[9-5T7Christopher]

I own a 2006 Saab 9-5 2.3T Wagon. It's pretty sweet. Now it has 200,000 miles on it and it's looking mighty rough around the edges for its year.

I never turned a wrench until a little over a year ago when I got a job as a maintenance technician at a bakery. I'm still intimidated by working on cars because I don't know the parts and what they generally look like. I understand process systems, but I need someone to show me to the parts and diagnostic tools.

Within the last year of owning this saab the only significant things I've done (or had done) is tune ups, entire head, and brakes.

My car smokes a lot upon start up. The weather is getting colder so the steam is more visible but this is white smoke. How important is it to idle your turbo vehicle after driving any distance before turning it off? How long should you be idling? Could that be one of my problems?

I have a CEL now that read P1110. It showed up after I had the head done. He replaced my vac hoses also he said. The ones I had on there before were sloppy and probably leaking, but why get the code now?

I'm averaging about 16.5 mpg right now which is better than with the blown gasket, but still sucks. Seems like the car had more power at one point too. I'm desperate for a fix-all procedure that I can use to help my situation! I want to fix it, but I don't want to waste anymore time. I need skilled help! I can take pictures, videos etc of my experiences. I have most tools so that's not the issue either.

 

[SJB]

I love these later gen 9-5s. The one thing you will find is that very few people know much about them and you will get lots of advice for things that work on older 9-5s but not for your model (ask me how I know). Bolt mods, bypass mods, PCV updates, sump sludge - forget it your car does not need any of this.

If you are not loosing coolant or smelling it being burned off then what you see is likely just condensation from the colder weather. Keep a watch, you have a low coolant sensor in the tank so the car will let you know. I have to add about a quart or so of coolant once a year with no other issues or leaks noticed - meh.

The only time I have gotten a P1110 code is when I purposely hooked my bypass valve up wrong - so I would assume that if the lines are all new, then it is hooked up incorrectly or possibly the bypass valve or solenoid is bad. Do you hear a flutter type noise from the intake when you let off the throttle?

When I first purchased my 06 it showed around 25 mpg on the SID and would run an honest 23/24 calculated. After I installed a 3 in DP, BSR cat back and a K&N filter it dropped down to 21 and kept going down (maybe because my driving style changed too). I think the filter may have hurt the MAF because it failed within a year with the average MPG around 19. With a new MAF installed it went back up to 23 calculated and an honest 29-30 highway. If I see another decline with the new one I'm tossing the open air filter.

Vac/Boost hose leaks, intake concerns, exhaust leaks all play a role in fuel economy. In my experience the biggest factor was the MAF but that wont always be the case. Odly enough when I had my bypass valve hooked up incorrectly and setting the P1110, my MPG was increasing until I hooked it all back up properly. But I don't like driving around with a check engine light regardless of what "benefits" it may cause.

 

[9-5T7Christopher]

That was amazing, thank you for replying! So I guess now my ultimate goal is to make it run "right" and get the best fuel economy as possible. I want to install gauges and such fancy things, although I'm clueless as to how to what I'd be looking at, or where to install them on the system.

Where could I get schematics for say vacuum line distribution? And boost settings and all that like I don't know **** about boost lol. Beginner over here throw me a bone!

 

[1stsaab99]

The "bone" you get will come from searching this site. You will find that basic diagnostics will be your friend. When I get my hands on a high mileage engine that is running I do a compression check of the cylinders, easy and cheap. I then look at the ignition system, correct spark plugs and DIC, etc. Fix any vacuum leaks and major oil leaks. The list go's on. You have found the best site for a good start. For your code look at the bypass valve hose connections.

 

[SJB]

As stated, this site is one of the best tools, just search the forum - you will find answers quicker than adding more posts. For the hose routing, check out the emissions label on the rad support under the hood - it shows how the vac lines are routed. Everything I found on here is for pre-04 SAABs that have extra Tee connections for the EVAP system so I just went off the one in my car. Again, it is hard to find 06-09 specific info anywhere but you just need to dig a bit deeper. I can't even find an 06-09 vac system schematic on Google so here you go... The only difference is that the FPR actually doesn't connect directly to the TB as shown here but to the same fitting that the bypass control hooks up to. There is a metal fitting on the manifold itself with two ports on it - one for the FPR and one for the boost control/coolant bypass valve.

P.S. - You find that the answer you get 99% of the time for any driveability concern will be to check for vac leaks and to replace the DIC.

 

[Aeroclone]

I knew nothing much about how to fix cars when I bought the mrs 9-5 -used to pay people to do it--but financial conditions changed...so it was necessary to learn

--and after nearly getting screwed over by "Saab Specialists" claiming I needed to do $5K of work ( When my uncle looked at it -- took 1 day & $800!!) I decided, it can't be that hard.

They would always say.." ooh...Saab....yeah, they're tricky--might take a while, parts will be expensive......" Its one big bluff!!!

So the lack of $$ & that nasty experience made me get a service manual & read it....and read it ......and study the engine bay & figure out what was where etc.

Trawling through this forum helped enormously , you slowly but surely learn heaps and by starting to do little things yourself, gives you the confidence to keep going. It gets to the point where if the car hiccups..and you know whats wrong!

Or if you have to drop in somewhere for work you don't have the time to do or haven't the facilities--you know the car backwards, so they get caught out when they try & tell you "something else" is faulty or 'this needs doing' etc !!

Once you get going there's enormous satisfaction in knowing YOU did it ....and you can smile when you hear other owners *****in about their service costs.

They're great cars -massively under-rated (here in Oz anyway) so, start learning up and you will be rewarded with massive savings $$$ and satisfaction/confidence of knowing that you know your car.

Good Luck.;ol;

 

[MI-Roger]

P1110 is a bad Turbo By-pass Valve. The plastic bulbous Tee-fitting appearing thing sitting right behind the radiator, connected to two ~1-inch rubber hoses and one 3mm vacuum line. About $55 for a new one, only two hose clamps to loosen to remove and replace this valve.

This should eliminate your CEL, your poor performance, and your poor mileage.

 

[axeman74]

P1110 is a bad Turbo By-pass Valve. The plastic bulbous Tee-fitting appearing thing sitting right behind the radiator, connected to two ~1-inch rubber hoses and one 3mm vacuum line. About $55 for a new one, only two hose clamps to loosen to remove and replace this valve.

This should eliminate your CEL, your poor performance, and your poor mileage.

As MI-Roger says, that code indicates a by-pass valve fault. However before you change it, check the condition of the long rubber hose from the valve to the solenoid on the firewall. They often dry up and crack, causing an air leak, and can often be responsible for throwing this code.

If your white smoke on startup clears once the car warms up, most likely your turbo is due for replacement. If your car is on its original turbo after 200k miles, almost guaranteed it is due. You will probably find this is causing your drop in performance as well.

Axeman74