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, Fri, 4 Feb 2011 09:07:58
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The 2.3 in the 9000 and the 2.3 in the 9-5 are NOT actually all that similar. The 9-5 engine was extensively re-designed with the goal of reducing fuel consumption. Which was achieved, as they get about 10% better across the board. But the cost of that was that they are not nearly as rugged! All the engine internals are lighter, the valve train is lighter, and in particular they use low-tension piston rings. They are also designed to run MUCH hotter.
These last two items are the primary cause of the sludge issue - the low tension rings allow far more blowby of combustion gases into the crankcase, and the higher temperatures cook the oil. So you end up with the oil breaking down much, much faster. Then in an effort to show lower TCO figures, Saab specified a loong oil change interval with relatively cheap oil on the earlier cars.
Then the final insult was the new more efficient oil pump. Which was also weaker, so they put a super-fine mesh pickup screen on it that readily plugs up with all that sludge that the engines were now making. These engines simply will not tolerate a level of neglect that a 900 or a 9000 would take in stride. Maintained carefully and they will go a long way, but very few of the early cars were, because Saab didn't even specify an appropriate maintenance regime in the early years. Post '04 -'05 is a safer bet - they had the latest PCV revision from the factory, and appropriate oil change interval specs, and called for synthetic oil. But they will still sludge-up in a hurry if neglected!
IMHO, the V6 is a better bet for a used 9-5. If it is currently running and not leaking anything, it will probably stay that way for a good long time as long as the timing belt is changed on time. They do suffer from oil cooler failures at large milages, which is not cheap to fix, but the fours suffer from head gasket issues which are as bad or worse. so that all evens out. I always found the smoother and quieter V6 was more in keeping with the luxo-barge nature of the 9-5, and the fuel economy is not that much different.
If you want a Saab with a near bulletproof engine, get an '03+ 9-3SC or SS.
Kevin Rhodes
Westbrook, Maine
Current '08 9-3SC (which suffers none of the above issues) former '00 9-5 SE V6T Wagon
posted by 74.78.62...
, Fri, 4 Feb 2011 12:48:17, Fri, 4 Feb 2011 09:08:05, Fri, 4 Feb 2011 09:07:58
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