[Wasaab1]

Please help! My car idles in boost. It has been idling in boost since I've had the car for a couple months now. It's a 2001 9-5 with the 2.3t low output turbo. I've replaced several parts now, because it has been misfiring such as: plugs, DI cassette, crankshaft position sensor. Now it stopped misfiring, but it still idles in boost. My boost gauge (assuming I hooked it up properly) read between 0-.5 psi and with WOT it hits a peak of 6. It idles better with the vacuum line that runs into the intake tube unplugged. I don't know what to try anymore. Saab's are far from what I am familiar with.

 

[Nocturne]

Is there a "Turbo" gauge above the fuel and temp gauges in your dash? If you do have that, where is the needle in relation to the green, yellow and red lines? At idle it should be halfway up the green (VAC), at 0 boost the needle will be between green and yellow (where the gap is), actual boost is at the start of yellow right after that gap.

 

[Wasaab1]

On mine it is a white,green, and red line in that order and it is about halfway up the white line

 

[Wasaab1]

After warming up the idle now is at the very bottom of the white

 

[Nocturne]

After warming up the idle now is at the very bottom of the white

Does your dash look like this?

Redirect Notice

 

[Wasaab1]

Yes that’s what it is

 

[Nocturne]

Yes that’s what it is
After warming up the idle now is at the very bottom of the white

The lines have a gap between the colors. So, from left to right is Line 1, then 2, then 3.
So you're saying that the needle sits at the very bottom of the first line of the Turbo gauge once it's warmed up?

 

[Wasaab1]

Yeah it does. Just kinda floats just above the bottom line maybe a quarter inch

 

[Nocturne]

And what's your idle speed? below 1000 RPM?
Sounds to me like a vacuum issue, a one way valve is backwards/broken, some hoses not routed properly. Or a leak big enough to make the ecu over compensate.

 

[Wasaab1]

My idle varies from time to time but it’s typically about 1000rpms. If I plug the tube back into the intake pipe it drops down to 750ish like normal and then it dies after a few moments

 

[Nocturne]

How did it run before you put the boost gauge in?

 

[Wasaab1]

It had the issues before I did it. That’s why I put the boost gauge in so I could see what I was reading for vacuum. I teed the boost gauge into one of the vacuum lines off the throttle body

 

[Nocturne]

These cars have a fair amount of various vacuum lines that run to all sorts of locations. The throttle body has more than one vacuum line. Do you know if you have the latest PCV system?
So, before the boost gauge was added, you had the car running with no misfires? Were they actually misfires as in flashing CEL, or Solid CEL with a P0300, P0301, P0302, P0303, or P0304 code?
Proper spark plugs and SEM DIC (either OEM or NGK) and not an aftermarket DIC was put in? Air filter is good? MAF isn't gunked up?

 

[Wasaab1]

Yeah I took the maf out and cleaned it. I have the latest pcv fix but it isn’t installed yet. It would have a flashing cel sometimes but it would also give the p0301 etc as well as a random misfire code. The car ran like poop before the boost gauge was installed. It was the vacuum line that runs to the tee that is along the firewall under the cover. Not that 3 way tee that the bypass valve runs too. I have checked all the vacuum lines according to a couple forums and they all seemed to be okay. When I replaced the DIC it was with an oem one not a cheap Chinese knock off one or anything. I imagine that it might possibly be PCV related then? If that’s the only thing that hasn’t been replaced. I had to buy a couple lines for the pcv system before I did the update because the previous owner had them all taped up and blocked up.

 

[Nocturne]

It's also possible that you have some dead 1 way valves as well.
Hard to say without hooking it up to a Tech II to know exactly what's going on.

 

[Wasaab1]

Yeah that’s understandable. Where could I possibly get my hands on a tech II to read something like this. My local shops really only deal with snap ons so they never get anything except a code that says it cannot connect to the ecu.

 

[bob3000]

Where could I possibly get my hands on a tech II to read something like this.

Where are you located?
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[Wasaab1]

I’m in Iowa

 

[bob3000]

There are quite a few Saab shops....

Saab Repair Shops & Mechanics in Iowa

Find a nearby Iowa mechanic using Iowa’s most comprehensive online directory of independent Saab repair shops. Read shop reviews and information on SaabShops.com.

www.saabshops.com

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