A bit more info req. 8V or 16V, if 8 I don't know where signal comes from for injectors. rmove breather hose from top of inlet manifild and pour a spoon of petrol in the manifold and then turn over if it fires up (like you got it to do before) spark is ok and so fuel pressure might be weak or injectors not opening, so not too much wrong to soty out
find out how long it's been like this had he any pronlems running before it 'played up' or as he bought it for a quick fix and does'nt know where to look etc,but at the worst sell parts for bits and scrap it for cash, but I'm sure it's a reasoably simple/cheap fix.
I once bought a car that had broke down after driver stopped outside shop had it towed home and sold it(on ebay) to me, only bidder £100 start price, took a trailer to colllect 140mls x2 and got it home, turned it over, and like you nothing, and thought well if it was running before and fuel level ok can't be much, so decided to check easiest first, lifted dissy cap off(not on properly) and the centre core was like a pozzi head screwdriver and the centre of rotor arm was burnt out, put a second hand one on of each I had, and it started straight up ..no knowledge/ idea etc is costly.... for seller, bargain for me.
what I think had happened was who ever replaced the dist cap and or rotor arm had put the cap on with one edge/lip not firmly down so dist cap slightly tilted, so over time the centre core was arcing to the rotor arm(hence the screwdriver shape) and eventually burnt out the centre brass bit of the rotor arm and just could'nt do it again once it stopped this particular time as too far gone
have had over 40 900's so have seen many little faults, which people did'nt know how to solve or do anything about, and just leave them broken /not working ......ggrrrrr

 

An 81 will be 8v (unless modified of course ).

I'd suggest a full check of the ignition and fuel system.

 

Right, sorry, Its an 81 4 door notchback in white with some rust and 5 spd 8v N/A

 

Alrighty, got it home (15 miles on a tow strap ;oops: did'nt ruin the trans i hope?) anyway I'm super excited to ge this old beast on the road (only 114k Original miles!!), i turned the key and, lo and behold, it starts!.. for one second. it will do it over and over, i turn the key and it starts for ALMOST one second, then its like i turned the key off, even though i did not. looked under the dizzy and it looked pretty worn but not to awful... suggestions? PLEASE AND THANKS!

Also took a peek at the fuel pump.. it is in there with a piece of clear plastic hose sticking into the fuel tank instead of a normal filter/screen device... does someone maybe have a picture of how this is supposed to look?

 

when it start keep the key inthe start position and see if it keeps running, it should'nt engage the starter motor but just keep the power inthe system. but sounds like a faulty ign switch hence what's happeneing. re picture of pump, I have a pump and can send pic of it to you, but the connection should be bt pipe with a 'banjo' end and the nut/bolt fixes it onto the pump, not sure quite what you are explaining but does'nt sound right, and might be you get enough fuel to start but then the pump could be cutting out immediatly etc etc etc

 

Not the end with the banjo fitting, im talking about the the pickup in the tank, instead of what is supposed to be there there is some 1/2'' clear hose that you typically try to siphon gas out of your tank with.

 

ITS ALIVE! Im not sure how though.... see all i did was replace the fuel pump with what i think was the actual in tank pickup, seemed to work. then i sprayed some starting fluid into the intake and got it started, i expected it to die as soon as it burned through the starter fluid but i just kept on running! i let it idle for 5 minutes and warm up, then took it for a tiny test drive and it all seemed fine. its pretty rusty though unfortunately.. needs tires..blinker lenses...battery... then im on the road woooo

 

What you have in your hand is only part of what supposed to be the pump assembly. The part that you are holding is to be mounted in a rubber casing with a metal bracket and has to sit to a pre measured depth in the take. The hose that is on the end is to have a round pickup screen on the bottom that just sits on the floor of the tank or just above. A shop manual will give the measurement that is needed. If you don't get a reply on the measurement I will look for it myself for you, sorry a bit late and need some sleep.

here is a link to the saabsite.com that has a description of the parts you need.
http://www.thesaabsite.com/900old/c9008vfuel.htm

 

Fantastic As long as it was in neutral you won't have damaged the gearbox - unlike horrible automatics :lol:

You will definitely want to sort the fuel pump arrangement - a filter on the bottom is a must, and because of the lack of the filter I'd recommend you change the main inline filter as well.

 

Actually, since the fuel filter is in the engine bay, I would change it first and see if it was simple clogging. I have removed filters that quite literally wept mud when the bolts were removed and I started to drain. Montana is not known for the cleanliness of its' fuel either (spent 4 years in Great Falls).

 

I found the proper piece for the fuel pump in the bowels of the trunk, it looked real clean so i put it all back in the CORRECT way. It runs pretty dang well considering.. i let it cool off all night then popped a battery in it this afternoon (with a new dizzy cap because that is all the parts store could even find me!) And it fired right up, starts as good as my Merkur does. Not sure what i did to make it run again but awesome!

Next issue, tires. The tires that are on my stock alloys are 185-60hr390????? wtf is that and what size normal tire will fit on our cars? I need to know all sizes that would fit on stock wheels if possible.. (185/60, 195/55, 205/50 ect.) Im getting used tires from the junkyard for now, to get me on the road asap, So it would be useful to be able to choose from a range of sizes.

Also, is there some sort of classifieds or something here? I need front turn signal lenses..

 

The correct tire size is 195/65/r15. There are classifieds if you scroll through forum sections at the bottom right of this page. If you can't find any near you, I probably have a few of those lights. An 81 900 was my first Saab and still a favorite.

 

I browsed around on the for sale listings, couldent find any turn signal lenses.. i would be happy to send you a $50 money order(not sure what a fair price would be.. seems fair?) to ship them to me..

edit: just went out and looked again, i need the whole assembly for both sides.

 

Those 185/60hr390 tires are a special size . You cannot mount 15" tires on those rims. Don't know if they still make tires for those rims. I had them on my 1980 900 way back when,and changed to aftermarket rims the first time I needed tires.

 

Your original tire size was a pre standardized metric callout. It would correlate to the 195 (tread width) and was a slightly lower aspect ratio (60 is shorter) but the rim size was in inches.

 

Those 185/60hr390 tires are a special size . You cannot mount 15" tires on those rims. Don't know if they still make tires for those rims. I had them on my 1980 900 way back when,and changed to aftermarket rims the first time I needed tires.

 

Yeah those are the Michelin TRX. Popular in circa 1978-1984 for expensive cars. Ferrari had some in 415mm rims. And Saab!

You can get tires (e.g. via Coker) but stupid expensive. Probably save your rims and buy some others to run on.

I don't think 195/65-15 was ever a Saab approved size, but I like them. I think the approved sizes on C900 were 175/75 (good luck finding one of those!), 185/65 and 195/60 (typically on turbo cars). I think 99's ran 165SR15 but your rims are probably too wide.

 

Im more concerned about 'will it fit' then if its the stock size.. am i to understand though that i cannot use those rims at all?? that is unwelcome news. can anyone else verify that? i will go take a picture of the rims and post it up..

Yep, 390mm i saw all the info on it. oh well, everything is always more difficult then you think its gonna be i guess.. i have 3 of 4 steel wheels with 165sr15's but not a complete set.

 

i have 3 of 4 steel wheels with 165sr15's but not a complete set.

If you have 2 of any style, put each pair on opposite sides of the car. You'll be the only one that ever notices it.

Note: with inadequate fuel pressure, 8v cars will 'run' on the cold start injector while cranking.

 

Ah, but was it an 81 ?

 

Its always hard trying to sort out what was spec'd for different markets and then what people did with them after they got them. My 81 had a points distributor!

 

81 is the only one that came with a distributor like that, according to my Bently manual anyway..



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Those are Trx tires. The 390 is a metric dimension which equates to about 15.4 " diameter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelin_TRX
will tell you a little about them.

 

double post.

 

That is probably a 15 inch rim. The diameter of the rim's bead seat floor, not the diameter of the outer rim edge. The rim edge, or lip, extends beyond the bead seat area to capture the bead and prevent the bead from slipping off the rim. If we say that a wheel has a 15-inch diameter, we mean that the diameter of the bead seat floor measures 15 inches. The outer rim edge diameter may actually measure 16inches or more, depending on the design.

Seeing the above link, I could be wrong about it being a 15 inch wheel. Just measure it for yourself.

 

http://jpowell.tripod.com/saab-wheels/trx/index.html

Ditch them - you should be able to find something suitable pretty cheap that takes normal tyres

Metric tyres - a strange idea that didn't take off. Although I think BMW used them a lot more.

 

I seem to have memories of some American cars using them as well. I can't remember if they were imports sold under US manufacturer license or if the "big 3" was dabbling with metrics...

 

Ford had them on the Mustang GT and as an option on Tempo and such. I don't think I've ever seen one of those Tempo rims in the flesh :lol:

I think the Tempo was 365mm, maybe Mustang too.

 

My wife lost a wheel cover and her car looked silly. But she wouldn't spend $15 on a new pair. So I found one in the street that almost fit in size and style and kicked it until it stuck in there. The thing has huge cracks in it, but has hung in there for 5000km. And honestly, unless you're really looking, you can't tell from 5 ft away. Helps that the car is no looker.

 

My wife lost a wheel cover and her car looked silly. But she wouldn't spend $15 on a new pair.

Keep her.

 

ok so, i went to the local junkyard and rummaged around for a couple hours and found some old honda wheels, i bought them and brought them home to check fitment, negative(made sure i could get my money back first of course). are there any compatible wheels out there? or does someone have any i could get off you?

 

You might want to try a Nissan Altima / sentra or 240SX or whatever, dunno about the middle hole size though. Honda, VW, etc for sure yer screwed.