£250 Saab 93 VectorSport 1.9TiD 150
Discussion
Something a little different to what I usually contribute here. Rather than keeping on top of an already good condition car, I'm going to be bringing a car a new lease of life.
Grab a cuppa, this first post is a long one.
The decision for this car was due to me having to take my boy to nursery in the Clio 197 (thread here), and as that car is immaculate, I wasn't too keen on the baby seat being in the car for extended periods of time - not because of the mess the baby would make, but because of the marks the child seat will make over time. I made the decision to look for a cheap runabout to go back and fourth to work, while taking the little one to nursery at the same time.
This is where my eyes lit up... I could finally have an excuse for buying a Saab, as if being a Dad wasn't enough of an excuse.
I didn't want to spend much, and ideally I wanted one with an issue or two as, to me, that's a more honest car than a cheap car with the seller claiming there's nothing wrong with it (it's a 20 year old Saab, of course there would be something wrong with it). Some examples I found had engines in limp mode, others had engines which randomly cut out, and all were appealing as I could look into fixing these for a cheap runabout.
But then this one came up.
It's a 2006 Saab 93 1.9 TiD 150bhp with VectorSport trim in Saab's 'Jet Black'.
The seller hadn't been able to move this on due to it being a little neglected. The issues were:
- No MOT
- Water pump leaking coolant
- Advisories on the last MOT not fixed such as a minor oil leak, worn track rod arms, worn tyres, etc
- Some serious scrapes and dents here and there
I was about to pass on the car when the seller said that if I were to give him £250 - essentially scrap value - it would save him scrapping the car and could potentially see it have a new lease of life.
It's a gamble, but if I couldn't fix it I could scrap it for £250 and gain my money back. It was a win-win situation, and I had to jump at it.
The story behind it was quite moving. It originally belonged to the sellers dad, but after he had passed away 10 years ago, he continued to drive it as a daily. However, with a new car and with less time on his hands, the Saab started to gather dust, and 'I need to sort that' jobs became 'oh that's quite serious now' jobs.
He didn't have the heart to scrap it, so I visited the owner - a thoroughly decent chap - a deal was made and a Saab was bought.
Now from my understanding, you're legally allowed to drive a car without an MOT (and even without tax from what I've read) to a garage where the car is pre-booked for an MOT. Where the garage is and when you make the journey seem to be in a little grey area. The day before I picked the car up, I booked the car in with my local garage for an MOT this coming Tuesday and insured it for the day, which made the journey back from Bristol to Cardiff a lot less suspicious if I were to be stopped. As I need to drive past my street in order to get to the garage that's situated 30 seconds away from where I live, I made the last minute decision to stop at my home rather than take it to the garage where technically I was supposed to drive it to. I may have been wrong in my logic here, but nevertheless I made it back and the car drove beautifully.
With the car now home, I could properly inspect it. Ignore the wood, there's construction at the rear of the house.
After decoding the VIN, the specs are as follows:
- Jet Black metallic, paint code 298
- Parchment leather/Thila textile Sport interior, L05, with black accents
- 1.9 TiD Z19DTH, high-output version
- 6-speed F40 manual
- 17-inch 10-spoke alloys, 7J x 17
- 225/45 tyres, specifically Continental SportContact 2
- 3-spoke Sport steering wheel
- Sport seats
- Matt-chrome interior trim
- Colour-matched Sport exterior package
- Colour-matched rear spoiler
- Front fog lights
- Cruise control
- Electronic Stability System
- Automatic climate control
- Parking assistance
- 7-speaker stereo
- AUX input
- Steering-wheel audio controls
- Trip computer
- Footwell/entrance lighting
- Leather gear knob
- Driver's lumbar adjustment
- Alarm with siren, tilt sensor and ultrasonic sensors
- Telephone preparation with GSM
- 433.92 MHz remote locking
Again, £250.
It took the whole day sat on the drive for the coolant level to drop to the point where it notified me of having low coolant with its hilarious airline 'bing bong' notification. The coolant was gathered just below the timing belt assembly, which pretty much confirms a bad water pump.
As shown, the condition isn't great but it's a £250 car. It's far from doomed too with a lot of potential hidden under the defects.
Annoyingly, when I opened the rear window I heard the unmistakable grinding and snapping sound of a failed window regulator. The window has been pegged up temporarily, but this will be an easy job to fix.
A quick look under the bonnet and under the engine cover revealed an engine bay that was relatively forgiving to work in. It also revealed a small but very common issue, and may be the source of the MOT's previous 'oil leak' advisories.
Notice the black gunk on cylinder 4? My suspicion is the actuators of the swirl flaps, but I'm quite new to working on diesel engines as previous diesel cars have been quite reliable and haven't needed much in terms of maintenance.
There should be an actuator bar here... but it had fallen loose completely.
This bar is responsible for opening/closing all of the swirl flaps in the intake manifold. An actuator moves one, and very much like a steam train's wheels, the bar moves the rest. With this not attached, the flaps could be stuck open or closed - either way, it'll be affecting the performance.
The hole clips have become more oval, and have rounded causing the clips to fall off. This is a common issue on all Z19DTH engines and can be fixed by replacing this bar with one that features brass fittings that don't wear. However, considering that a brand new intake manifold with new flaps costs £70, I'm inclined to go down this route. We'll see what happens.
My favourite part of the car was the cream leather interior.
These seats are superb to sit in.
I've seen a lot worse than this. The two-tone cream and black with the metallic black exterior looks wonderful. Aside from the interior being especially dirty from years of use, it's not in bad condition as such - just needs a deep clean and some tough work on the leather.
The previous phone holder was unfortunately glued on. It's damaged the plastic, and I'm in two minds whether to sand and spray it for free as I already have the paint, or to purchase another dash surround for £20 on eBay. It'll probably be the latter, but the fact I was thinking about re-spraying it myself is where my mind is with this car; it doesn't need to look perfect.
The uprated stereo is a nice touch, and I especially love the 'PipBoy' style display at night.
This will never get old.
The boot is enormous considering its saloon shape.
This crack is a little unfortunate. The lamp still works, but these lamps go for almost £200 on eBay pre-owned.
This is one of two substantial areas of damage on the paintwork. It's unfortunate that it's spread over two panels, but I'm not bothered. An ex student of mine is good with painting cars, and has agreed to tackle this. To be honest, I may even look at painting it myself. The white marks to the right are remnants of a sticker and not scratches.
This is the second damaged area.
Looks relatively nasty, but again it can be made much more presentable. A sand of the area to make it smooth, followed by primer, spray, and two-stage lacquer would make this far easier on the eye. The fogs would most likely need replacing, unless I can sand that coating off.
First thing's first, it needs a decent wash to see its true condition.
Far better. There's a few deep scratches here and there but nothing to be concerned about.
A machine polisher with a heavy cutting pad/compound would make light work of these.
I've never seen plastic faded this much before.
You really can see the potential of the paint underneath.
Next job was to sand and polish the headlights, especially for the upcoming MOT. I'm not going to waste much time on these to get them perfect as the MOT on Tuesday could be the end of this car's story.
Miles better. I may treat it to new lenses if it passes the MOT.
While I was at it, I did a test patch with the DA polisher on the wing.
The paint really does have potential underneath the scratches. This was only a quick single stage too.
That tyre is the worst of the four, and is almost certainly a fail. I'll put the spare tyre on before taking it to the garage for its MOT, and if it passes, I've luckily got a set of old Continental PremiumContact tyres from the Clio 197 sitting out my garden that would fit.
That evening gave me a good excuse to sit in the car and admire its night illumination.
What a lovely place to be. I'm getting quite attached to this car. Those with sharp eyes may notice the 'Theft protection fault' error. That coincidentally appeared when the window regulator snapped. It could be related to that, but if not it's apparently only one of a few things it could be, so I'm not concerned.
And this is how the car now sits. It's a lot more presentable, and could well be passable when the test comes around. I'm quite nervous for Tuesday as I feel a bit of a responsibility to look after this car; I want it to do well, and I want it to get back to its former glory.
Fingers crossed, I'll let you all know in a couple of days time. Wish me luck.
Grab a cuppa, this first post is a long one.
The decision for this car was due to me having to take my boy to nursery in the Clio 197 (thread here), and as that car is immaculate, I wasn't too keen on the baby seat being in the car for extended periods of time - not because of the mess the baby would make, but because of the marks the child seat will make over time. I made the decision to look for a cheap runabout to go back and fourth to work, while taking the little one to nursery at the same time.
This is where my eyes lit up... I could finally have an excuse for buying a Saab, as if being a Dad wasn't enough of an excuse.
I didn't want to spend much, and ideally I wanted one with an issue or two as, to me, that's a more honest car than a cheap car with the seller claiming there's nothing wrong with it (it's a 20 year old Saab, of course there would be something wrong with it). Some examples I found had engines in limp mode, others had engines which randomly cut out, and all were appealing as I could look into fixing these for a cheap runabout.
But then this one came up.
It's a 2006 Saab 93 1.9 TiD 150bhp with VectorSport trim in Saab's 'Jet Black'.
The seller hadn't been able to move this on due to it being a little neglected. The issues were:
- No MOT
- Water pump leaking coolant
- Advisories on the last MOT not fixed such as a minor oil leak, worn track rod arms, worn tyres, etc
- Some serious scrapes and dents here and there
I was about to pass on the car when the seller said that if I were to give him £250 - essentially scrap value - it would save him scrapping the car and could potentially see it have a new lease of life.
It's a gamble, but if I couldn't fix it I could scrap it for £250 and gain my money back. It was a win-win situation, and I had to jump at it.
The story behind it was quite moving. It originally belonged to the sellers dad, but after he had passed away 10 years ago, he continued to drive it as a daily. However, with a new car and with less time on his hands, the Saab started to gather dust, and 'I need to sort that' jobs became 'oh that's quite serious now' jobs.
He didn't have the heart to scrap it, so I visited the owner - a thoroughly decent chap - a deal was made and a Saab was bought.
Now from my understanding, you're legally allowed to drive a car without an MOT (and even without tax from what I've read) to a garage where the car is pre-booked for an MOT. Where the garage is and when you make the journey seem to be in a little grey area. The day before I picked the car up, I booked the car in with my local garage for an MOT this coming Tuesday and insured it for the day, which made the journey back from Bristol to Cardiff a lot less suspicious if I were to be stopped. As I need to drive past my street in order to get to the garage that's situated 30 seconds away from where I live, I made the last minute decision to stop at my home rather than take it to the garage where technically I was supposed to drive it to. I may have been wrong in my logic here, but nevertheless I made it back and the car drove beautifully.
With the car now home, I could properly inspect it. Ignore the wood, there's construction at the rear of the house.
After decoding the VIN, the specs are as follows:
- Jet Black metallic, paint code 298
- Parchment leather/Thila textile Sport interior, L05, with black accents
- 1.9 TiD Z19DTH, high-output version
- 6-speed F40 manual
- 17-inch 10-spoke alloys, 7J x 17
- 225/45 tyres, specifically Continental SportContact 2
- 3-spoke Sport steering wheel
- Sport seats
- Matt-chrome interior trim
- Colour-matched Sport exterior package
- Colour-matched rear spoiler
- Front fog lights
- Cruise control
- Electronic Stability System
- Automatic climate control
- Parking assistance
- 7-speaker stereo
- AUX input
- Steering-wheel audio controls
- Trip computer
- Footwell/entrance lighting
- Leather gear knob
- Driver's lumbar adjustment
- Alarm with siren, tilt sensor and ultrasonic sensors
- Telephone preparation with GSM
- 433.92 MHz remote locking
Again, £250.
It took the whole day sat on the drive for the coolant level to drop to the point where it notified me of having low coolant with its hilarious airline 'bing bong' notification. The coolant was gathered just below the timing belt assembly, which pretty much confirms a bad water pump.
As shown, the condition isn't great but it's a £250 car. It's far from doomed too with a lot of potential hidden under the defects.
Annoyingly, when I opened the rear window I heard the unmistakable grinding and snapping sound of a failed window regulator. The window has been pegged up temporarily, but this will be an easy job to fix.
A quick look under the bonnet and under the engine cover revealed an engine bay that was relatively forgiving to work in. It also revealed a small but very common issue, and may be the source of the MOT's previous 'oil leak' advisories.
Notice the black gunk on cylinder 4? My suspicion is the actuators of the swirl flaps, but I'm quite new to working on diesel engines as previous diesel cars have been quite reliable and haven't needed much in terms of maintenance.
There should be an actuator bar here... but it had fallen loose completely.
This bar is responsible for opening/closing all of the swirl flaps in the intake manifold. An actuator moves one, and very much like a steam train's wheels, the bar moves the rest. With this not attached, the flaps could be stuck open or closed - either way, it'll be affecting the performance.
The hole clips have become more oval, and have rounded causing the clips to fall off. This is a common issue on all Z19DTH engines and can be fixed by replacing this bar with one that features brass fittings that don't wear. However, considering that a brand new intake manifold with new flaps costs £70, I'm inclined to go down this route. We'll see what happens.
My favourite part of the car was the cream leather interior.
These seats are superb to sit in.
I've seen a lot worse than this. The two-tone cream and black with the metallic black exterior looks wonderful. Aside from the interior being especially dirty from years of use, it's not in bad condition as such - just needs a deep clean and some tough work on the leather.
The previous phone holder was unfortunately glued on. It's damaged the plastic, and I'm in two minds whether to sand and spray it for free as I already have the paint, or to purchase another dash surround for £20 on eBay. It'll probably be the latter, but the fact I was thinking about re-spraying it myself is where my mind is with this car; it doesn't need to look perfect.
The uprated stereo is a nice touch, and I especially love the 'PipBoy' style display at night.
This will never get old.
The boot is enormous considering its saloon shape.
This crack is a little unfortunate. The lamp still works, but these lamps go for almost £200 on eBay pre-owned.
This is one of two substantial areas of damage on the paintwork. It's unfortunate that it's spread over two panels, but I'm not bothered. An ex student of mine is good with painting cars, and has agreed to tackle this. To be honest, I may even look at painting it myself. The white marks to the right are remnants of a sticker and not scratches.
This is the second damaged area.
Looks relatively nasty, but again it can be made much more presentable. A sand of the area to make it smooth, followed by primer, spray, and two-stage lacquer would make this far easier on the eye. The fogs would most likely need replacing, unless I can sand that coating off.
First thing's first, it needs a decent wash to see its true condition.
Far better. There's a few deep scratches here and there but nothing to be concerned about.
A machine polisher with a heavy cutting pad/compound would make light work of these.
I've never seen plastic faded this much before.
You really can see the potential of the paint underneath.
Next job was to sand and polish the headlights, especially for the upcoming MOT. I'm not going to waste much time on these to get them perfect as the MOT on Tuesday could be the end of this car's story.
Miles better. I may treat it to new lenses if it passes the MOT.
While I was at it, I did a test patch with the DA polisher on the wing.
The paint really does have potential underneath the scratches. This was only a quick single stage too.
That tyre is the worst of the four, and is almost certainly a fail. I'll put the spare tyre on before taking it to the garage for its MOT, and if it passes, I've luckily got a set of old Continental PremiumContact tyres from the Clio 197 sitting out my garden that would fit.
That evening gave me a good excuse to sit in the car and admire its night illumination.
What a lovely place to be. I'm getting quite attached to this car. Those with sharp eyes may notice the 'Theft protection fault' error. That coincidentally appeared when the window regulator snapped. It could be related to that, but if not it's apparently only one of a few things it could be, so I'm not concerned.
And this is how the car now sits. It's a lot more presentable, and could well be passable when the test comes around. I'm quite nervous for Tuesday as I feel a bit of a responsibility to look after this car; I want it to do well, and I want it to get back to its former glory.
Fingers crossed, I'll let you all know in a couple of days time. Wish me luck.
Edited by geraintthomas on Monday 24th August 21:51
Nice Vectra OP 
Had one few years back, a 2010 ttid, really enjoyed it, went like a stabbed rat!! Sold it due to impracticality of a saloon, and I fell out of love with running diesels! I now drive a 08' Vectra petrol daily, and they feel very similar to drive, same crashiness and creaks, but its character of course.
Glad you saved this one, not that many about now. £250 is a steal, and more people should think like this.
Had one few years back, a 2010 ttid, really enjoyed it, went like a stabbed rat!! Sold it due to impracticality of a saloon, and I fell out of love with running diesels! I now drive a 08' Vectra petrol daily, and they feel very similar to drive, same crashiness and creaks, but its character of course.
Glad you saved this one, not that many about now. £250 is a steal, and more people should think like this.
If (if) the car passes the MOT tomorrow, the first things to sort are the timing belt, water pump, and the intake manifold. I've decided to get the entire intake manifold new for £70 as opposed to just the actuator arm.
This is what the intake looks like new:
You can see that it already comes with an arm, but more importantly it'll have brand new swirl flaps. I've figured that if this entire intake is replaced, it'll fix more than one issue. The first is the black sludge on top of the engine (most likely causing the 'oil leak' MOT advisory), which can gather there due to the gasket (seen in the photo) failing and blowing up and out of the manifold join. Secondly, the actuator arm has failed on mine so this will give me functioning flaps (that sounds ridiculous), but third is that I won't have to clean the carbon out of the intake manifold in my current one, as this will be brand new.
For those who aren't aware about diesel engines and carbon build-up, modern diesels recirculate their exhaust gasses through an EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) system. This takes the exhaust gasses that would normally be thrown out of the exhaust back into the intake so the engine can use it as air. Obviously this isn't great for performance, but it's good for the environment. The bigger downside is that diesel engines already have oil vapour inside the intake. When oil pressure builds in the crank, it needs somewhere to go. Rather than throwing oil out of the car, it also feeds it back into the intake. This doesn't mix well with the soot in diesel exhaust gasses, and the soot mixed with the oil vapour causes a build-up of black carbon sludge that coats the inside of everything.
Here's an example of what a diesel intakes can look like after high miles:
Given the high miles, I wouldn't be surprised if this engine is similar.
It's a good idea to clean it all out, but as a new intake is one £70 - and as it'll also fix my failed actuator arm and potential blown intake gasket - it's a no brainer to get a new one. As I have to take the fuel pump off to access it, I'll do this job along with the timing belt. That'll give me a new belt, water pump, and intake system to let the Saab once again breath fresh.
Anyway. The car has been dropped off to the MOT station for tomorrow's test.
I've decided to keep the worn tyre on as 3/4 of the tread needs to be higher than 1.6mm, which I think it is. Best case it passes, worst case it fails - I'll be replacing the tyres regardless, so it makes no difference.
Fingers crossed. I really want this car to be back on the road.
This is what the intake looks like new:
You can see that it already comes with an arm, but more importantly it'll have brand new swirl flaps. I've figured that if this entire intake is replaced, it'll fix more than one issue. The first is the black sludge on top of the engine (most likely causing the 'oil leak' MOT advisory), which can gather there due to the gasket (seen in the photo) failing and blowing up and out of the manifold join. Secondly, the actuator arm has failed on mine so this will give me functioning flaps (that sounds ridiculous), but third is that I won't have to clean the carbon out of the intake manifold in my current one, as this will be brand new.
For those who aren't aware about diesel engines and carbon build-up, modern diesels recirculate their exhaust gasses through an EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) system. This takes the exhaust gasses that would normally be thrown out of the exhaust back into the intake so the engine can use it as air. Obviously this isn't great for performance, but it's good for the environment. The bigger downside is that diesel engines already have oil vapour inside the intake. When oil pressure builds in the crank, it needs somewhere to go. Rather than throwing oil out of the car, it also feeds it back into the intake. This doesn't mix well with the soot in diesel exhaust gasses, and the soot mixed with the oil vapour causes a build-up of black carbon sludge that coats the inside of everything.
Here's an example of what a diesel intakes can look like after high miles:
Given the high miles, I wouldn't be surprised if this engine is similar.
It's a good idea to clean it all out, but as a new intake is one £70 - and as it'll also fix my failed actuator arm and potential blown intake gasket - it's a no brainer to get a new one. As I have to take the fuel pump off to access it, I'll do this job along with the timing belt. That'll give me a new belt, water pump, and intake system to let the Saab once again breath fresh.
Anyway. The car has been dropped off to the MOT station for tomorrow's test.
I've decided to keep the worn tyre on as 3/4 of the tread needs to be higher than 1.6mm, which I think it is. Best case it passes, worst case it fails - I'll be replacing the tyres regardless, so it makes no difference.
Fingers crossed. I really want this car to be back on the road.
What a lovely car (and a nice read, thanks).
The interior - paint - wheel - combo look great.
The 150 bhp FIAT sourced diesel is a great engine. I did not know these came with an F40 gearbox, they can handle a lot of power and torque and are for more durable when compared to the M32 gearbox GM and FIAT also used at the same time.
Keep us posted, fingers crossed it will have a fresh MOT.
Just a tip: don't forget to apply enough threadlock to the waterpump bolts, they are a known source for leaks because people reuse them without using enough threadlock. FIAT and Alfa workshop manuals state you should replace all three bolts with new ones. IIRC, that's because the new ones have sealant/threadlock on them.
The interior - paint - wheel - combo look great.
The 150 bhp FIAT sourced diesel is a great engine. I did not know these came with an F40 gearbox, they can handle a lot of power and torque and are for more durable when compared to the M32 gearbox GM and FIAT also used at the same time.
Keep us posted, fingers crossed it will have a fresh MOT.
Just a tip: don't forget to apply enough threadlock to the waterpump bolts, they are a known source for leaks because people reuse them without using enough threadlock. FIAT and Alfa workshop manuals state you should replace all three bolts with new ones. IIRC, that's because the new ones have sealant/threadlock on them.
As previous owner of three Saabs I have a huge soft spot for these and would have another in a heartbeat. First I had was a 9-3 estate with the 150bhp 1.9TiD engine. Super frugal and a decent amount of torque. Certainly made for an excellent motorway cruiser.
Love seeing just how much better it looked after a quick clean, let alone all the other plans you have for it. Look forward to seeing the progress on this one.
Love seeing just how much better it looked after a quick clean, let alone all the other plans you have for it. Look forward to seeing the progress on this one.
IIRC that engine was also fitted to the Vectra and the Alfa 156.
I had an Alfa 156JTDM150, which ,had as the name intimates, 150 BHP from the factory.
I had a "hard remap" done soon after I bought the car with 70K on it. That was the best £300 I have ever spent on a car .... it increased the BHP to about 180 and the torque to go with it.
It is a brilliant engine, I did over 100,000 miles on it before I had to basically scrap the car due to chassis rail corrosion. although mine did not have the swirl flaps... so that was a blessing after some of the stories I read about if they get ingested into the engine...
Your Saab is a wonderful machine, and hopefully the MOT won't take too much to obtain.
Regular oil changed are a must as well to protect the turbo.
I had an Alfa 156JTDM150, which ,had as the name intimates, 150 BHP from the factory.
I had a "hard remap" done soon after I bought the car with 70K on it. That was the best £300 I have ever spent on a car .... it increased the BHP to about 180 and the torque to go with it.
It is a brilliant engine, I did over 100,000 miles on it before I had to basically scrap the car due to chassis rail corrosion. although mine did not have the swirl flaps... so that was a blessing after some of the stories I read about if they get ingested into the engine...
Your Saab is a wonderful machine, and hopefully the MOT won't take too much to obtain.
Regular oil changed are a must as well to protect the turbo.
We ran a petrol one of these as a family town runabout for a few years, although it cost 14x what yours did, and I thought that was quite cheap ! Never let us down, super comfortable and practical. Yours is a huge bargain assuming no serious MOT issues.
Which there obviously weren't as it's passed
Which there obviously weren't as it's passed
Edited by outnumbered on Tuesday 25th August 18:18
Back home with a new MOT. Can't quite believe how well it did, I was expecting it to fail on something, but to pass as well as it did was remarkable.
It'll be sat where it is until I get some engine work underway. Priority number 1 is the timing belt; there's no record of it being changed so I'll need to get this done immediately. I'll do the work myself, and while I'm there I'll be fitting a new intake (as above) and potentially a new EGR for future-proofing. It deserves to breath a little better after its 168,000 miles, so a new EGR, intake, timing belt and water pump will do just that.
Once done, I'll insure and tax the car (it's hilarious that taxing the car is more than buying it) and will take my spare Continental PremiumContacts to the garage so the car can have newer shoes to wear. Next will be the rear window regulator, and lastly I need to investigate a potential door fault.
When driving back from the garage earlier, I heard the 'bing bong' of a notification, but nothing appeared. Then it happened again. The third time I just caught it: "Close door" flashed for the briefest moments before disappearing, but all doors were closed. This is quite good news, as this could well be the link to the "Theft protection failure" error, which apparently can be a bad door mechanism. I'll keep an eye out for the error again as it'll tell me which door it thinks is open.
Once the above mechanics are done, it'll be onto cosmetics. Alloys will be first, followed by brakes, then repainting the damage, followed by a two-stage polish. Lastly the interior, and the car should look as good as new.
I'm excited - the car was almost scrapped, so to give this a new lease of life is something I'm looking forward to.
thomasrs50 said:
What a lovely car (and a nice read, thanks).
The interior - paint - wheel - combo look great.
The 150 bhp FIAT sourced diesel is a great engine. I did not know these came with an F40 gearbox, they can handle a lot of power and torque and are for more durable when compared to the M32 gearbox GM and FIAT also used at the same time.
Keep us posted, fingers crossed it will have a fresh MOT.
Just a tip: don't forget to apply enough threadlock to the waterpump bolts, they are a known source for leaks because people reuse them without using enough threadlock. FIAT and Alfa workshop manuals state you should replace all three bolts with new ones. IIRC, that's because the new ones have sealant/threadlock on them.
Great tips with the thread lock, I'll need to look into what type as I've not got any spare. Glad you share the same thoughts as me regarding the looks, it really is a handsome car.The interior - paint - wheel - combo look great.
The 150 bhp FIAT sourced diesel is a great engine. I did not know these came with an F40 gearbox, they can handle a lot of power and torque and are for more durable when compared to the M32 gearbox GM and FIAT also used at the same time.
Keep us posted, fingers crossed it will have a fresh MOT.
Just a tip: don't forget to apply enough threadlock to the waterpump bolts, they are a known source for leaks because people reuse them without using enough threadlock. FIAT and Alfa workshop manuals state you should replace all three bolts with new ones. IIRC, that's because the new ones have sealant/threadlock on them.
Alex_225 said:
As previous owner of three Saabs I have a huge soft spot for these and would have another in a heartbeat. First I had was a 9-3 estate with the 150bhp 1.9TiD engine. Super frugal and a decent amount of torque. Certainly made for an excellent motorway cruiser.
Love seeing just how much better it looked after a quick clean, let alone all the other plans you have for it. Look forward to seeing the progress on this one.
The estate was my first choice, and I had messaged a lesser about one that was listed but never heard back. I was quite disheartened until this one came along, but would have certainly preferred an estate. Great to hear your experiences though. Love seeing just how much better it looked after a quick clean, let alone all the other plans you have for it. Look forward to seeing the progress on this one.
Paul S4 said:
IIRC that engine was also fitted to the Vectra and the Alfa 156.
I had an Alfa 156JTDM150, which ,had as the name intimates, 150 BHP from the factory.
I had a "hard remap" done soon after I bought the car with 70K on it. That was the best £300 I have ever spent on a car .... it increased the BHP to about 180 and the torque to go with it.
It is a brilliant engine, I did over 100,000 miles on it before I had to basically scrap the car due to chassis rail corrosion. although mine did not have the swirl flaps... so that was a blessing after some of the stories I read about if they get ingested into the engine...
Your Saab is a wonderful machine, and hopefully the MOT won't take too much to obtain.
Regular oil changed are a must as well to protect the turbo.
Haven't heard about the regular oil changes, so that's great to know - thank you. The remap is an interesting one, part of me wants to investigate but another part of me wants to keep it as standard as possible for the time being before tinkering further.I had an Alfa 156JTDM150, which ,had as the name intimates, 150 BHP from the factory.
I had a "hard remap" done soon after I bought the car with 70K on it. That was the best £300 I have ever spent on a car .... it increased the BHP to about 180 and the torque to go with it.
It is a brilliant engine, I did over 100,000 miles on it before I had to basically scrap the car due to chassis rail corrosion. although mine did not have the swirl flaps... so that was a blessing after some of the stories I read about if they get ingested into the engine...
Your Saab is a wonderful machine, and hopefully the MOT won't take too much to obtain.
Regular oil changed are a must as well to protect the turbo.
I keep hearing mixed reviews on removing the swirl flaps. Some say they're there for lower-down torque and better combustion, others say they're just a nuisance...
outnumbered said:
We ran a petrol one of these as a family town runabout for a few years, although it cost 14x what yours did, and I thought that was quite cheap ! Never let us down, super comfortable and practical. Yours is a huge bargain assuming no serious MOT issues.
Lovely to hear, I've not heard anything bad about these lately which is very much giving me peace of mind. Here's hoping to many years of Saab ownership.Great to read it has passed it's MOT. Congrats!
Sound like you'll be keeping yourself quite busy treating the engine with new parts.
This gen of 16v seems to have more in common with the alfa 159 and I'm still amazed it has the F40 box. I have an alfa 159 with the 2.0 jtdm lump and F40 gearbox, but our engines share a lot of design features, so if you look for advice or how to's for these engine on the internet, there are some great tutorials around for the 159 which can be applied to your car.
Just curious, are these wheels made by BBS? they look like a BBS SR.
Sound like you'll be keeping yourself quite busy treating the engine with new parts.
This gen of 16v seems to have more in common with the alfa 159 and I'm still amazed it has the F40 box. I have an alfa 159 with the 2.0 jtdm lump and F40 gearbox, but our engines share a lot of design features, so if you look for advice or how to's for these engine on the internet, there are some great tutorials around for the 159 which can be applied to your car.
Just curious, are these wheels made by BBS? they look like a BBS SR.
thomasrs50 said:
Great to read it has passed it's MOT. Congrats!
Sound like you'll be keeping yourself quite busy treating the engine with new parts.
This gen of 16v seems to have more in common with the alfa 159 and I'm still amazed it has the F40 box. I have an alfa 159 with the 2.0 jtdm lump and F40 gearbox, but our engines share a lot of design features, so if you look for advice or how to's for these engine on the internet, there are some great tutorials around for the 159 which can be applied to your car.
Just curious, are these wheels made by BBS? they look like a BBS SR.
They do look very similar, but I think the SR's have a deeper dish looking at them. It does make you wonder though, as Volvo have wheels made by BBS so I wouldn't be surprised. May have to do some digging...Sound like you'll be keeping yourself quite busy treating the engine with new parts.
This gen of 16v seems to have more in common with the alfa 159 and I'm still amazed it has the F40 box. I have an alfa 159 with the 2.0 jtdm lump and F40 gearbox, but our engines share a lot of design features, so if you look for advice or how to's for these engine on the internet, there are some great tutorials around for the 159 which can be applied to your car.
Just curious, are these wheels made by BBS? they look like a BBS SR.
Mr Tidy said:
It looks like you have bought a bargain. It looked so much better after a proper clean, and the MOT pass is a real bonus!
Thank you! It certainly did, and passes the six-feet test remarkably well. I've just purchased:
- EGR valve
- Intake with swirl flaps and gasket
- Front and rear discs and pads
For a whopping £158.
My father has just started a part-time job delivering for a car parts company (he can't stay retired for long it seems), and may be able to get some discount. There's no way he'd be able to top the above as the EGR and intake are essentially unbranded - this is a budget build after all. However, the timing belt kit is a Dayco kit and the best price I can find is £90. If he could do better then great, but £90 is nothing in the grand scheme of things.
Fitting the tyres I have would be around £50, which would make the total:
- Car: £250
- MOT: £50
- Brakes: £80
- EGR: £21
- Intake: £58
- Timing kit: £90
- Tyres: £50
Total on-the-road price: £599... that's fantastic. I'll keep you updated.
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