The banner above is an advertisment - if it asks you to download software, please ignore.
Site News - 3/26 M Car Covers (by State of Nine) | 12/12 Make Amazon Pay Saabnet!

The Saab Network Mailing List FAQ
Search:

Main Index
[ Prev by Date ] [ Next by Date ] Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
Re: Normally Aspirated
Posted by Ravi S. Menon (more from Ravi S. Menon) on Thu, 1 Jun 2000 11:37:43
In Reply to: , Kok Chen, Sat, 17 Dec 1988 12:00:00

Over a decade ago, maybe 15 years, R&T did an owners survey of early '80s
Saab turbo and nonturbo 900s and the turbo was a touch more reliable, but
still pretty horrible by modern standards.

In comparing turbo and non-turbo versions, I can add that we replaced the
head gasket (under extended warranty) on our '97 900S 2.3l at 105,000 km
AND on our '95 900 S 2.0 Turbo at 50,000 km (also under warranty). So
theoretically the non-turbo lasted longer, but then again the '95 was a
piece of %&^^*&. The '97 has been very good other than the gasket, so by
that year the demons were exorcised. I'm stunned that a head gasket need
ever be replaced (especially with religious maintenance including
antifreeze changes every year) but nothing about Saabs surprises me anymore
.My 3 9000Ts never had head gasket problems but the DI cassette failed on 2
as it did on my '95 900T, so lack of wires is no solution to Saabs failures.

My 1980 900T had a new turbo at 200,000km and a new head and gasket at
about 300,000km. Those are reasonable numbers I guess. The turbo never
actually failed. The impeller was pockmarked and finally imbalanced by
water spray from the Saab water injection option that was a low pressure
system and sprayed on the turbo inlet side. Modern systems from aquamist
work on the manifold side with a high pressure pump. Anyone have experience
with these ?

Other cars can be equally bad, but who knows. I've only owned Saabs for 20
years. My latest, a '00 9-3S Turbo 5dr/5sp may be the first zero defect
Saab I ever owned. With 500 km and 3 weeks, nothing broke yet. In
comparison, the visors fell off and the ashtray wouldn't close on my '95 as
soon as we drove it off the lot. And the DI cassette failed on day 3 on my
'91 9000T.

I'm philosophical about these things. You pays your money and you takes
your chances. My '91 9000 saved my life when I was rear-ended by a 50,000
lb snow plow in Minneapolis and it went from EPA large to EPA mid-size in
200 milliseconds. That is worth the few hassles I had with the car. A Honda
may have been more reliable, but then I wouldn't be here in all likelyhood.

Ravi Menon
'97 900S 5dr/5sp 110,000km
'00 9-3S 5dr/5sp 500 km


Posts in this Thread:

StateOfNine.com
SaabClub.com
Jak Stoll Performance
M Car Covers
Ad Available

The content on this site may not be republished without permission. Copyright © 1988-2024 - The Saab Network - saabnet.com.
For usage guidelines, see the Mission & Privacy Notice.
[Contact | Site Map | Saabnet.com on Facebook | Saabnet.com on Twitter | Shop Amazon via TSN | Site Donations]


This is a moderated FAQ - Posting is a privilege, not a right. Unsolicited commercial postings are not allowed (no Spam). Please, no For Sale or Wanted postings, SERIOUSLY. Classifieds are to be listed in The Saab Network Classifieds pages. This is a problem solving forum for over 250,000 Saab owners, so expect to see problems discussed here even though our cars are generally very reliable. This is not an anything goes type of forum. TSN has been a moderated forum since 1988. For usage guidelines, see the TSN Mission and Purpose Page. Please remember that you are not anonymous
Your address is: 35.175.200.199 - Using claudebot - Logged.

Site Members do not see red text instructions, green links, and bottom of the page banners.
Click here to see all the Site Membership Benefits!