1979-1993 & 94 Conv [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Hello, I just purchased a 1985 Saab 900 turbo; my very first Saab. I am very excited about getting it because I have been wanting a Saab now for over a year. I purchased it for a very cheap price of $200 with the catch being that I had to finish installing the head. The guy I purchased it from said it started blowing white smoke and so he took off the head and had it redone. He then put the head back on and the intake manifold and the cams and sprockets. After that he stopped working on it and let it set for three years until I just purchased it. At a quick glance everything looked fine; the head was shiny, rags were stuffed in to keep the weather out, and it looked like the hardest parts had already been done of installing the head, motormount, and intake. After getting it home and inspecting it closer and looking in the book I started to notice a few problems. The first thing that caught my eye right away was that the timing chain was loose between the two cam sprockets; he said putting in the tensioner would tighten it up but I don't know about that. The mark on the exhaust cam and bearingcap looked to be just a little off and I think I could pick up a half a tooth by moving that. I then checked the flywheel to see if it was lined up with the 0 for TDC. I saw some numbers and couldn't read it. I called the guy and asked him about it and he said he thinks it's right and that he followed the book. But I also found a dwell meter sitting in the trunk. I then got some Q-tips (or cotton swabs) and wiped the dirt of the flywheel with a little cleaner. I could now read it and it wasn't the timing marks at all, but what looks like a part number. I read "B 836238 5032", I think I could see an A next to the B so I think it's supposed to read "SAAB 836238 5032". And the timing mark was in between the 8 and the 5 with the circle over the B and 8. I'm worried that the guy may have just used a dwell meter to try and line it up to TDC but didn't actually check to see that it was on 0. So I'm afraid there might be valve damage done. Can anyone tell me what I should do next? How far away am I from TDC? Do I have to take the head back off and check for possible valve damage? I don't want to have to do extra work if it's not needed but I also don't want to put it back together if it's wrong.
posted by 71.227.252...
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