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1985-1998 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Hi everyone,
I just bought a '93 CSE (non-turbo) with 125K miles, and so far, it's great. I'm new to Saab (and car ownership/maintenance in general; this is my very first car). I've done a lot of reading on this BB from which I've learned a lot, but I still have a few questions. I tried my best to use the search function, but had difficulty because it doesn't seem to like multiple keyword searches.
*** Congratulations! With that mileage you'll want to make sure that all the common failure points are looked after before you get stuck on the highway sometime. DI Cassette, Serp belt, tensioner, idler and tensioner pulleys, fan thermoswitch, water pump, check motor mounts, CV boots, all fluids flushed and refilled, and whatever else you can glean from FAQ and BB. I'm surprised you could get a CSE without a turbo!
1)The p/o used Mobil 1 xW-30. I've found tons of postings about oil, and in synthetics always see the names Mobil 1, Royal Purple, and AMSOIL. The latter two seem to be easy to find online for less than how much I can find Mobil 1 locally (no luck finding M1 online). Which of these should I use? Price isn't really a factor, so I'm not against continuing the use of M1 but if I can find something better for cheaper, I'm all for it. I say this because, from other posts I've read, people seem to agree that RP and AMSOIL are superior to M1. I'm in chilly upstate New York and have no garage, so synthetics seem like the way to go.
*** I'd have no hesitation about using a good quality dino oil in a non-turbo, changed every 3000 miles. 100% synthetic for sure in a turbo. AFAIK New York is pretty warm compared to here so you shouldn't have any trouble with 5w30 in winter (I live in Winnipeg, Canada and use 5w50 synthetic year round, Aero starts without problem after 8 hour work day parked outside in -35). Don't bother with synthetic blends, there is no law saying how much synthetic you need to add to call it a blend (one drop? maybe two?). Think about getting a block heater if you don't have one, a couple hours of power in the morning will make the engine start like it was in a heated garage - and you'll get heat inside faster too.
2)The car seems to heat up pretty quickly in stop and go traffic. I haven't let the needle approach the red area, so I don't know if it will actually overheat. When I'm on the highway, it's usually at 9:00 (or even a little bit below). The thermostat was replaced about 30K ago, so this shouldn't be a problem, right? Is my problem just that the cooling fan only turns on when it reaches the high-speed "turn-on" temperature, and doesn't turn on at the low speed at all? Again, i'm a newbie, so my understanding of how this works might be completely off.
*** 9 on the highway is fine. If it doesn't overheat on hwy then thermostat and water pump are fine. How hot does it get before the fan comes on? Low speed should come on about 10:00 - my car has never been hot enough for high speed to come on. Check fuses and relays in the box by the battery. You can remove the relays and jumper the connections in the box to check the two fan speeds. CHANGE THE THERMOSWITCH NOW. And check the wiring. I changed the switch and didn't notice that the wiring was near broken - later it broke leaving me with no fan.
Can't help you with the other items, no personal experience there.
Les
1993 Aero 5sp 164k km
posted by 142.160....
, Tue, 2 Dec 2003 13:44:29, Wed, 3 Dec 2003 14:51:22
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