I recently did this with my 99 model that I've had for about a month now as a preventative measure. Very glad that I did as it was starting to build up sludge with only 61,000 miles on it. The car was a one owner Seattle car that was purchased from the original sale dealer. I didn't get much for service records so I figured it would be better to be safe rather than sorry. The thing I would like to add is that I found a way to ease putting the sump back onto the engine. I didn't have much luck with jacking the trans (manual) so I hooked a come along under the lip of the upper engine mount ( wishbone? ) and lifted it up approximately an inch or so and this gave enough clearance between the subframe to make replacement much easier. I'm not saying it made it easy but it went in without wiping out the bead of sealant which I would say is the main objective. Hopefully I didn't do any damage to the upper engine mount but it seems to be just fine without any excess engine movement and it shifts fine. I still used the pry bar between the crank end and the frame. Hopefully this will be of help to some one else.

Originally Posted by Wagonmaster

I didn't have much luck with jacking the trans (manual) so I hooked a come along under the lip of the upper engine mount ( wishbone? ) and lifted it up approximately an inch or so and this gave enough clearance between the subframe to make replacement much easier.

The sump came off much easier on my 2005 manual compared to the 2001 auto. Different engines and transmission combination seem to make a difference. Was there a lot of sludge in there after only 61K miles? What about the pickup screen?

I just did another sump drop on a 2001 Aero 5-spd with my friend this weekend. I got scared when I saw the reinforcement plate under there but this one had the punch marks so we just gave them a few taps with a ball peen hammer and they broke out. All went smoothly and there was VERY little evidence of sludge at 175k miles. We're thinking it had to have been dropped and cleaned by the previous owner.

Originally Posted by nkrptd

well, done the sump drop yesterday. Took about 5 hrs total, but worth it!
The sump was full of gritty slush and the pick up filter was a mess, very glad that i done it . And a big to your post on how to do it, it all made sense as I went thru the stages.
Car is running as it was before, still has a slight strange noise under acceleration (christian at aktive motors thinks it could be running lean again), it sounds like when someone is driving a manual car to slowly in a high gear . Really dont know what it is. Also, now the turbo really whistles. I have double checked everything and there doesnt seem to be any leaks or disconnected hoses anywhere, but still seems to be running ok.
I had a look into the turbo when everything was apart and it looks good (as it should be), and so this has me a little perplexed aswell. Have you heard of anything like this before? winter is coming and We have a little one on the way, so really want our Saab to be at its best. Again, any help is appreciated

I just finished my sump drop yesterday (I took a week to complete it but I only worked on it last Saturday and yesterday). I have also noticed that the turbo whistle is much louder. Also, the oil light is coming on every once in a while (which it has never done before). I'm guessing I just need to add more oil since it seems to happen when the car is going up/down a hill or taking a turn fast. Since mine sat for a week I'm guessing that every last drop of oil dripped out of the engine. When you do a full sump drop, about how many quarts of oil did it end up needing??? I added a little over 5 quarts.

I had to try this...http://www.dzlsabe.com/sitebuilder/i...38-600x366.jpg

Originally Posted by raquettelaker2

I just did another sump drop on a 2001 Aero 5-spd with my friend this weekend. I got scared when I saw the reinforcement plate under there but this one had the punch marks so we just gave them a few taps with a ball peen hammer and they broke out. All went smoothly and there was VERY little evidence of sludge at 175k miles. We're thinking it had to have been dropped and cleaned by the previous owner.

I know this is an old post, but having to punch the holes is a good way to know that its the first time the sump has been off. Chalk up another aero for having very little sludge. Between SC and here, it sure seams the Aero didnt suffer the sludge problems that the lpt did.

Hi guys,
This is great instructions on cleaning the sump. I recently purchased a 2003 9-5 Linear with 90,000 miles. I plan on dropping the sump this weekend. I have had no problems, but am performing as a precaution. I have also read that a PCV update is also recommended. Just wondering if you all had any comments or concerns about a PCV update on a 2003 9-5. Is it necessary, harmful, any opinions would help.
Thank you all

A Linear J, you asked this PCV question before and I moved it to a new thread. You probably missed the responses. I should have let you know.

Replacing the PCV

Good luck with sump drop.

Thanks Wulf,
I dropped the sump and replaced the PCV update with no problem. Your step by step instructions with pictures were very helpful. Very glad i took the time , here some before and after pics at what the sump looked like at 95,000 miles. It sure saved a great me a great deal of money and headache by performing this procedure.
Thanks again

Originally Posted by nkrptd

well, done the sump drop yesterday. Took about 5 hrs total, but worth it!
The sump was full of gritty slush and the pick up filter was a mess, very glad that i done it . And a big to your post on how to do it, it all made sense as I went thru the stages.
Car is running as it was before, still has a slight strange noise under acceleration (christian at aktive motors thinks it could be running lean again), it sounds like when someone is driving a manual car to slowly in a high gear . Really dont know what it is. Also, now the turbo really whistles. I have double checked everything and there doesnt seem to be any leaks or disconnected hoses anywhere, but still seems to be running ok.
I had a look into the turbo when everything was apart and it looks good (as it should be), and so this has me a little perplexed aswell. Have you heard of anything like this before? winter is coming and We have a little one on the way, so really want our Saab to be at its best. Again, any help is appreciated

Hey there nkrptd -

I have the exact same car as you. A 99 9-5 2.3. Mine is a manual though. You didn't specify if yours was. I've been looking into this and am very curious to see what my sump looks like. Did you just follow the instructions that Wulf gave? They look pretty thorough. I've heard that some models have hidden bolts underneath that you have to drill to. I was wondering if you ran into that problem? Shoot me back when you get a chance. Thanks.

Originally Posted by Colbymck

Hey there nkrptd -

I have the exact same car as you. A 99 9-5 2.3. Mine is a manual though. You didn't specify if yours was. I've been looking into this and am very curious to see what my sump looks like. Did you just follow the instructions that Wulf gave? They look pretty thorough. I've heard that some models have hidden bolts underneath that you have to drill to. I was wondering if you ran into that problem? Shoot me back when you get a chance. Thanks.

Only Aero-models have these hidden bolts...

hey guy's,i'm a new to the sit and just got my first saab about 6m ago. its a 2000 9-5 E 2.3L T, well i started to get this bad knock in the topend.i did a flush that did not help i'm using full syn 5w-30 i was going to check the sump next. help me to fix this please!!!!! if doinf the sump does not work what should i do next????????????

Thanks Frank for the write up. I pulled the sump on my 2002 9.5 and found the screen was partially blocked. Refilled with Mobil 1. It was a straight forward job as you say with a few difficult bits, would help if we had universal wrists joints. I removed the middle exhaust bracket to swing the pipe a bit further to get the sump out, that helped. Feels good to have a look in there and know that it's now Ok. Thanks again.

Hello from Finland!

This is very important thing to do especially with early Saab 9-5´s...so I´d like to share with you this link in Saab Club Finland

Saab-Klubi ry • katso viestiketjua - Näin avaat ja puhdistat öljypohjan OG9-5:ssa, kuvasarja

maybe there are some new tips (forcing gearbox to the side) with those pics for you, especially with cases where there is no extra room to get oilpan down...

G'day mienkoiv, thanks for the photos. I hope I won't have to pull the sump again but any info added to Franks data helps us all.
Happy motoring.

hello.
i am Catalin from Bucharest Romania, and proud owner of 2 Saabs: one 9-3 linear sedan 1.8i black, and one 9-5 aero sedan 2.3turbo red, and i love both of them.
the 9-3 is MY 2008, i bought it new, now has 80 k km, the 9-5 is MY 2004, and just bought it from a friend, now has 62 k km.

looking on this thread, it seems there was a certain issue with oil sludge accumulation for 9-5 2.3 petrol engines up to MY 2003. since mine is MY 2004, is there any real reason i should worry about checking the oil sump for nasty deposits, or since the 2004 the whole thing was updated by Saab and the isssue seems solved, oil maintenance at around 10 k km, and using only sinthetic oil (i have just changed the oil with Mobil 1 ESP formula 5W-30) will be enough as far as oil maintenance can go?

thanks very much.

Welcome Catalin, glad to see you found SaabWorld.

I am in the same situation as you. My 2004 9-5 was built in August 2003 so it is one of the first ones that is supposed to have all the sludge problems fixed with the latest PCV update. Last time I changed the oil, I used a metal wire shaped in the form of a small hook and scraped along the bottom of the oil sump though the drain hole. No deposits or other stuff came out so I am assuming mine should be ok. But it still isn't a definte test for the pickup screen.

I wonder if those inexpensive USB endoscopes will allow you to see the inside of the sump and pickup tube screen. I ordered one today so I'll report back next week and see if you'll be able to see the inside of the sump.

ok Frank, thank you.
if anything useful turns out with that USB endoscope, please let me know.

These are the results with a small USB camera connected to a laptop. Not the greatest quality but you can sill see inside the sump pretty good. There isn't much room to move the camera around and I didn't want it to get stuck. Looking at the shiny, grey inside of the sump sides and oil pickup tube, I think there is no need to open it up.

I was hoping to see the pick-up screen but that's just too close to the bottom of the sump. I was hoping for a bit better images and video but still $20 well spent. It sure beats many hours in getting the sump off only to check and see that it is clean.

Great article! helpend me greatly.

I purchased a 1998 Saab 9-5SE auto (156000 km) recently, with known sludge issues due to previous owners having used standard mineral oil...
Well I used your article and was able to remove the sump to perform a clean (it realy needed it). When I looked at the pickup pipe and filter I noticed that someone previosly had modified it. I think it looks like a very dodgy modification to me tho.. they have cross drilled a hole through the pickup pipe and also made numerous holes in the mesh.
I did clean the sump and put it back on to see if I could get the car going.

I also, took the top cover off to be sure and found that the 2 right, front most camshaft bearing caps where loose and a bolt had sheared off one cap. the previous owner said that the engine was making a lot of rattling noise so wanted to be sure before I tried to start it up. Lucky I checked!! Anyway I drilled out the sheared bolt and replaced it (not the one with the grove for oil thankfully), tightening the other bearing caps to specifications.
The car now starts up ok, running a bit rough (think it could be a DI cassett issue) but I'm conserned that the cross drilled holes in the pickup pipe will cause suction issues and limit the amount of oil that can be picked up from the sump. The engin oil light comes on after a few minuites when I assume the oil in the sump is lower than the holes. At this stage I have not driven the car except maybe 10m in the driveway to move it around. I'm going to drop the sump again and think I might best source a replacement Pickup Pipe to replace the dodgy one if it is required.
Has anyone ever encountered any of these sort of mods done?