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My First DIY Saab project->-Long post !
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Posted by Jason [Email] (more from Jason) on Sat, 30 Oct 2004 21:07:55 Share Post by Email
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Well my 1997 900se turbo has cost me a bunch in the last few years. And a blend of general distrust in shops and a tightening of the proverbial belt (1st baby on the way) made me decide that it was time to do it myself.

I came to the saabnet board to search for a possible reason for my coolant leak-in a few hours I had several of you reply all saying the same thing-waterpump / O-Ring. I have only replaced headlights on my saab so I called around and realized that it was going to be expensive (plus I never seem to escape for under $600 no matter where I go...) so I decided to take it on. I found both Dean's as well as another walk through (on a different site) and planned my attack.
I called theSaabSite.com
http://www.thesaabsite.com
and ordered new hoses and a complete water pump (figured I am saving hundreds so lets just do it right). They were fantastic-the guy on the phone was nice and totally knew his Saab stuff-parts came fast!
Since I live in Phoenix, AZ. (If it aint a truck well your outta luck :) I could not find anyone with a chiltons or haynes manual for my model(not even the dealers) so although I didnt understand everything in the walkthrough I figured I could fake it.
I also decided (based on yall recomendations) to do the belt mod too.
I wont pain you with the blow-by-blow, but I got to the point of OMG I am screwed if I cant get all this back in but pushed on. The hardest part was probably simple fear of really screwing something up-but most of it was pretty easy-I used the 2 walkthroughs a little and found most of it straight forward. I used the thesaabsite's pictures/schematics of their parts for sale to help figure out how things bolted up ect. (again I lack a manual). As many of you know there is nothing quite like turning the car on and taking the test drive after fixing it-wow. I am stoked as I feel a bit more empowered now-of course I have looked back at all the things I paid for which are way easier to do then the waterpump!!-lol.
Anyways here are a few thoughts on the water pump project(my car is a 97 900se turbo about 130K).
1. Draining the coolant is very messy (I never did find the petcock-but I read its fragile anyways)-expect a mess.
2. The ps (power steering) pump comes out easy, but seems to get in the way a lot.
3. Releasing the belt tension without a square extension bar is hard as heck.
4. Not sure what you call it- but the pipe that goes in the side of the water pump (has a little o-ring too) has a hanger on back side of the DI Cartridge (right side toward driver)-unscrewing it makes it easier to move the pipe out of the way.
5. To remove and replace the water pump I did have to remove the PS pump bracket (ez) but did not remove the hard pipe that comes out of the turbo. If you let the loose water pump drop down a little and turn it counter clockwise you can get coax it out (left side of car) its a little tight but no problem.
6. The pump adaptor with the 2 o rings did not come out easy - I had to use Deans advice and pull it out with a tool.
7. The pump adaptor has two 'keys' a long and short one. The long one goes to 3 oclock and the short one will go to 6. The pump adaptor was easier then I thought-i cleaned it - put the o-rings (used silicon grease) and it went in with a bit of pressure.
8. Everything went back together easily-I am very glad I remembered to replace all of the coolant tubing as I had to cut off the little U Tube off the pumps side and the low/front tube from the radiator to the pump was a little rotten.
9. I went ahead and put the new (shorter) belt on after I got the pump bolted up (the ps was still not connected)-I had more room to guide it around then I finished it up when all items were bolted back. I removed the bottom cover (plastic faring) on the passenger side which helped me guide the belt onto the bottom pully.
10. Thats about it-I think the whole project took me 5 hours (I was taking my time learning about my car too so it could be done in less - maybe 3- if your a DIY pro.
Anyhow-sorry for the long post, but I want to make sure others who have never tried this benefit from my first project.
Thanks to everyone who has posted information-I would have NEVER done this if I hadnt read your replys to my initial question (thanks dean & others) as well as the crazy amount of information this board provides.
Cheers,
Jason.


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