1999-2009 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
My wife's 99 9-5 (2.3t) has me scratching my head. When we bought it, it was clearly puffing smoke on startups. It went away for a bit, but would still occasionally resurface, so I ordered a turbo from xsboost and installed it. It still smoked, albeit less -- only briefly, on cold startups (i.e. after sitting overnight), and only after backing out of the driveway, when initially accelerating forward from a stop. That turbo went bad prematurely (bearing gave up the ghost), and xsboost kindly replaced it. The latest one has done the same since I installed it.
I see Saab's sent a letter out re: fuel mixture causing black smoke at startup, and I hope that's all we're experiencing, but it does appear at times to be more of a blue/gray smoke. It just happens on cold start, and I don't seem to be using much oil (perhaps a quart between changes -- 5000 miles). I am using Castrol synthetic now, but must admit we have no prior service records. I do know that the PCV mod has been done on the car.
I do feel the last oil change seemed a bit stinky -- almost like a bit of fuel in the oil. It turns black pretty quickly, but I figured the smell and color might just be "the usual" for the 2.3 turbo. (My other 2 cars are turbo diesels, so I don't have much to go on there!) The car also smells "rich" to me when idling cold, but again, I thought maybe that was just par for the course on a gasser turbo.
Any others with similar experiences? Maybe a wee bit of oil is pooling at the turbo and burning off right at startup? Maybe Saab's right and it's just a "normal" rich mixture condition? Valve seals? With such little oil usage, do I really need to worry? This is my wife's car, and nothing scares me more than the thought of a failure that might leave her stranded.
Thanks in advance, everyone!
posted by 72.251.175...
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