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'89 900S Tranny Update (Still Seeking Any Advice)
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Posted by Roo (more from Roo) on Wed, 21 Feb 2001 14:35:44 Share Post by Email
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My recent woes with my *new* '89 900s 5 speed. It's a bit long, but I'd really appreciate people's feedback.

I bought the car ('89 900S, 5spd, 4dr) last Thursday. I had test driven it a couple times, and not really noticed anything out of the ordinary. In retrospect, I should have heard some of the noise from the drivetrain, but I didn't. I had it checked out at a Saab shop, but they didn't drive the car, so they didn't hear it either.

Driving back after purchasing the car, for the first time with the windows down, I heard a whining sound coming from the tranny. I hear it on acceleration, a high pitched whistle increasing in pitch with the revs, but more so on deceleration, as a whirring, particularly if I'm in 1st or 2nd, driving around a parking lot... let off the gas, and... whirrr whirrr..whirrr... if that makes any sense.

I had a '78 99 a couple years ago with a bad pinion bearing, so having experience with that noise, I listened for it on the new car. Sounds different to me. The 99 would make kind of a high pitched grind, and only in the higher gears. Quite pronounced if I would tap the gas in 4th gear on the freeway. This one does it in all gears, and as I've described, symptoms are a bit different.

Anyhow, last Friday I went into the shop and explained my symptoms. They drained the tranny oil, and pointed out some metal shavings on the end of the plug. About a half inch high, and plenty of little prickly barbs, like a porcupine. They replaced the tranny oil with 10W30, and said my tranny was in bad shape.

To make a long story short, the guy I bought the car from said that it was "a normal 900 noise", claimed that his new 900 did that from the factory, and that there was no problem. He said it wasn't his problem and refused to negotiate any further. Texas law by my undestanding agrees with him. I restrained myself (with some help) from enforcing street law with the guy.

Since then, I have noticed that the shifting is a bit rougher. I remember it being pretty smooth when I test drove the car. Now it seems a bit tougher, particularly into 2nd, 3rd, and reverse. Nothing major, it always goes into gear, and I don't get grinding, but it's rougher, and sometimes takes a couple tries. I'm wondering if perhaps there was thicker oil in the tranny that they drained. I called the shop and they said it was motor oil, and not gear lube, but they couldn't confirm whether maybe it was 20W50 or something like that.

Seeing as I'm a student and my financial resources are considerably limited, I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I'll live with whatever problem the tranny has, treat it gingerly, and try to prevent it from getting worse if at all possible...hope for the best and see what happens. In your opinion, what's the likely cause, and what's the best way to handle the situation? I've been debating different alternatives for the tranny fluid. Some say go with a gear oil or MTL (I live in relatively warm Houston). Others say it doesn't make a difference, leave 10-30 in there. And some say go in the middle and put a plain 40W in. Thoughts?

I really appreciate any advice someone may be able to contribute. If you have any other people I might use as resources, I'd appreciate the reference.

Thanks again,

Shawn Sorenson
riceroo@rice.edu
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