1979-1993 & 94 Conv [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
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Spent a good part of the day at one of the local car recyle yards. Lots of "new" SAAB's out there this week! Quite a few 16v n/a, one seriously smashed '91 16V turbo, and a few 900 8v's. When you see these cars it's often a wonder as to why they're there to begin with. Many (especially here in CA) are in such good shape. If you look closely you'll just see an engine in need of a tune-up. Replace the rubber pieces, tighten up the vacuum system, give it a good overhaul and it's good for another 100K or so.
On this one 8V T, the turbo unit had already been pulled, I looked inside the exhaust downtube and it was clean and white. Not the usual charcoal carbon black. That suggested a blown head gasket - water being pulled in the combustion chamber and steam cleaning as it went. Then I pulled the engine oil dipstick. On the tip about midway between the min and max oil levels was this thick collar of crystalized coolant. I'll guess this car was driven for a long time with the gasket blown for the collar to build like that. And, there must have been a LOT of water/coolant in the engine oil before it seized up or just wouldn't run anymore. If there was that much water in there, and since oil floats on water, perhaps the only thing the oil pump pulled up to lubricate the engine over the course of that last dozen or so miles of it's life was water.
On to a beautiful 86 SPG. Again, there was no visible reason why that car was there. The silver paint job was perfect, all the trim was in great shape, the interior was only slightly worn in appearance, a full set of tires on good rims with at least 30k miles left on each. By the time I got to it, the intake system had been dismantled, the cam valve cover was removed, and assorted fuses and relays were pulled. What I took note of were two keys still in the ignition and in the rear trunk lock. They were the large scale keys that I prefer. Thinking I might like to pull this ignition column and key as a spare, I began the disassembly.
So I could look at the key still in the ignition and see if the trunk key also operated the ignition, I had to put the tranny in reverse. That was the first indication of why the car was there. The shift lever positions were loose and severe. The entire stick would rotate as you went from side to side. Getting it in reverse was proving impossible. Then at some point I twisted the key into the start position... and the motor began turning over! F me! With all those relays and fuses pulled, wires dangling all over the place, that car still wanted to drive! The few people working on their respective cars around me looked over in surprise. I ended up taking the obviously functional battery.
posted by 152.163.206...
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