1979-1993 & 94 Conv [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Hmmm.
Well, actually, they weren't my instructions, they were JohnB's. But I'll tell you what =I= did, and that should get you into the ballpark.
The first thing is to go buy yourself some P/S fluid. The Saab manuals say to use the GM spec stuff, and everything I found at the local discount parts stores met or exceeded GM, Ford, Chrysler, and foreign car specs. (You can't use that stuff in Hondas, though -- they use something different.) I've heard that some guys use synthetic ATF in their P/S units, but that's probably overkill. Your call on that one. The $2.50/quart stuff works fine. I bought 2 quarts, and when it turned out not to be enough, I went back and bought a whole gallon for $8. A gallon should be enough for you to do the job.
You're also going to need a container to catch the old stuff in. I used an empty plastic wide-mouthed gallon jar from the kitchen... it had protein powder in it before. You'll want something that's sturdy and won't break or tip over. You'll also need a hose that will fit over your engine's rubber hose so that you can port the overflow overboard, into the container. I used some clear 1" plastic tubing I had laying around the garage. Finally, you'll need to have a friend or assistant available -- it's a two-person operation.
Open the hood and take a look at your P/S reservoir over there on the right fender. There are two machine bolts holding it on. Mine came loose easily with a 10mm socket and 3/8" drive ratchet with an extension. BE CAREFUL as you remove these bolts -- there are little metal washers or spacers that will fall out between the reservoir and the fender. Catch the bolts and washers once you've loosened them with the ratchet.
There are two hoses connected to the reservoir -- a fat one on the bottom that goes TO the pump, and a thinner one above it that returns FROM the pump. Fluid travels around that loop continuously when the engine (pump) is running. Pull gently on the reservoir to wiggle it free, and reach around into the engine compartment and find those hoses. You should be able to feed the hoses upwards towards the reservoir to give you some slack! If you're lucky, you should be able to be pull the reservoir out 4 or 5 inches from the place it was mounted. Be careful you don't damage any wires or vacuum lines in that area while you're pulling on things.
Once you work it free you'll see two hose clamps which hold the reservoir on to those hoses. If you want to clean the reservoir itself, you can remove both clamps and take it off... have something ready to plug the hoses and the reservoir nipples when you do. But if the reservoir isn't actually filled with hardened mud, you won't need to take it off.
It's bound to be pretty dirty on the OUTside, though! Before you pull any hoses off, you might want to clean the outside of the reservoir as best you can with some rags. Take the cap off and take it apart and clean it, too... it might have a conical plastic reservoir attached to it which fills with dried up foam and dirt. Once everything's clean, you're ready to continue.
What I did was remove the smaller, top, return line from the reservoir. Loosening the clamp was easy, but pulling the hose off the plastic reservoir nipple wasn't!!! It's hard to grab, slippery, dirty, and you don't have a lot of room to work with it. Be VERY CAREFUL not to bend the reservoir nipple to the side when you're twisting and pulling on the hose. I managed to get mine off without breaking the reservoir, but JohnB warned me that breakage is a real possibility, and that I should be prepared to buy a new reservoir or get one at a salvage yard if I broke it. Needless to say, I was really careful -- and successful, though I struggled for 10 minutes to get the stubborn hose off.
It's a real good idea to have an extra rag or towel strategically placed underneath the reservoir while you struggle to pull that hose off. Once you get it off, even if you're quick to plug the holes with your fingers, you're going to drip some fluid. The rag will catch it and protect your car.
I twisted a piece of clean paper toweling and used it as a plug in the upper reservoir nipple once I got the hose off... I didn't happen to have a convenient rubber stopper that would cork it up. I then took my piece of clear plastic tubing and slipped it over the rubber hose, draped the tubing over the fender, and put the other end of it into my plastic jar. Ready to pump!
In preparation, I recommend that you transfer a quart of P/S fluid from the one gallon container into something that is easier to pour with. I did this after realizing I was going to make a mess if I attempted to pour from the gallon jug. I instructed my wifey to get into the driver's seat, roll down the passenger window (with engine off!), and get ready to start and stop the engine on my command. When we were both ready, she started the car, and I poured clean fluid into the reservoir while it ran through. It pumps fast! I'd say it took less than 10 seconds or so for it to use up a whole quart. As the reservoir emptied, I told her to cut the engine, and she did.
The stuff I was pouring in was clear -- looked a lot like clean brake fluid. The stuff coming out was black! It looked gross. We repeated the process with another quart, and what came out began to look a little better.
Next, I reattached the upper hose but didn't fasten the hose clamp. I used the third quart to top up the reservoir. I had her start the engine again. This time, the loop was complete, and I let the fluid circulate while she turned the steering wheel from lock to lock, side to side a few times, observing what happened inside the reservoir. After a minute of this, I could see that the fluid in the reservoir was a little murky -- though not anywhere near as filthy as it had been.
I had her shut it off, pulled off that hose again, and slipped the drain tubing over it. Then I had her start it while I poured the rest of that 3rd quart of fluid through, and started the 4th. I told her to cut the engine, and by this time, the fluid coming out looked pretty good.
To finish, I reattached the upper return hose to the reservoir, tightened the clamp, carefully pushed the hoses back through the fender, and re-mounted the reservoir with its bolts and washers. Then I topped up the fluid to the FULL mark, put the cap on, and presto! I was done.
I took the container of dirty fluid to my local hobby shop which has recycling and disposal barrels for oil, etc., and they poured it into a drum containing used brake fluid. Whatever you do, don't pour that stuff down your deepsink or dump it in a gutter -- it's environmentally nasty.
Total cost to me for doing the job was around $12, but that was because I bought more fluid than I needed and replaced a hose clamp I didn't like. You should be able to do it for less than $10. My car had the original fluid in there -- 161,000 miles and almost 14 years old. This isn't a job you have to do too often, obviously, but probably it should be done every 5 or 6 years instead of waiting as long as I did. Now that I know how to do it, I'll probably do it again when I hit 200K.
Hope this helps -- let me know if you run into trouble.
- = M = -
'87 900T 161K
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