[The_Boy_Racer]

A few months ago, in the cold of the winter my Saab started acting odd. I'd turn it on, it would kick in and a second later die on me; second try -wait a few seconds, turn on and this time it would kick in but if i turned on anything electrical it would die again, even though it had been running/idle for a few seconds.
I used to think "hey, it's winter" maybe it should be "warmed up" properly.
Now with the warm weather upon us, I've been seeing pretty much the same results. It doesn't happen, if i really let it warm up, meaning i let it on idle for about 2 minutes, but if i start it and take off right away I've had instances where it dies on me as it's running when i put it on neutral at a light or slowing down.
It only happens once during the day, after that it's shows no signs of this.

The previous owner told me (months after i had bought it) that this Saab would die on him on hills and such -which hasn't happened to me, and I've also heard of stories of people who idle their 900's in the morning for like 5 minutes, so that it runs properly; a thing i always considered ludicrous, it's a Turbo, there's no time for Idle on this thing :cheesy:

To wrap this up: It seems to me like spark plugs, which I need to check nonetheless, but the symptoms don't quite point me there. I'm wondering then if it could be something more serious...

Thanks guys

 

[Jezzadee]

Could be the AIC valve. It can be cleaned out with carb cleaner and then sprayed with WD40. There's a guide to variable idle here .

 

[Si]

and I've also heard of stories of people who idle their 900's in the morning for like 5 minutes, so that it runs properly; a thing i always considered ludicrous, it's a Turbo, there's no time for Idle on this thing :cheesy:

If you let it idle your a few mins it gives time for the oil to warm/thin out and reach the turbo bearings, it will extend the life of the turbo, do the same before switching off aswell to give the turbo time to spool down.


OK so run the car for a bit......tuh next you'll be telling me it's bad to redline in 1st!!!!!!!:cheesy:

 

[Jezzadee]

If you let it idle your a few mins it gives time for the oil to warm/thin out and reach the turbo bearings, it will extend the life of the turbo,

Controversial, that. Saab recommend not warming the engine by idling but just driving off straight away, as this causes the engine to warm up faster thus thinning the oil quicker and preventing wear. But they also say not to use full boost or heavy acceleration until the car is at normal running temp, maybe up to 10 minutes drive.

 

[Hornet11586]

Hmm, sounds similar to my problem, maybe you altenator could be going? Thats what happened to mine, except it would just die if i hit direction, radio, headlights or anything.

Just a thought

 

[Matthew]

If you let it idle your a few mins it gives time for the oil to warm/thin out and reach the turbo bearings, it will extend the life of the turbo, do the same before switching off aswell to give the turbo time to spool down.

It takes much longer than a few minutes to get the oil hot - oil will reach its effective operating temperature approximately 10 miles after the coolant has reached its normal operating temperature.

In Winter, you can probably add some to that too.

The best way to get heat into the oil is to drive the car, but without putting the engine under too much load. To protect the turbo bearings on cold startup, use a non-0w rated oil, eg: 5w40.

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[woywitka]

this also sound like what i have read about failing ecu. start stall start stall warmup then the car work ok.

 

[The_Boy_Racer]

It takes much longer than a few minutes to get the oil hot - oil will reach its effective operating temperature approximately 10 miles after the coolant has reached its normal operating temperature.

In Winter, you can probably add some to that too.

The best way to get heat into the oil is to drive the car, but without putting the engine under too much load. To protect the turbo bearings on cold startup, use a non-0w rated oil, eg: 5w40.

I concur, and like Si mentioned it's a good thing as recomended by Saab to let it cool down anywhere from a few seconds to a minute (?) if one pushed the car during driving.

Thanks for the tips, I'm going to get my hands dirty.

 

[Matthew]

as recomended by Saab to let it cool down anywhere from a few seconds to a minute

I have always found it more effective to drive gently for the last couple of miles of a journey. A greater volume of coolant and oil will circulate through the turbo, plus both radiator and oil cooler will be doing their jobs better due to the continued ambient air stream while the vehicle's in motion.

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