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Coolant leaking from the cluster of clamps near the thermostat collects in the location that you describe. You have to tighen the clamps or replace with stainless steel gear clamps and tighten them again after a few days.
After a drive, check while things right away looking for the leaky clamped joint. Yes things will be hot. A few white tissues may be useful for detecting seepage at these locations. Or watch for drips with a hot running engine after a drive.
But tighten all clamps that you can find in this area, including the clamps at the reservoir itself. Again, the Saab OEM gear clamps do not work well for small diameter hoses, so be prepared to replace with all stainless gear clamps. The reason is that the mecahnism on the OEM clamps creates a large flattish spot that does not allow for even clamping forces on small OD hoses. The gear clamps are much better in this respect. My dealers mechanics also use the stainless steel gear clamps in preference to the OEM clamps because of this problem.
The biggest problem is when hoses are removed and replaced, for flushing or stat replacement. The old hoses which are already compressed and less compliant can leak very badly when used with the OEM clamp.
When hoses are removed for maintenance, you will see on the small diameter hoses, deposits between the hose and the metal hose barbs or pipes that looks like wax or plastic. This is quite common. These deposits are created when the joint has a small seepage leak. So the OEM clamps are not working properly from the original factory install.
All clamps should be snugged up on a new vehicle, or new hoses, after a while as the rubber under the clamps relaxs or flows and reduces the clamp preload. This can lead to leaks by itself. This coupled with a non-compliant clamp with a large stiff gear section leads to leaks is a bad situation. Perhaps leading to Saab abandoning these clamps on new prodcution in favour of spring clamps that will apply clamping force to a hose that yields over time.
posted by 208.24.17...
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