Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2001 22:55:10 -0000 From: "Saab Dastard" <hgnopsamserve.co.uk> Subject: Smoke from underneath 9-3 TiD
Can anyone confirm what my garage told me about this? Saab 9-3 MY 2000, 18 months old, 28,000 miles so far, serviced every 9k. Occasionally I get some blue-ish smoke coming from the underside of the car when sitting idling in traffic, usually when the car is just warming up. I tend to know when it occurs because it gets sucked into the aircon system! Smells like part-burnt diesel (it is a diesel engine). There's no sign of leaks of any kind (the garage had it up on a ramp) or any drips on the ground. There's no warning lights, nothing on the SID, no problems with performance or fuel economy. It might just be me, but I think the engine is slightly rougher than it used to be, but only when cold. This problem started shortly after the 27k service, when I thought the garage had over-filled the oil (above the max. mark). Anyway, the garage told me that there is some auxiliary heater which is used to help warm up the engine when cold, and it uses diesel fuel with its exhaust outlet more or less under where the gear shift is. I have no reason to doubt this except for innate cynicism and a dislike of a design that allows exhaust fumes (from whatever source) to enter the interior so easily. Can anyone comment on this? If you have made it this far can anyone recommend an independent specialist in tuning the Saab 2.2 TiD in the London (SW) area? Thanks S-D