hate them....but you gotta stay on that dumb belt.

 

[Louiseven]

Yea, I plan to change timing belt as soon as I can. Just to be safe. Not a lot of love for the GM 3.0t from my research so far, deservedly so. Doesn’t look like I can do much about it. I would love to swap to the turbo four with a manual transmission.
So I guess, I just leave the floppy hose just siting there eh! So strange.

 

[rickf]

I've come to accept that mystery hose as just another quirk to love about the SAAB, akin to where the ignition is Personally, I'm a happy SAAB driver because of the 3.0t engine. I drove a Saturn LW300 for over 225K miles before a catastrophic failure killed the engine. It rode nicer than a Mercedes. Not finding another, I found out this SAAB had the same engine and it was the reason I bought it. Great power, fair economy and a history of going the distance with proper care. I've hauled a yard of pea gravel with ease with my 95 wagon. I get notices from Pick-n-Pull on 4cyl 95's added frequently, pretty rare for the 3.0. I love the versatility of hauling bldng materials, dump runs and then..vrrrooom on the mountain roads here in Oregon...when so inclined.

 

[Louiseven]

Thank you nice to hear something positive about the 3.0t. The motor mount has been replaced and a heliocoil tapped into the bracket. Plan to replace the bracket in the near future. Previous owner says he had the timing belt replaced two years ago which for him was roughly about 25k miles. I am now dealing with the rear Direct Ignition cassette has gone bad. Previous owner says the front cassette was replaced a year ago. I hope it was at least a genuine Saab part. Oh an by the way it’s already got about 200k on the clock. Thanks

 

[ksw92_mk2]

. I get notices from Pick-n-Pull on 4cyl 95's added frequently, pretty rare for the 3.0. I love the versatility of hauling bldng materials, dump runs and then..vrrrooom on the mountain roads here in Oregon...when so inclined.

That's because the 3.0 was not a common model. The 4-banger is a SAAB tradition. The difference in driving experience is like driving a jet (the 3.0) vs. driving a rocket (the B235R). The jet's smooth and steady, the 2.3 is more raw with more punch, comparatively.

 

[rickf]

K's correct, 3.0 doesn't show up in many boneyards so when I do get to one I 'part-out ahead' I haven't had the pleasure of a comparison drive in a B205/35 powered 95 yet but I wouldn't mind. Those engines have failure troubles due to the PCV system without modification. The 3.0 was a SAAB design put into production by GM and has a good strong track record as long as the timing belt maintenance is kept in mind (B-35'rs have a timing chain that hopefully needs no attention If your RH motor mount is tight with normal motor torque movement I wouldn't worry about a helicoil there, that's only 1 of 3 strong bolts that manage more lateral mvmnt than up and down. Easy to snag one from a boneyard when you go looking for a stepping motor How do you know your DI casset is bad? Have a Tech II?
Right too is Redaero, a lot of us have bypassed the by-pass (I converted mine to an easy radiator flush connection), but I think the concept is very cool(sic) for those of us in colder climes. Other cars stop circulating H2o when the engine is off, SAAB, engineering for those long Nordic winter times built in a system to continue to circulate H2o and draw heat from the block with the engine off while waiting for the wife who ran in to pick up one thing in the mall. Have fun!

 

[redaero-wagon-2000]

What are you talking about? The heater by pass valve does NOT work that way!

 

[rickf]

No? I thought it diverted coolant flow passed the heater core when the ACC was set to cool and through the heater core when the ACC was set to heat. Is this not correct?

 

[Mimmi]

AC/ACC uses flaps to maintain temperature. Heater core have always full coolant flow unless you select LOW. Then heater bypass valve shuts coolant flow to heater core.