![]() |
1994-2002 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Many 99 9-3s came from the factory with improperly torqued headbolts. If yours are insufficiently torqued, your head gasket is more likely to develop leaks. Also, when you remove the valve cover to do the retorque, you can look to see whether you have sludge.
You will need:
New valve cover gasket
T40 torx socket
T35 torx socket or torx key
E16 external (female) torx socket
Metric socket set
Socket extension
Breaker bar
Torque wrench
I had a tough time finding the E16 socket individually and had to buy a set.
PCV nipple frequently breaks when removed from the valve cover, so you might want to have a spare handy.
I did mine a couple of weeks ago, and it was pretty easy, but time consuming.
The process I used:
1. Remove direct ignition cassette
2. Remove PVC nipple and metal PCV pipe from valve cover
3. Remove valve cover bolts using breaker bar. I had to move the oil filler tube to get to one of the bolts. You can loosen it by pulling up.
4. Remove valve cover. I struck it with the plastic handle of my breaker bar to get it loose, using a billiards-like technique. Rubber or wooden mallet would work nicely too.
5. Starting at the middle and working my way outward, I used the following process on each bolt:
a. Loosen with breaker bar
b. Tighten to 60nm with lug wrench
c. Tighten the extra 90 degrees with breaker bar
6. Remove old gasket from valve cover. Clean old gasket crud from mating surfaces with razor blade, careful not to damage the soft aluminum.
7. Carefully place new gasket in the valve cover, using a little sealant to hold it. Wait a while for the sealant to set a little bit.
8. Carefully replace the valve cover, making sure the gap is even all the way around.
9. Loosely tighten the valve cover bolts, starting at the middle and then doing opposite corners. Repeat the same sequence to tighten the bolts to spec.
10. Replace PCV stuff, DIC, and refit the oil filler tube. The metal PCV pipe can be tricky to fit properly. It's an issue of getting the angle right so the rubber hose will sit properly.
posted by 149.173....
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.
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |