Saab 9-5 thermostat replacement - V6 petrol/gasoline engine

[SaabWorld]

WARNING
Take care if the car is warm. The coolant is hot and there is also a risk of burning yourself on the exhaust manifold.

To remove


1. Open the cap on the expansion tank and release the pressure.

2. Raise the car.

3. Remove the lower front cover.

4. Drain the coolant from the radiator.

5. Lower the car to the floor.

6. Remove the upper engine cover.

7. Remove the upper intake manifold.

8. Remove the middle intake manifold.

9. Remove the lower intake manifold.

10. Remove the mass air flow sensor and hose.

11. Detach the turbo's intake pipe and move it towards the charge air cooler. Also detach the turbo bypass pipe and the connection to the crankcase breather pipe.

12. Remove the dipstick and the pipe going to the thermostat.

13. Remove the thermostat and thermostat housing.


To fit



1. Check and clean the sealing surfaces.

2. Fit a new O-ring to the thermostat and its connecting pipe. Coat the O-ring with a little non-acidic vaseline to facilitate assembly.

3. Fit the thermostat and its connecting pipe.

4. Fit the dipstick.

5. Fit the turbo intake pipe. Also fit the turbo bypass pipe and the crankcase breather

6. Fit the mass air flow sensor and hose.

7. Fit the lower intake manifold. Check the O-ring and coat it with non-acidic vaseline.

8. Fit the middle intake manifold.

9. Fit the upper intake manifold, using a new gasket.

10. Fill with coolant. Do not forget to close the drain plug on the radiator first. Refer to Coolant for mixtures.

11. Vent the cooling system as follows:
Fill the system to the MAX level, close the expansion tank filler cap, start the engine and warm it up at varying speeds until the radiator fan starts. Open the expansion tank filler cap and fill up again to the MAX level. Close the cap and run the engine at varying throttle openings until the radiator fan has started three more times. Switch off the engine and top up as necessary to the MAX level.
The A/C should be OFF.

12. Raise the car.

13. Check for any leakage.

14. Fit the lower front cover.

15. Lower the car to the floor.

16. Fit the upper engine cover.

[bigaz]

THIS was soooooo helpful. I thought I had lost my mind not being able to find a thermostat!

[J-Rod]

Doing this job tomorrow....wish me luck.

Any idea how long it takes? I set aside the whole day and I hope I don't need it. haha

[bigaz]

I hope you got the Thermostat housing & gasket and not just a third party thermostat. The thermostat is part of a housing. It's not the easiest thermostat you've ever done that's for sure! You basically have to take off the top end (intake manifold) to get to it. There is also a bracket in front that holds the turbo pipe, and top radiator hose housing pipe that you'll need to remove.

[Rusty]

I hope you got the Thermostat housing & gasket and not just a third party thermostat. The thermostat is part of a housing. It's not the easiest thermostat you've ever done that's for sure! You basically have to take off the top end (intake manifold) to get to it. There is also a bracket in front that holds the turbo pipe, and top radiator hose housing pipe that you'll need to remove.

I can't get the thermo housing out everything is off and it won't fit in the hole to come out, its too big, what am i missing here?

[js8vv8]

Very good description of the procedure for replacing the thermostat, thanks. I am going to give it a try on my 02 9-5 3.0v6. Can someone verify the parts list for the Thermostat replacement? I have the thermostat housing w/thermostat with O-ring, (kit) and the coolant temperature sensor on order. Do I need any other gaskets? Some Internet postings say the upper intake gasket needs to be replaced, others do not mention it, expect to use RTV sealant. Any guidance ?

[Deep]

I can't get the thermo housing out everything is off and it won't fit in the hole to come out, its too big, what am i missing here?

Working on 2003 saab 9-5 3.0 V6. DIY. I got every thing off as described here, but can't get the pipe out of the thermostat housing. It is supposedly pushed in to the thermostat housing with 2 O-ring. Any body.......how to take the pipe out. Thanks and regards.

[Deep]

Working on 2003 saab 9-5 3.0 V6. DIY. I got every thing off as described here, but can't get the pipe out of the thermostat housing. It is supposedly pushed in to the thermostat housing with 2 O-ring. Any body.......how to take the pipe out. Thanks and regards.

It was very easy to do. (My recommendation----always buy thermostat with new housing). I did. To pull the extension pipe out of the housing was a bit mind boggling. But was very easy. I rotated the pipe with hanger wire hook in the hole (where the pipe bolts to the body). It freed the frozen joint from the housing. sprayed wd40 in the coupling. rotated back and forth.....wiggled and pulled. It came out nicely.
The temp. needle does not drop any more. Heat is good. No more starting problem. I hope it stays like this.

[Batzlerb]

Does anyone have a little more information on the disassembly of the intake manifold(s)? The pictures help provide a high-level guidance, but not specifics on what bolts to remove. I don't want to remove more than I have to.

I'm also assuming a new intake manifold gasket kit is needed for reassembly?

Thank you for your help.

[cynicaldriver]

Seeing as how I just removed all of this, I can offer some insight.

The intake gaskets are mostly a rubberized material, with the exception of the one on the fuel rail. I would recommend buying the intake gasket kit just to be safe, but mine all looked to be in great shape (130k miles) and could probably be reused.

Here's the thing... If you're going to tear the motor down this far, you might as well check your head seals all the way around. I found that my front cam seal needs replacing, so now I am in it for new head gaskets and everything. Save the headache of doing it again later and do it all at once.