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Re: Found a MINT '86 900'S'..automatic..please read.. Posted by Saana88 [Email]  (#207)  [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Saana88) on Fri, 31 Jan 2003 18:20:13
In Reply to: Found a MINT '86 900'S'..automatic..please read.., AzureBlue, Fri, 31 Jan 2003 15:35:56 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
The engine can take it. Mine did. My car is an '88 8 valve which was an automatic until last month. Quite honestly, the transmission was worn out and I was sick of the power loss and atrocious fuel mileage with the autobox. Buy it if you don't mind lots of engine noise on the highway. The 16V has a little more pep but don't count on anything serious. I couldn't outaccelerate a Ford Festiva on the three speed. Just not enough gears.
Obviously, I prefer the five speed manual, though the auto did get the family through four years of fairly reliable travel. Here's a list of all the things I've learned about the transmission:
1. Service life is around 150-170k. Mine was beginning to fail at 155.
2. Change the fluid EVERY 30k using ONLY type F transmission fluid. Clean the pan magnet and clean or change the internal filter at each fluid change. Always fit a new pan gasket.
3. Make ABSOLUTELY certain your cooling lines and lower radiator hose heat exchanger are not leaking. Mine were- the result is ATF in the coolant which leaves a pinkish crust around the coolant expansion cap on the outside. White scum is okay. After backflushing the coolant this summer, one of the ATF cooler lines began leaking badly. Fortunately I caught it before I drove anywhere on it with all or most of the fluid gone.
4. Do not perform a stall speed test. It won't come out of gear afterwards.
5. The final drive fluid is separate from the oil sump and ATF and is checked by pulling a square-head plug on the passenger side of the transmission body, near the front.
6. Good luck getting it to not leak.
Typical transmission failures take two forms. Fortunately, I got the better of the two.
First: "I heard a loud noise and then the car would not apply power to the wheels." This may or may not be accompanied by bad mechanical noises or total loss of all ATF onto the pavement.
Second, mine: When parked in deep-freeze or anything below 20 degrees fahrenheit, the car would not engage forward or reverse gear until thoroughly warmed or rolled downhill. Before that, it's 3800 RPM to get it moving at < 2 miles an hour.
Obviously, we've had a pretty sour experience. No power, too much noise, bad fuel mileage, oil drips on the driveway, and no power. This is still up to you, but I caution you that the model BW 37 GDSB is an afterthought on the car.
Then again, I converted mine to a manual quite easily. I did this because the rest of the car, engine included, was in such great shape.
As my friend says, buy now, Sob later. I say buy now, convert later.
posted by 128.205.233...
http://www.saabnet.com/sites/900conversion/
, Fri, 31 Jan 2003 18:20:13 <-- Viewing This Message
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