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Our family decided to dive into the Saab pool this year, after years of consideration. We bought an '87 900 turbo first, because we missed having a fun manual to tool around in and then decided to pick up an '06 9-3 2.0T Sportcombi as a daily driver. We have been working our way through issues with both and love the cars, but recently hit a major setback with the 9-3.
We had our usual mechanic do some basic things (rear brakes & oil change) last week, because we were too bogged down with other work to do them ourselves and they needed attention. After getting the 9-3 back, it ran fine for the day and then the check engine light came on with Random Misfire (P0300) and Turbocharger Wastegate Solenoid A Circuit Low (P0245) codes being thrown, but the only noticeable sign was a slight decrease in acceleration. Parked it for the night and took a look in the morning, but the check engine light was off and the car was driving normally for the next four days.
But on the fifth day...
it started up but felt bogged down. Check engine light blinking and fairly heavy white/gray smoke started coming from the exhaust as well as under the heatsink between the engine and the firewall. Noticed after a block and dropped it right back at home. After rooting around the forum, it looks like an issue with the turbo could be the cause. Sludgy oil seems to come up in similar problems, and the oil was darker than it should have been (although it wasn't overdue for a change). I'd certainly appreciate any suggestions, since the symptoms don't line up completely with other people's experiences. It was our mechanic's first time doing anything with the Saab and I can't imagine there's anything he could have done with an oil change that would have caused this kind of sudden calamity, but its always pestering when you get a car back and have a sudden new problem. Also, if you think it might be a turbo issue and you happen to know a good thread for diagnosing/replacing/dismantling/upgrading the turbo, I haven't been able to find one here in my searches. Thanks so much for your help!
We had our usual mechanic do some basic things (rear brakes & oil change) last week, because we were too bogged down with other work to do them ourselves and they needed attention. After getting the 9-3 back, it ran fine for the day and then the check engine light came on with Random Misfire (P0300) and Turbocharger Wastegate Solenoid A Circuit Low (P0245) codes being thrown, but the only noticeable sign was a slight decrease in acceleration. Parked it for the night and took a look in the morning, but the check engine light was off and the car was driving normally for the next four days.
But on the fifth day...
it started up but felt bogged down. Check engine light blinking and fairly heavy white/gray smoke started coming from the exhaust as well as under the heatsink between the engine and the firewall. Noticed after a block and dropped it right back at home. After rooting around the forum, it looks like an issue with the turbo could be the cause. Sludgy oil seems to come up in similar problems, and the oil was darker than it should have been (although it wasn't overdue for a change). I'd certainly appreciate any suggestions, since the symptoms don't line up completely with other people's experiences. It was our mechanic's first time doing anything with the Saab and I can't imagine there's anything he could have done with an oil change that would have caused this kind of sudden calamity, but its always pestering when you get a car back and have a sudden new problem. Also, if you think it might be a turbo issue and you happen to know a good thread for diagnosing/replacing/dismantling/upgrading the turbo, I haven't been able to find one here in my searches. Thanks so much for your help!
