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Hey guys,
I drive a 2003 9-5 Arc Wagon and I've just crossed the 80k threshold. It's due for ye olde annual Pain In My a$$ PA inspection and an oil change. The last major service I had done was the 60k by the dealer, which included timing belt, water pump, pulleys, tranny fluid change, etc. Of course I've been keeping up with regular oil changes religiously. I also had the coolant bypass valve replaced since it was pissing coolant and the rear shocks replaced with Monroes since one of them basically blew up and was leaking. Also had the CPS replaced to remedy intermittent starting and non-staring problems. Also replaced the battery last summer.
You'll have to forgive the Monroes as I had the bypass valve at my local Firestone repaired (they're actually pretty competent) and they showed me the trashed shocks. At the time, I hadn't done any research and was more concerned with being able to get to work. Although, since they replaced the shocks, I can hear the tension in the rear springs change when I get in or out sometimes. Normal?
Continuing, my wagon has increasingly started sounding like a creaky old sailboat, getting cranky (bad pun completely intentional) in colder weather, occasionally surges and almost stalls right after starting up and shifting into gear, the tranny seems to hunt occasionally when accelerating hard, there's the "thunk" when shifting into gear, and instead of washing my rear windshield it decided to take a leak out the front grill.
I want to take my car to a Saab specialist and ask him to check and replace a few things. Thus far, the list I've come up with is:
1) Subframe bushings (to remedy creaking)
2) Front swaybar links and bushings (to remedy creaking and tighten steering)
3) Rear swaybar links and bushings (to remedy creaking and tighten cornering)
4) Tranny mount (to attenuate the "clunk" into a gear from park)
5) Rear motor mount (to make shifting, accelerating, etc. smoother). Maybe the RH Engine Mount, too, but I'm not sure if it's worth checking.
6) Clean the throttle body (to remedy rough idle, surging, and near-stalling)
7) Probably new front struts (either Koni's or Bilstein HDs -- can't decide). At 80k, I'm assuming they're close to end of life, particularly since they're original.
8) Possibly new rear struts, since I'd like to fix the ride height that seems to plague the 9-5's. Plus the Monroes suck. I know changing struts doesn't fix ride height, but if I'm dicking around with the ride height, I might as well throw some quality shocks in.
9) Tranny fluid change
10) Coolant temperature sensor is toast, so that's getting done. Thermostat, too.
11) Fuel gauge madness. I find the ping-ponging between Full and Empty after filling up pretty damn amusing and I'm smart enough to know how to use the odometer. May look into fixing that sometime later, but right now I can live with it.
I plan on keeping this car a LONG while and in general it's running wonderfully. I'd just like to tighten up the suspension, fix the idling, and hopefully improve the shifting. I hate those in-dash nav systems. I hate gimmicks and gadgets in my car. One of my favorite features is the Night Panel mode.
In terms of ride, I'd like to firm it up to feel the road a bit more and corner better (yeah, yeah, PA roads are shit and it'll be a rough ride), but I want the ride height to be OEM to keep from bottoming out on cutouts and potholes.
Sorry for the long post, but I'm big into preventative maintenance (rather than reactive) and if there's anything I'm being overly paranoid about or missing, please let me know.
Thanks!
.cpj
posted by 68.37.44...
, Tue, 7 Dec 2010 05:03:05, Mon, 6 Dec 2010 10:18:30
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