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Help with Engine Swap

2K views 22 replies 7 participants last post by  OoRaven 
#1 ·
Hey. New the the forums. My friend has gone threw a few 9000's and he has an engine left over from his last swap. He is willing to sell itto me for $600US. Ever since I got my SAAB (A steal for $1000US for a 1996 S900 2.3 NA) I have wanted it to be turbo charged. I never had the money to drop in a tubro. His engine is the turbo charged engine with 84K miles on it. Since i have known him for a while he is willing to give it up cheap.
Now to the questions.
Will his 9000 Tubro engine fit in to my 96 S900?
His was an automatic and mines is a manuel. Will I be able to keep my transmission and will it fit.
I know I need to swap ECU's already but would all the wiring keep the same or will I have to have everything replaced.
I appriciate any help you's can give me. I am only doing this so I can have a good base for tuning my car so I can evenutally join the SCCA and have fun driving on a track as opposed to risking it on the streets.
Thanks in advance
Raven
 
#2 ·
There is a tread entitled '6 Speed' from a couple of days ago ( I think it's on the second page of this forum right now...) that mentions this exact issue. There may be some mounting point issues, but you should be able to do it... If you do it yourself, it may be somewhat tough, but quite cheap, but if you do it for a garage who knows what it would cost....

But it'd definately be fast:cool: Is this a 2.3T or 2.0T 9000? Dont know if they even made 2.0T 9000's...

I can tell you this, having a 2.3 Turbo motor in a 9-3/900 does make it quite a fast car, and quite a handful when you mash on the gas as I tend to do:cheesy:
 
#3 ·
You are defenetly thinking in the right direction. Doing a swap will most likely be a lot easier then adding the turbo to the N/A motor. Also 600 for a complete engine with only 84k on it is'nt bad at all.Do some searching around here and you should find a bunch of imformation that should help you out. Also just ask any questions you have that you cant find the answers to. Someone on here will defently be able to answer it or point you in the direction of someone else knowing the answer.
 
#4 ·
OoRaven said:
Hey. New the the forums. My friend has gone threw a few 9000's and he has an engine left over from his last swap. He is willing to sell itto me for $600US. Ever since I got my SAAB (A steal for $1000US for a 1996 S900 2.3 NA) I have wanted it to be turbo charged. I never had the money to drop in a tubro. His engine is the turbo charged engine with 84K miles on it. Since i have known him for a while he is willing to give it up cheap.
Now to the questions.
Will his 9000 Tubro engine fit in to my 96 S900?
His was an automatic and mines is a manuel. Will I be able to keep my transmission and will it fit.
I know I need to swap ECU's already but would all the wiring keep the same or will I have to have everything replaced.
I appriciate any help you's can give me. I am only doing this so I can have a good base for tuning my car so I can evenutally join the SCCA and have fun driving on a track as opposed to risking it on the streets.
Thanks in advance
Raven
Hi Raven....

The engine should fit, but I'm not sure about the location of the engine mounts, or whether your tranny bolts up. You'd probably want to get a 9000 tranny, as it's designed to handle more torque.

Before you do this swap, you need to find out the year of the 9000, as 94-98 9000s used Trionic 5, which is a desirable engine management system. You'll need a T5 wiring harness and ECU, to be sure, but you might have to move or add some sensors depending on the year of the 9000 core.
For $600, that engine should come with some other goodies, so feel free to ask your friend for the ECU and wiring harness if it is a T5. A friend's a friend, but definitely check Ebay....

If that engine has more than 150K miles, then definitely ask for a price reduction. If it has a small turbo, then ask for a price reduction....(For comparisons, there's a 94 9000 CS in NJ being sold for parts on Saabnet. Engine has 140K and the guy is asking $500...)

Also: SCCA is pretty expensive and there are other options. Check out http://www.nasaproracing.com/ and http://www.emraracing.org/

Good luck!!!!
 
#5 ·
As far as small turbo's go I wouldn't know. I know he has everything stock. He told me that his dad took the engine out of the car. He said the entire engine is out and his dad said I can take it for $500US. He said he is going to double check and make sure if the ECU is included and when he calles I will also ask him about the wiring harness. I actually spoke with my mechanic and he said he won't do the swap as he doesn't want the risks on him.. He said everything should fit but he did mention I would need either his or a new ECU and wiring harness. I talked to a friend of mines and he said that he knowns a shop that might do it for $800US. Plus I will be selling my old engine to a salvage yard so hopefully I get some decent change for that. I appriciate all the help and will let you know of any updates. Maybe soon to be pictures.
 
#6 ·
Sorry...I had a brain fart...I didn't see the milage of that donor engine.

$500 for an engine with 84K isn't bad at all!

Can you find out the year it came from?

Also: start thinking about an intercooler and the plumbing needed for that....
 
#7 ·
Ok quick question. If I give him the $500US for the engine, ECU, and wiring harness is that a good deal? I believe the car is a 95 9000.
Also if he gives me all of this will I need any other equipment or hardware to actually swap the engine(aside from tools that the mechanic has)...
I am worried about droping $500US and then not being able to put the engine in.. Do I need to run an intercooler from the start or can that come alittle later?
I plan on droping the engine in and then slowly working on it.. First things on the list are 1. Suspension, 2. Intercooler(if it's not needed from the start) and Blowoff Valve 3. New Wheels and Tire package. 4. A Short shifter kit(does this really make a difference??) 5. Air Intake/Exhaust/Headers.. Does this should like a good path to follow? Any suggestions and i would appriciate it if anyone has an answer to the question of hardware needed for the swap.
Thanks again
Raven
P.S. I'm starting to like this forum more and more everyday...
 
#9 ·
Raven, Glad to hear you're enjoying the Forum... I started out with just a SAAB and Google.. this happened to be the first forum I found and I completely lucked out!:cool:

If I were you, I'd spend the money on an intercooler if you have it at all. Running the car without an intercooler will make it quite a bit slower and who knows if the car will be able to run without knocking as I dont think 9000's were ever made w/o an intercooler. Plus, you'll have to figure out how to run the piping from teh turbo to the engine without an intercooler and buy the piping, only to change it back later anyways.... Just my 2 cents..
 
#10 ·
OoRaven said:
Ok quick question. If I give him the $500US for the engine, ECU, and wiring harness is that a good deal? I believe the car is a 95 9000.
Yeah, that's a great deal. Go for it.

Also if he gives me all of this will I need any other equipment or hardware to actually swap the engine(aside from tools that the mechanic has)...
You'll need to know whether your existing tranny bolts up. Ask if he has any of the IC hoses and intake hoses lying around. You may need engine mounts depending on whether your mechanic can reuse yours. Big tip: While you have the engine out, you might as well put in a Viggen clutch to handle the extra torque. It's maybe a half-hour of labor to do it while the engine is out, compared with multiple hours to do it later.

Do I need to run an intercooler from the start or can that come alittle later?
Yes. Get the intercooler. Your engine will thank you. Your ECU is designed to work with one and your intake air temps will be nuts this summer without an IC.

I plan on droping the engine in and then slowly working on it.. First things on the list are 1. Suspension, 2. Intercooler(if it's not needed from the start) and Blowoff Valve 3. New Wheels and Tire package. 4. A Short shifter kit(does this really make a difference??) 5. Air Intake/Exhaust/Headers..
this sounds like a good mod plan, although I'd put a blowoff valve dead last.
 
#13 ·
Hm. Seems like alot more work that i had orignially thought up.
With the mod's they were in no perticular order and yeah the BOV would come dead last as the others are more important. I do know my fair share about cars but as you can seen I deffinetly don't know enough.
As it is looking I won't be able to go through with the engine swap at this moment. I have enough for the engine plus the labor with money left over but not enough for everything (Such as Engine Mounts, Intercooler, Viggen Clutch(I did want this however) and anything else that will arise)
I will talk to him and see if he will hold the engine for me. If not I will buy it and just store it in my garage till I can pull enough together to make sure i have everything I will be needing. Thanks for the input. I will keep you's updated.
 
#14 ·
Good luck with the project...

It's a lot of work -- I just got my car on the road after tinkering part-time on it for nearly a year with a couple of all-nighters at the end. I thought I'd save a lot of money by putting the engine in myself. I ended up learning a lot but spending about the same amount because I did a fairly complicated swap: a T7 engine ('01 9-3 SE) into a T5 car (97 900 SE). There were lots of complications: oil cooler, throttle body matching, various sensors, PCV routing, intercooler plumbing, intake reconstruction, etc....I decided to upgrade as I went along, so I put in all new poly bushings, replaced mounts and added braces, changed the clutch to hydraulic (uh...my bad....I forgot to mention that you probably want to do this! :) )

Using a 9000 core would have saved me loads of time and it would have been a stronger engine than the one I have now. The 94-98 9000s are tough as nails and have awesome torque.

so you live and learn....
 
#16 ·
Everyone's been hammering me about the pistons that we share with the Viggen. :D I keep saying that we're probably in better shape because we have a lower compression ratio than the Vig, and we'd be even better if we go to an aftermarket IC, but all I hear is "...pistons....Why'd you do that? "

Plus, that B234 has a sweeeeeeeet torque curve. :D Slap a GT30 on that baby and you've got a rocket....

Still, I think we're ok with the B205. I haven't heard too many horror stories like I have with the Viggen owners. Just remember NOT to downshift too aggressively on exit ramps.....
 
#18 ·
Ok new idea.. My engine is the B234 if I am correct(you refered to it as the 9000 engine) Since the engines are the same 2.3Lt N/A my buddy thought this up. He told me instead of the whole engine(cause now his pops might need a few parts for his new Saab engine) how about he just tear off and sell me the exact parts to make my 2.3 turbo. I figured it might be worth a shot cause if he wanted $500US for the new engine then I'd probably end up paying like $150US for all the hard wear and then just do the install with 2 good buddies of mine that know what they are doing( I'll just be there for learning and scrub labor :grabing the tools, holding the wrench stuff like that).

So all in all I am coming back to you's for another peice of advice. What parts will I need off his engine so I can turbo charge my engine.. Is it even possible... What will I have to do with the ECU? Take his or reprogram mines... And are there any serious complications..
Once again.
Thank you so much for the help.
Raven
 
#19 ·
Now thats labor. You will have to get all the sensors, wireing harness, ECU, the turbo, all the oil lines to and from the turbo, the intercooler, ect.

It has always been said that if you want to turbo your 2.3n/a its just better to have a turbo from the start.
 
#20 ·
Raven, you'd need a ton of parts. It would be as much or more work as the straight 9000 swap, and at the end of the day you'd have an engine that wouldn't be able to handle as much boost as the 9000. Yes, the engines are the same displacement but the compression ratios are different. 9.2:1 for the B234, 10.5:1 for your engine.That's critically important when you're dealing with a forced induction engine, unless you enjoy changing head gaskets every couple of weeks. Your friend is leading you down the wrong road, probably not intentionally, but the wrong road just the same.

Thank him very much for his time, then find a 9000 engine on Ebay or the classifieds. I think that guy selling off his CSE in jersey is your best bet.
 
#21 ·
Hm.. Looks like I will just have to wait and see if I will still be able to get his engine.. His pops just needs to see if he needs any parts off of the old engine. If not it's mine. Engine, Intercooler, Wiring Harness, ECU. All of it would come through for $500US. So if he doesn't need anything else that would be all I would need as someone said it's a straight drop in and that the tranny should bolt up. He said give him till the middle or end of April and I will def. know what the plan is. That gives me enough time to build up some more cash flow just incase I need engine mounts or new tubing/wiring. If worst does come to worst and he can't sell me the engine then I unfortunatly will have to look to other paths for tunning(basicly sell my car and look for something else besides a Saab. They are expensive and finding a 900 Turbo with low miles and in descent condition will cost to much seeing as I got mine for only $1000US)
I have looked for parts for tuning my N/A engine but I didn't find much. Even finding replacement parts for my car is a pain (needed a new anti-freeze cap cause mines dissappeared, new oil cap cause it broke during an oil change, new radiator hoses cause my old ones split while driving. Pepboys doesn't carry even some of the basics for my car like a replacement airfilter)
Saabs are great cars but they haven't really been embraced in the aftermarket scene which makes it hard to do...
 
#22 ·
As far as n/a engines go, no they havent really been embraced. As for the turbos...

www.genuinesaab.com
www.mpperformance.com

There is some great parts there. Yes you will be hard pressed to find a turbo for cheap with low miles. Then again it also is determined by your idea of cheap. I picked my 96 900SE turbo 4 door 5-speed red with 64K miles for 4700. And then with only a little moeny they are turned into monters that no one sees coming. If you dont count the wheels I bought I have spent well under 1K on my car and have seen incredible gains.
 
#23 ·
Yeah that doesn't sound to bad. Unfortunatly I am on a college budget and money is tight seeing as I can probably only pull 1,500 for my car I won't really be able to find another 900 for that price. And if I was to put up the money I have saved then there would be no aftermarket parts for it anytime soon.. But yeah I been to genuiensaab.com and your right the N/A ones don't have much. I think I found a cone airfilter on there once. =/ But yeah I wil deffinetly have to take a long look at what I am doing. If worst does come to worst I will have to go with my second option and look at a Nissa 240SX... Didn't really like Jap cars for a while but I am warming up to the 240SX. Really would rather keep the Saab cause to the normal person it's really a sleeper. I still be plenty of Civics/Intergras with my little N/A Saab. Oh well, back to the drawing book. =/
 
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