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Well the tranny on my 1996 NG900 died on me about 4 weeks ago after about 120k miles, it was the syncros. 3rd gear had been getting tough to shift into; especially when done quickly, and would grind a bit. Then over the course of about two days I started loosing the other gears. It got to the point that I could only shift if I rpm matched the gears. Thought it was the clutch cable since I have broken two in the past. But even with the hood open and someone holding the clutch in with a metal bar, it didn’t change anything.
So realizing the tranny needed to be replaced I started looking for a new one. The best prices I found were on car-parts.com. But it turns out that 9-3 transmissions are cheaper than the NG900. I picked up a 9-3 tranny with 19k miles for $450. And since the 9-3 tranny is setup for a hydraulic clutch I decided to upgrade my clutch pedal as well.
So I ended up dropping a 9-3 tranny, hydraulic clutch pedal, Viggen clutch and upgraded shift linkage into my NG900. But it turned out to be a lot more work than I expected. To fit a 9-3 tranny in a NG900 the new style rear engine mount needs to be installed. It bolts right up but it cost me $150. The shift linkage also needs to be upgraded since the mount for the old one is only on the NG900 tranny. The Viggen clutch dropped right in of course. But the hardest part of the install was the hydraulic clutch pedal. The mounting points are different and it requires a larger hole in the firewall than the cable clutch. Using a plasma cutter, and protecting the engine bay from over spray with metal plates, I cut a larger hole through the firewall and another mounting point hole. The hydraulic clutch also needs a slightly longer hose going to the brake reservoir.
Most of the tranny swap was done by the local dealership which actually gave me the best quote over the local Saab indies. When the tech removed my old tranny two long thing pieces of metal fell out of the bell housing. It turns out that they had broken off of my clutch. It looks like they came from inside the clutch and were part of the a metal ring that went around the springs.
So after all the work it might have been a broken clutch and not the syncros that was causing the problem. But I would have expected a broken clutch to effect all the gears equally and immediately instead of the slow and steady decline that I experienced.
But the new transmission is great and so is the hydraulic clutch.
posted by 64.136.27...
, Mon, 30 May 2005 20:34:11
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