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, Thu, 10 Jun 2004 06:53:29
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I just finished rebuilding the front brakes on my daughter's '87 900S. Luckily, my former SAAB dealer gave me the caliper piston tool a long time ago, but it is available online from a number of dealers. The allowable wear limit for the '87 front ventilated rotor is 18mm. I use a 18mm open end wrench as a tool for checking this. If the 18mm wrench fits over the rotor, I replace the rotor.
As far as parts sources, of course http://www.thesaabsite.com is an excellent source for OEM parts, but I've also used several other sources as well. Advance Auto Parts, either their brick and mortar stores or online store sell SAAB parts at very reasonable prices. The price of a loaded (includes the semi-metallic pads) remanufactured front caliper for the '87 is around $80 ea. These calipers, remanufactured by Cardone, are exact replacements for the OEM SAAB caliper. And, I only use Italian Brembo rotors - extremely high quality and also reasonable in price (around $50 each) from http://www.thepartsbin.com.
You would be surprised of what I've purchased from Advance Auto Parts. For example, a replacement power steering pump for my '85 900 8-valve for $40, and that included the fluid reservoir! Many stores such as Advance, Auto Zone, NAPA, etc. have SAAB parts available much cheaper than other sources.
Front calipers on the '88 and earlier 900 series require replacement quite often. The sliding yoke feature for the emergency brake on the front calipers often freezes up causing problems. The change to a rear emergency brake in the '89 and later models with the attended change of the front caliper design eliminated most of the front caliper problems.
One last thing . . . consider replacement of the front rubber brake hoses. This hose runs from the union in the wheel well to the bracket on the back of the caliper. A small S-shaped solid pipe then runs from this union to the caliper itself. Brake fluid over time causes rubber to deterioate. This can cause the interior dimension of the hose to constrict. Under braking, the hydraulic pressure forces the brake fluid through the constriction without much of a problem, but when you let up on the pedal, the fluid may not return in the line. This can be a signifiant cause of pad "sticking" to the rotor or excessive pad wear. These hoses are available for around $8 to $10 each.
Good luck.
Don
posted by 4.159.8...
, Thu, 10 Jun 2004 06:53:29
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