[aussiesaab]

G'Day from Australia - where Ford and Holden rule the roost and the Saab tends to be the plaything of the inner City crowd...

I have been lucky enough to get a 220k kilometre (132k miles) 87 Saab900i for less than AUD$300. It seemed that noone wanted it so I strolled in and got it cheaply. It has a little surface rust in a few places, but nothing a bit of wire wool won't deal with. It came up nice with a bit of a cut, polish and wax. To say I am stoked is an understatement.

I drove it to a mechanic who told me it needed nothing other than a few suspension bushes, and a set of tyres.

It is great to drive but has a few issues:

i. The steering is slightly floaty. Maybe they did not carry out the alignment correctly. I will check this.
ii. First gear is hard to select when cold - but has got easier (slave/clutch issue?).

iii. Seemingly high fuel consumption - the needle seem to drop down the gauge alarmingly. My engine idles high at over 1000rpm and a mate tells me I need to adjust the idle down with the nut - it is all the way down currently and I did get stuck in traffic last week. However, there seems a lot of fuel maybe as much as 20litres odd left when the needle first hits just a fraction shy of the redpoint - even though I have long passed the indicated 15l mark... I know this as I was able to put in 40l of fuel with 400k on the trip counter. If the tank is indeed 63l (can someone confirm) it seems possible that I could get 600k (400 miles) a tank. The needle fluctuates a little bit. In any case I am happy with the literal 10l/100ks and will get more economy next time. I put in the standard 91 Octane but will put in 95 subsequently.

Thanks for reading - a hooked Saab reader!

 

[mumsaab]

Welcome to the converted.

 

[SpecialTool]

Welcome to SC from the suburbs! I reckon the inner-city types have mostly abandoned the C900 for later models.

Now down to business -- pictures please!

 

[peva]

I think your fuel tank is 63L approx 14 galls(UK). Later cars had 68L 16 galls(UK). In my experience Saabs always had a large fuel reserve. My car ('93) has a 16gall (UK,68L) tank with approx 4 gall(UK,18L) reserve when the red light comes on.
Welcome to the Saablife.

 

[Jim Mesthene]

i. The steering is slightly floaty. Maybe they did not carry out the alignment correctly. I will check this.

Too high Tire pressure can cause that.
I recommend nothing higher than:
30 psi Front
32 psi Rear
My preference is:
27 F
29 R

 

[turbo1992]

Too high Tire pressure can cause that.
I recommend nothing higher than:
30 psi Front
32 psi Rear
My preference is:
27 F
29 R

Jim,

You can safely go down to 27 in the front? I assume that's cold pressure. I am at 30 and still feel it could be a little less but I travel the interstate a lot and am pushing 80 mph easily for 40-50 mile stints. Am I better off where I'm at?

 

[Jim Mesthene]

Make your own decision.
Until about 1990, the official SAAB recommendation with 185/65, or 195/60 tires was 27f/29r.

 

[aussiesaab]

Welcome to SC from the suburbs! I reckon the inner-city types have mostly abandoned the C900 for later models.

Now down to business -- pictures please!

Thanks for all the replies. It would seem that a huge? reserve would work out. Even if I had a 40l tank giving me 400ks I'd be happy.

Interesting about the tyre pressure. I have 195s on the car, when perhaps it might have had 185 as stock. In the past, I have not had enough air in my tyres so it is interesting that I might have too much in this one.

SpecialTool - I live in SE Melbourne - semi-rural and in the suburbs around here Saabs are as rare as rocking horse sh*t. There is one GM900 in my road and I have seen no others in the few weeks I have had the car. It has turned quite a few heads - or am I being needlessly vain? I first got interested and was appalled when a mate told me that last year he was unable to sell a 170k 16v 1991 Metallic Green Saab and was forced to wreck it for several hundred. (If only he had told me!) He told me that Australians don't like Saabs and on the basis of conversations I have had it seems they are seen as expensive to fix and go wrong.

Pictures to follow! Not a bad car at all for $275.

 

[Rodentmaster]

Good to see another flying the flag..............

Fuel gauge in-accuracy has a high probability of being the connector and state of the instrument cluster. The clusters have edge connectors (to a flex ribbon) that age and the copper/contacts tarnish and become resistive which introduces gauge error/s. There may be a chance the temperature gauge is reading lower that actually is the case.
Idle revs may the the idle stop being propped open higher to possibly mask an underlying issue with the AIC (Automatic Idle Control) valve. A little hard to cover simply ........best to obtain the Bentley bible (workshop manual) and read up on the LH2.2 fuel system.
First gear will be clutch related............opinions vary here.....but, a change of gearbox oil might help however, I would suggest the biggest improvement will be the cleave pin in the clutch master pedal linkage (just above passenger footwell). They wear and the net effect is a subtle reduction in clutch master engage stroke and thus the clutch doesn't dis-engage 100%.
I changed mine and upsized the pin and holes to suit.........once again, Bentley manual will be your friend.

As stated by the brethren, 63litres is about right,...............the '86 I used to have was good for over 650kms on a country drive so the engine can easily achieve sub 9s for l/100k if driven well and in good order.

Good luck.

 

[aussiesaab]

The temp does read quite low as it happens - again I was surprised when I collected it - maybe 30pc (or less) normal, not even 40pc standing in traffic and it takes a while to get to those values.

And frankly, I'd expect to get more than 10 on a good run. 10l/100k was my break-even to stop panicking.

I will consider those gear/clutch suggestions. I am in 2 minds to go ahead and get a new cylinder and clutch any how, ensuring I do the throw-out bearing too.

Thanks again - and photos will follow in due course!

 

[Rodentmaster]

If all is correctly spec' and in serviceable condition,

Temperature gauge generally is expected to hover around centre scale. It is quite an active gauge depending on the temperature of the day and engine load.
If indicating faithfully, on hotter days, both radiator fans should kick in (via the thermo-switch on L.H. radiator tank) when the left radiator tank gets to ~ 97°C - the gauge hopefully indicates approx 2/3~3/4 scale.

 

[Kaza1]

Hi Aussiesaab

Welcome to another fellow Aussie.

The 900 prices (other than Verts or Aero Turbo coupes) are peanuts here in OZ. Good though if you want a whole of character for not much money.

I am assuming she is an 8 valver.

One of the best things I ever did with my old 8 valver was to give the Throttle Body a clean. I got a can of Nulon Throttle Body Cleaner and sprayed out the TB by removing the intake ducting and opening the butterfly. After that, I managed to get the idle screw to respond and was able to adjust the idle down. Also gave me a bit more response and better economy.

I really love those 8 valve engines. Lift the bonnet on those is an event - they seem like a whole of lot of engine.