1985-1998 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Fellow SAABernauts,
Recently, I've had a lot of trouble with idle. When I bought the car (196k miles), the revs would almost always drop to 500RPM before returning to normal (~1k). About 1/3 of the time, the motor would drop to 500RPM, then quit. That problem was traced to a completely useless throttle dashpot. It (almost) never quits anymore.
The new problem is a fast idle. I had trouble with warm starting. My garage got their signals crossed and diagnosed it as a cold start problem and replaced the air mass sensor with a used unit(they're not an "official SAAB Dealership" but they sell nothing but SAABs - I appreciate the used parts to save me a couple bucks). When they discovered (the hard way) that it was a warm start problem, they replaced the fuel pump. It starts fine but the idle (~90% of the time) is 1,600RPM (warmed up) to 1,800RPM (cold). It will start from stone cold and idle at 1,000RPM but climbs to 1,800 within a minute or two. I can't (yet) duplicate that 10% when it idles normally. When coming to a stop, the idle drops very slowly below ~2,500RPM and holds at 1,600RPM. I can "force" it to go lower by working it against the clutch & brakes but don't like to. Once in a great while, it will idle at ~1,250RPM.
Coincidence? - gas mileage has plummeted from 27mpg to 19mpg, could be a bad batch of gas (I switched from Hess to Sunoco to check - still at 3/4 tank). It's still fast idling with Sunoco 93 though. I usually run Hess 93 or, if in a pinch, 89...it doesn't like Hess 87 octane. Also, the fast idle will drop a little if there's a drain on the alternator(i.e. headlights, backup lights, brake lights all on) or if I'm turning the wheel while standing still. It's not hard to drop the idle but when it was idling normally, the RPMs wouldn't change with electrical system load.
Ideas???
Thanks!
Joe
'87 9kT, 217k, 5 Spd, original turbo & chain
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