Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2006 23:33:59 +0100 From: MH <nonospamo> Subject: Re: Lifetime of Saab
> I disagree. They used a fibre gear for noise limitation, but this came with a > significant MTBF limitation as well. If "lose its teeth" means to you the > same thing as "completely disintegrates every 60K/Mi" then we're talking the > same language. No, 'loose its teeth' to me means that the teeth strip off the balance shaft gear, due to excessive play caused by worn balance shaft bearings. For stripped gear teeth see http://members.home.nl/saab96/techtip/balgear.jpg High mileage and an oil pressure indicator showing 0,5 -1 bar tell you it's time to replace the bearings... > The Ford design was just "OK" - remove the oil pan to remove the front cover > to replace the gear Actually you can remove the front cover without removing the oilpan or the engine. http://members.home.nl/saab96/techtip/front.jpg and with only loosening the oil pan, and some gentle force, you can replace the balance shaft (and camshaft) gear with the engine still in the car. > This, coupled with the SAAB design - disassemble the entire car, Taking off the hood, grille and radiator is just enough... > to remove the engine and transmission to remove the oil pan to remove the > front cover to replace the gear, and we're well into the sub-optimal. The balance shaft goes out the back of the engine. To take the balance shaft out, to replace its bearings, you do need to take the engine out of the car (be it a Ford or a SAAB) and remove the flywheel. You could even leave the oil pan in place, but once you've come this far you might as well take it off and clean out any bearing and valve stem seal remains... -- MH '72 97 '77 96 '78 95 '79 96 '91 900i '95 900SE