Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1999 22:01:32 -0400 From: "Gregory Bower" <gfb3nopsamdnet.att.net> Subject: Re: Gearbox whine - please interpret what it means.
A 900 gearbox is a very touch beast. Needless to say no oil on the stick is not too good a thing. To start, the classic 900 gearbox was never the strongest component in the car. I went to a gearbox rebuilding seminar at Saab about 1 year ago. As the head US Saab trainer put it the transmission was originally designed for the 99 when it had about 80 HP. During the model's life they added a 5th gear by tightening up the spacing and tolerances. In addition, the engine guys were always about 10-15 HP ahead of where the transmission guys were. So you end up with a fragile gearbox that is not keeping up with the power of the engine. Saab fixed the problem in the 89 (I think) model year with a new transmission case and larger bearing in the transmission. Which brings us to your transmission. Although they have been known to go much longer, it is not unusual for the bearings in a pre-1990 transmission to start to go at your mileage. They did in my 87. You have three choices: Rebuilt from Saab - very expensive, but will last. Replace bearings - OK if the rest of the transmission is OK, but w/o any oil in it I would be concerned Used Tranny - often the best option if you can find a good one. I would go to The Saab Network website and look at the archives http://www.saabnet.com/tsn . They have entire sections of archives devoted to this problem and if you review the postings, you will read about every sound ever heard from a 900 transmission. Also, if you post to that list, you will get some of the best Saab advice in the country. Best of luck. GFB 97 900 SE 40k 90 SPG 140k 88 SPG 160k 87 900 T 140k 84 900 T 180k RIP Andy Evans <arts.psychologynopsamm.net> wrote in message news:H4jv3.6202$Yu4.224053nopsam2-hme0.mcmail.com... > I have just bought a 1985 900 Turbo. Quite a bit of work needed doing new > turbo, clutch, brakes etc..(but gearbox untouched so far) - alleged 132k > miles. Now seems to go OK. The thing that bothers me is the noise of the > gearbox, particularly since when I bought it the gearbox had no oil at all > apparent on the dipstick. Changes are occasionally notchy - 1st in > particular, and reverse noticeable. What I want to know from this group is > how to interpret the noise of a gearbox, i.e. the noise that rises and falls > with revs and stops when the clutch is depressed. This is my first Saab so I > have no baseline to compare. The sound I hear from the gearbox as one > accelerates and decelerates is a kind of 'chord' that goes up and down, not > one single 'note'. I'm becoming more aware of it in ordinary town driving, > since the noise goes up and down as one changes up and down. So, can anyone > tell me the 'sound character' of gearboxes - what is healthy, what is > reasonable, what is on its way out and what is heading for trouble? > Incidentally, I used to be a professional jazz musician and I'm very tuned > in to sounds in general as you might expect. Feel free to use whatever > adjectives you like to describe the 'sounds' cars make. Thanks, Andy > > -- > Andy Evans, email: arts.psychologynopsamm.net > Our Website: www.artspsychology.mcmail.com > >
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