Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 21:27:45 GMT From: th <someguynospamwhere.se> Subject: Saab now officially recognises the crankcase ventilation problem
On the news today here in Sweden http://svt.se/svt/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=22620&a=320919 (in Swedish only) Saab now officially recognises that there is a problem with the 9-5 and 9-3 (not the 9-3SS) 4-cylinder engines. The problem is explained such that the oil "ages" faster than normal due to a design error and that the problem is aggravated by short driving distances with a cold engine. Saab states that the problem has been known for some time but that they heve not informed the customers since they did not know the cause of the problem. Any owner who ends up with a damaged engine due to this problem will be somehow financially compensated. An engine repair is estimated to somewhere between 15000 and 25000 SEK (2200 - 3600 USD). The damage rate of Saab engines is currently around 35 per 1000 compared to 5 per 1000 engines in average for other brands (I wonder what the rate is for early BMW 525s?). Some insurance company here no longer takes responsibility for this type of damage as it is considered as a design or manufacturing error. This goes well in line with the latest letter I got one week ago from my local Saab dealer where they now recommend to change oil at 10000 km intervals instead of the ordinary 20000 km service interval. -- th
