Shed Spec Saab 9-3 diesel

[Steve93]

With my Daily 9-3 TTiD Needing some TLC with some mounting issues, My B204 engine swap into my Mk4 Astra at about the mid way point and my Series 3 Land Rover currently in Airfix kit form, I have done what any sane human being would do and bought a non running car to use as a cheap daily shed.

The only Issue being, it don't run

I actually fancied running something totally shed-tastic on the smallest budget, and I know everyone on here loves a cheap shed so thought a small thread on it wouldn't go amiss. It would also be nice to have somewhere where I can track my expenditure.

So £100 bought me (totally unseen till it was dropped off) the weirdest specced 9-3 1.9 Diesel I have seen
IMG_20190808_143247 by Steve, on Flickr

IMG_20190807_192011 by Steve, on Flickr

IMG_20190807_191909 by Steve, on Flickr

IMG_20190807_191934 by Steve, on Flickr

So it has Auto wipers, power folding mirrors, Auto dimming mirror, decent sound system and near top spec head unit (minus the nav) yet it has the lowest powered engine and halogen lights That's ok though as this is an exercise in shedding.

Now to the reason it was £100. The ECU seems to be dead or there is a wiring issue to the ecu, see someone at GM thought a great idea would be to put the ECU under the drivers headlight where it remains completely dry and is not affected by spray kicked up by the wheel

Found a chap who breaks these and he reckons he has both a spare ECU and complete engine wiring loom (easier as someone has hacked about with this one trying to repair it) so that may be a win. Next items after a cursory look over the car would be a cheap service and cambelt/waterpump for peace of mind. It has service history and appears its 2 previous keepers have treated it well.

So to start off my expenditure so far is:
Car: £100
Recovery: £60

Or it might end up as a pile of bits for sale

[Eyersey1234]

Sounds good OP, hope you can get it running cheaply.

[EarlofDrift]

That looks very tidy, once you get it running it should be fairly reliable.

Might want to wrap the new ECU in cling film just to be on the safe side

The 9-3 always looks strange in red as 99% of them are silver, black or grey.

[bungz]

Still a great looking car.

Good colour too, stands out from the hordes of silver / gold ones.

[spaceship]

Best of luck. Will be Watching this for updates.

[Steve93]

Funny people mention the colour standing out from the black/silver ones as my TTiD is the standard recession black

Small update

With a bit of power from it's younger brother
IMG_20190809_213953 by Steve, on Flickr

Tech 2 was hooked up to see what was going on, as I only had a diagnosis from the previous owner...yup there's no ECM present on the BUS
IMG_20190809_214402 by Steve, on Flickr

It really is a stupid place to put it
IMG_20190809_193138 by Steve, on Flickr

But wait an intrepid explorer has been here before
IMG_20190809_193148 by Steve, on Flickr

New wiring loom and ECU it is

[Paul S4]

That car looks in very good condition..seems very little rust, even under the bonnet/behind the front bumper etc.. could be a good buy if you can sort out the ECU...

[bearman68]

At the risk of teaching you to suck eggs, just check it's got power and grounds before condemning the ECU. May be a blown fuse or relay. It does happen.......

[bearman68]

£100 is a bit of a bargain though.
Loved mine until this happened. So sad to see it go.

[Steve93]

It is in great condition and only has 97k showing on it, last owner pampered it by the looks of it.

On the ECU front, I only want to replace it because of our intrepid explorer who I suspect has also been at the loom
IMG_20190811_135321 by Steve, on Flickr

After a bit of a conversation with an ex Saab tech, he mentioned these 120bhp models were really bad for broken looms so...
IMG_20190811_152602 by Steve, on Flickr

I see they've been further north in their travels too, this was under the Relay/fusebox
IMG_20190811_152646 by Steve, on Flickr

Took the entire loom home and set about it with a multimeter. The wire that's had the joining done didn't have any continuity at all, so I removed all the corrugated sleeving and discovered this about at the midway point
IMG_20190811_212326 by Steve, on Flickr

Ran a whole new wire and joined it correctly with solder and heatshrink and I now have good continuity, I have given the rest of the loom a look over and the rest seems ok.

Had a quick look at the SAAB workshop information system and indeed there was a bulletin about broken looms due to the corrugated sleeve rubbing and chafing the loom, on later cars this was replaced with Tesa loom tape. So I've ordered a couple rolls of loom tape and will be redoing the whole loom with it.

An extra £10 added to expenditure for the loom tape and £55 for a known working ECU

As an aside I think my TTiD is in a strop with me spending so much time with this one and promptly broke a rear damper mount this evening

[Barchettaman]

Not a bad bargain that!

Best of luck getting the thing running. It looks like you know what you´re doing, that´s for sure!

[Steve93]

Barchettaman said:

Not a bad bargain that!

Best of luck getting the thing running. It looks like you know what you´re doing, that´s for sure!

I really don't Google and winging it counts for a lot

Update

It Runs!!!
VID-20190831-WA0024 by Steve, on Flickr

After continuity test after continuity test after redoing the loom, I found 2 pins in the ecu connector for the loom had been removed by our explorer and were now not sitting far enough down to connect to the ECU pins. Quick bodge with some welding wire to make contact and boom communication and power.

Now just to make a permanent repair and get the timing belt/service done and MOT time

[Nik Gnashers]

I bow down to your investigative skills and persistence sir, good work.

[adamclarke96]

Excellent work mate and a proper bargain too! Always liked the 9-3, they were on my shed radar before I ended up buying a PD130 B6 A4. Best of luck with it!

[Steve93]

I'm just stubborn that way

With no sign of timing belt and water pump replacement in the history I splashed out a bit (also the alternator was chucking out 11v)
IMG_20190905_185942 by Steve, on Flickr

Second hand alternator is from a Zafria with the same engine, exactly the same thing from a Saab was an extra £40, go figure

No fancy locking tools here, good old tipp-ex and MK1 eyeball
IMG_20190904_193347 by Steve, on Flickr
IMG_20190904_200715 by Steve, on Flickr

Didn't get any pictures of the new belt etc on as it was getting late and I just wanted it done

Quick test drive around the farm tracks promptly broke the nearside spring, not usually a problem as my work keeps them in stock...only to find out next day they were both sold....fk

Mot day looming and only solution seemed to be to fit one of my spare Aero springs from my TTiD which would make it low at one side...sod it, it would pass an MOT even if it did look like Quasimodo. So I set about removing the strut and had the usual fight with the drop link which was quickly dispatched with the angle grinder (I keep 2 in the bottom drawer of my tool box as 9-3s are partial to a drop link or 2).

Halfway through fighting with the spring compressors my friend who I share the workshop with pipes up that he has a brand new non sport suspension spring left over from his Mrs old 9-3 that he never fitted, I could have it for a tenner....Result!

All fitted up and a quick wash later MOT time

Took it over to the test this morning and.........PASS, only one advisory for a very minor oil leak
IMG_20190907_155726 by Steve, on Flickr

So it got a bit of a run this evening and averaged around 48mpg which included some back roads to give it a bit of a clear out
IMG_20190907_223131 by Steve, on Flickr

Very impressed with it, drives like a car half it's mileage. The 13 speaker system sounds fantastic and everything works as it should.


So total so far
Car £100
Recovery £60
Alternator £33
Timing belt/water pump, oil change and battery £125
Loom tape £10
Spring £10
MOT £40

On the road for £378 (not counting the ECU as I haven't used it, so it can sit as a spare as it'll work for both my cars)

I will keep this thread updated with breakdowns/failures/fires etc

[14]

That does indeed look like an odd spec 93. ICM2 with maybe 7 or 13 speakers if there’s an amp in the boot, AAC, front fog lights and Aero wheels. I’ve got an Aero in the same colour as yours. I just wish mine was more reliable. Things just keep deciding not to work for some reason.

[Steve93]

14 said:

That does indeed look like an odd spec 93. ICM2 with maybe 7 or 13 speakers if there’s an amp in the boot, AAC, front fog lights and Aero wheels. I’ve got an Aero in the same colour as yours. I just wish mine was more reliable. Things just keep deciding not to work for some reason.

Definitely 13 speaker setup, which brings me onto the first fault I experienced. AMP2 disappeared from the BUS which I seem to have fixed using this method. Swear words in link!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAGlUUAmjxk


My second and most annoying fault has been an occasional non start where the engine just winds and doesn't fire. A bit of fault finding later and I found there was no camshaft RPM signal

Getting a feeling of Deja Vu
IMG-20191011-WA0001 by Steve, on Flickr

New cam sensor and It hasn't done it since

I decided to fit a new thermostat as it was struggling to stay at operating temperature while cruising...temp gets to middle now and stays pinned there, hopefully this is good for a couple more MPG

Add £39 for cam sensor and Thermostat

I must admit it's slowly growing on me

[Truckosaurus]

Looks good. Is there a story about why the boot was being held shut with a piece of string?

[LukeyP_]

I love this, can't beat shedding.

I am also on look out and so far, Skoda Octavia 1.9TDi is my choice..

[Steve93]

Truckosaurus said:

Looks good. Is there a story about why the boot was being held shut with a piece of string?

The boot release is electric and the previous owners just left it open with the battery out...not sure why

Small update, car is still going strong...I did have to spend a whopping £5 on a pair of new headlight bulbs though