1985-1998 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
 | [Main 9000 Bulletin Board | BBFAQ |
Prev by Date | Next by Date | Post Followup ]
Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
Re: Air filter,AMM and oil Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Wed, 30 Oct 2002 09:23:35
In Reply to: Air filter,AMM and oil, Arik, Tue, 29 Oct 2002 18:50:19 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
It's normal to find some oil in the intake hoses. Oil vapor from the crankcase is pulled into the intake for burning, but some always makes it back down the hose. There is also always some oil escaping from the turbo. It shouldn't be a lot, but even a very little bit over a long time (months/years)builds up. Since it was gummy, that's the sign of old oil. Clean it out, and if it comes back in a week, you've got leakage from the turbo. But a thin oil film after a few weeks is just fine. And quite frankly, at 200K, a slight oil leak isn't worth fixing.
Again, assuming you have an automatic, there is a transmission oil cooler. In the '89, there is a transmission oil cooler THERMOSTAT. Two hoses run from the transmission to a cylindrical metal device mounted on the subframe just behind the radiator, and on the left-center of the car (looking forward). Two hoses run from the thermostat to the radiator. The thermostat recirculates the oil in the transmission until it gets warm enough, then opens and sends fluid to the cooler.
The thermostat was enough of a problem that Saab deleted it in later years. At the end of the thermostat there is a circular metal plate, about 2 inches in diameter, held in with a BIG circlip. The O-ring gasket behind the plate gets old, and the thermostat leaks from that plate. Because of how the metal bits work, the fluid tends to leak down and run to some strange places before dripping onto the ground.
Find the thermostat (look straight down from the radiator, on the transmission side), and follow the tranny hoses. The metal plate faces to the left (looking forward). Wipe it clean with a rag, and run the car to see if that's what's leaking.
If the thermostat is leaking, you've got a few options. One is to replace the thermostat with a new one. THis is the worst option. A new thermostat is horrifically expensive. The next option, which is my favorite, is to get a hose kit from Saab, or have a speed shop make up new hoses. Essentially, instead of running hoses from the tranny to the thermostat, and from the thermostat to the cooler, you run hoses directly from the tranny to the cooler. No thermostat in the circuit to leak. Saab sells this kit, as they have a service bulletin on removing the thermostat if it's a problem. I like this approach, because it gets you new hoses - the old ones are probably pretty tired. This is also less expensive than replacing the thermostat. The only downside is that new hoses are still not cheap.
The cheap solution is to remove the plate, pull out the O-ring, and bring it down to the autoparts store and see if they can match it. It's cheap, but you still have the damn thermostat when you're done.
Of course, any of these will require you to drain the system. And if the leak is at a hose fitting (which is also possible), you'll need to replace the hoses.
As to boosting - the turbo gauge is not a precision instrument. A stock car in good condition with the proper octane fuel should be able to boost to the line between yellow and red, give or take a little. That's normal. A stock car should NOT boost into the red. That's why it's red. a millimeter or two into the red is OK, because again, it's not a precision instrument, and the boost control system isn't perfect. If you go well into the red, either the system has been 'played with', or something is out of adjustment, or there is a fault.
posted by 192.249....
, Wed, 30 Oct 2002 09:23:35 <-- Viewing This Message
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
