2003-2011 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
[Main 93 Bulletin Board | BBFAQ |
Prev by Date | Next by Date | Post Followup ]
Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
Re: Aero V-6 Serpentine Belt - to do or not to do? Posted by SWEDECAR [Email] (#112) [Profile/Gallery] (more from SWEDECAR) on Wed, 26 Mar 2014 08:29:47 In Reply to: Aero V-6 Serpentine Belt - to do or not to do?, Brian, Tue, 25 Mar 2014 20:48:55 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
For some unknown reasons, Saab started to include replacing the serpentine belt at the 60K service interval in around 2000.
One guess I have is that many other service items had gone to longer and longer intervals and some fluids had become "filled for life" in a quest to create a non polluting car so the income from doing regular services slowly went down and the money had to be recouped in one or another way by adding other service items not mandated by the promise made to EPA about a clean car.
Since replacing the belt alone on the 9-3 and 9-5 models doesn't really do you any good because it is usually an idler pulley or tensioner assembly that goes bad before the belt goes bad, and those were not included in the 60K service recommendation, it doesn't make total sense to replace just the belt.
On the 4 cyl engine, the belt tensioner usually goes bad in that it starts to chatter when cold and car is in reverse and that's when it is a good idea to replace both the tensioner and belt. This can happen as early as 60K and later.
I think the same goes for the V6 engine that when you do the belt, you should also spring for the tensioner assembly but here is the kicker.
Just to get to the belt is a handful in removing the air filter box, upper motor mount and disconnecting a coolant pipe.
But replacing the tensioner is another nightmare like so many other things on the V6 engine. The tensioner sits there right in the open and bolts looks really easy to reach EXCEPT for one bolt that hits the power steering pulley on the way out.
So now you have to move the power steering pump out of the way which is another insane set of labor to remove turbo pipes and get down to the bolts for pump.
So all this makes it less fun and the price high to replace the belt and tensioner on the B284L engine.
Anders
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.