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I wanted to say a big "thanks" to all who contribute to this forum. I recently had some issues with my '98 900 SET (146K miles) and was able to resolve them with help from the posts here, saving hundreds of dollars in the process. In case others are experiencing the same problems I did, I hope this will help them...
I've had the car for about 18 months with absolutely no problems. About two weeks ago, I started getting a CEL. Went the local parts where they read the code as P0455 (evaporative emissions leak, large). They suggested (as seems common from other posts on this forum) that the problem was my gas cap. In any case, I filled my tank up, tightened the cap and after a few drive cycles, the CEL cleared. Then it came back a few days later. After driving home from work one night, I parked my car and went to leave an hour later and the car wouldn't start! WTF?
Investigating here, I found that often the problem with this particular code was a cracked vacuum line running from the purge valve to the TB. After a quick inspection, I found exactly that. Thankfully, the cracked part of the hose was a small extension about 2 inches long that I was able to get for free from the local parts store. After fixing that, the car still wouldn't start! WTF?
Then came a process of elimination, which would not have been possible without the posts here, as I do not own the Haynes manual for my car (I've since ordered one). The car was definitely acting like it wasn't getting fuel. But first, I checked the DI cassette by inserting a plug and grounding it, checking for spark. That worked well, so the next thing was to eliminate the fuel pump. Turning the key to "on", I didn't hear the pump kick on (which I had never really paid attention to before). So then I checked voltage on the fuel pump fuse (#32), and that checked out. Just to be sure, I hotwired it with the dome light fuse and still no pump sound.
At this point I debated about whether or not to drop the tank, or cut the floor under the back seat. As I had the help of a friend, and really didn't want to cut my car, and it happened to be dead in my driveway, I opted to drop the tank. With the help of my friend, this was the work of a few hours. The rust wasn't too terrible, so things went relatively well. After pulling out the fuel pump out of the pump assembly, I measured resistance, which was unusually high, and then I tried hooking it up to 12.5v just to be sure. Still nothing, so at this point, I was glad that all the work hadn't been wasted! Amazingly, there was a parts store in town (Binghamton, NY) that just happened to have the right fuel pump in stock. It was a Walbro pump, identical to the original (except that it worked :o)
Putting the new pump into the assembly proved to be the most difficult part of the job for me. If I had paid more attention to the info here: http://www.cooliemail.com/saab-fuel-pump.html, I would have not spent so much time trying to get the original fuel line onto the new pump's barbed nozzle. After hours of disgust, I reviewed the site and discovered the tip about just using plain old fuel grade hose and some hose clamps. After getting that straight, it was the work of an hour or so to put the whole thing back together, taking care to get everything correct, measuring for the expected resistance along the way. I also took this opportunity to clean out the tank completely, just to prevent any issues with the new pump.
It took a few hours to get the pump in the tank and get the tank back up under the car. The straps were really difficult to get back into position. What ended up being the trick for my situation was putting the strap on without the brake line holder under it, then after getting the strap in place, there was enough play to fit the brake line holder under the strap. After getting the tank back in, I put in a new fuel filter as well. By this time it was almost 11 PM, and I will say that working under a car in the dark with a flashlight can be tricky, but it's possible...
Anyway, all said and done, that car started on the first try! I could have done a back flip. And it would not have been possible with out the support of this forum, for which I am exceedingly thankful. All said and done, I spent about $150 on parts and tools (I needed some Vice Grips), which is a lot less than I would have spent in the shop. Hope I can get another 146K out of her...
+tim
posted by 66.24.123...
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