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Sweet Heat! Posted by Saana88 [Email]  (#207)  [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Saana88) on Sat, 10 Nov 2007 18:29:38
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Another Saturday has passed. Surprisingly enough, I spent this afternoon working on my '88 900 doing a few pre-winter prep items. Good ol' Saana would've taken care of me anyway, but I'd noticed very little heat over the past two winters. Beginning in 2005 the lack of heat was due to reversed heater hoses. Last winter, I was puzzled. It only felt like I was getting about half power out of the heater. Is it the leaky exhaust manifold? Not likely. Was the core leaking? I hope not, I replaced it in 2004. Was the valve opening all the way? Yep. I replaced that in early 2006 (after the aftermarket one installed in '04 started to piddle on a my foot). Was the rad cooling fan overactive? Nope. She's got the standard 89 degree thermoswitch, and it's working great. Is rust starting to let my heated air out of the car? I hope not. It's not that bad, but I am going to have to get serious about the body next spring, and patch the two holes (trunk and rear fender lower) for the winter. The temperature around here has been meddling in the twenties lately. In previous years, I'd had a little trouble getting the car going in really, really, really cold conditions (sitting overnight in -20 Fahrenheit air and wind) when the car would act like the oil had sludged up. It would take two or more crank-and-fires (and immediately stall) to get the car going, sometimes with the oil pressure light staying on for a second or two, similar to just after an oil change when the filter isn't full. I didn't like that. I use synthetic 5W-30 in the winter, and I don't feel like having to switch to a 0W-20 or so because it'll be too warm for that oil in October, November, half of December, March, and April.
Recent fiddling reminded me that my warm-up regulator had seen better days, and I hadn't replaced it because one of the mounting bolts was helicoiled into the thermostat housing at the transmission swap back in January 2003. So it was a contingent exchange. In order to change the warm-up regulator, I had to change the thermostat housing. In order to change the thermostat housing, I needed to find another one and drain the coolant and get a new gasket. I hate it when that happens!
And to cap it all off, I'd taken some advice given by Flatbobkat back in January and special-ordered a block heater from NAPA. This is the identical Balkamp part that Saab used to sell for an inflated price. I don't want a block heater that's going to get the car hot enough to have instant heat in the morning, but I do want to take the extended engine warm-up period away in the super-cool stuff in January, February and March.
I've written in (at length sometimes, sorry!) about going after the ultimate winter car or something like that. The block heater is a big step in that direction. (Now all that remains is headlight wipers and heated mirrors, cool!)
I've been amassing parts over the past few weeks, and this weekend was one of the last where I actually have time to work on the car (train joyride last weekend and tomorrow- 10031!) and the daytime temperature is around 45 degrees. Two weeks ago it was 60. Next week it'll probably be about 35. Here we go again. In just a stroke of luck, I'd lost my blue RTV and was looking for a replacement yesterday. I need to seal up the water pump (old one was seeping, and had a spare that I didn't use on the convertible this summer) and thermostat housinge. Permatex happens to sell "Water Pump And Thermostat Housing(e) RTV Sealant." How appropriate. When I got home, I broke the thermostat housinge bolts loose because I had no idea when the last time they were moved was (probably at head gasket, 140k, late 2000, 80k ago, if at all). Coolant began seeping out of the union very easily. I also broke loose the temp gauge sender and the thermo-time switch.
The big day finally happened. It was around 40 degrees when I started at 1:00. Drain the coolant and make a mess out of everything. This time I could remove the larger plug in the block drain because that's where the heater threads in. There was just a little sludge in the two-plug assembly so I fished it out. Next it was off to the thermostat housinge. Whatever used to be the gasket was in very rough shape. It disintegrated when I cut it off. The red-cap thermal switch was tough, and I had to bend the contacts to get a socket over it. Off came the fuel lines to the warmup regulator. I pulled off the thermostat cap. The 'stat in there looked awful. There was a bunch of crusty junk around the gasket. Not in my car! After removing all the extra stuff, I brought over the new t-stat housinge with the new (89 degree) thermostat in it, put all the extra stuff on, and applied the RTV sealant. That has to set for an hour so I went to work on the water pump. Seen it, some wierd Saab fanatic put anti-sieze on all the bolts except the two that might hit oil. I gooped up that gasket, and still had half an hour to wait for both to cure. I put the block heater in next (a little bit of sealant on it). Access around the starboard side motor mount is tight. I ended up using adjustible pliers to tighten it down. It was low-tech, but it worked. What better time than the present to put the rear engine lifting ring on the water pump housinge? I imported that one from Switzerland! (My 900s have both been AC-neutered.) In order to put the plug in the heater, move the brass locking ring back down the cord and press the connection on by hand. Next, back it off just a little and get the ring started, then tighten them both home. I ran the cord underneath the motor mount (secured with a tie wrap), then behind the RF brake line, behind the battery, and tied it behind the passenger's side fog light (yep, winter car). I'm happy because the motor mount doesn't move that much, it stays well away from the exhaust manifold (heat) and inner drive junction (twist). I put the water pump and thermostat cap bolts to 30 Newton-meters, checked all the connectors I'd removed, opened the bleeder, and refilled the coolant. While I was at it, I replaced the fuel lines to cylinders 2 and 3, sadly, the only lines still available from Saab. I switched on the key to run the fuel pump a few times (until I heard the modulating valve start to buzz) to pressurize the fuel system. ("I took it home, washed it off, and put it back on.") Even that wasn't enough. She ran on two cylinders for around ten seconds, then all was well after all four got fuel. The engine warmed up, the thermostat opened, the flow of bubbles out the bleeder stopped, and I had cleaned everything up and closed the house. No running over the old water pump this time. Test drive. Roundabouts are fun, but the lack of sway bars and the presence of snow tires makes the car kind of numb. (Relax, I got some sway bars and will put them in when I change the steering rack for inspection in March.)
That was fun. My back is okay (separated discs in August). It's going to hit 20 degrees tonight.
Questions remain, perhaps the Saaber community can loan me some advice:
Where do I get a replacement red-cap thermal switch? I'm betting this is what gives me 8 Valve Startup Syndrome (warm weather, cold engine, first two minutes) because '88s aren't supposed to do this.
How much does it really cost to operate a block heater overnight?
Am I going to attract every cat in a three-mile radius with my warm car?
Was my oil congealing at -25?
If I finally make "the ultimate winter bomb" will that make the car die?
Is there anything I can put in the inner drivers to make them cope with really cold weather better?
Is there a "street legal" or "studless" category in ice racing?
I hate to say this, but I like driving the good ol' 8 valver a little better than the '92 S convertible. That car: dying crank sensor, grabby clutch, no low end, seriously leaky left front tire. This one: silky smooth clutch, all the torque where I need it, and the five-year-old Hakkas seal perfectly. Crank, crank, fire (over minus fifteen) every time. I hate rust!
, Sat, 10 Nov 2007 18:29:38 <-- Viewing This Message
, Sun, 11 Nov 2007 06:03:39
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