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14 April 2012 #1
Renato Piereck Spreading the Saab virus
- Join Date
- 24 Jul 2011
- Location
- Ansbach, Germany
- Posts
- 1,520
- Saab(s)
- '00 9-5 Aero SC, 87 900i 8v
My C900 is home now
Woke up this morning, had a quick breakfast, showered and called my Haitian buddy, Joseph. He's a car guy through and through, he flips cars for a hobby, buying junk cars, fixing them for nothing, and the selling them for a small profit. He was really excited about me buying the C900, and wants me to sell him my NG900. Not so fast....!
The reason I called him is because yesterday I was checking the train prices from where I live to the French city where my C900 was at, and I found out that a tank of gas is actually cheaper for me than a train ticket. It would cost 75 Euro in train fares and the trip would take almost six hours. A gas tank on the NG900 cots me less than 70 dollars. So I called Joseph last night and asked him if he would like to come with me to France to pick up the C900, and he could drive the NG900 on the way back. He was as happy as a fat kid in a candy store, and of course agreed. He is an older guy, a family man, and has a commercial driver's license, so I trusted my newer SAAB with him at the wheel.
After calling Joseph this morning I picked him up and we hit the Autobahn, we basically took the A6 all the way to Saarbrücken in Germany, then it's another 15 minutes following the river Saar to the French city of Sarreguemines. Arriving in France we met the PO, Thorsten, whom I met on the saab-cars.de website. We had some coffee at Thorsten's place, had a good conversation about things in general and soon got to the business at hand: exchanging money and car. I had to sign a few documents that made me the owner of the C900, went outside to check the car, and within a half hour I was driving out in my new (to me) white classic 900. I was giddy, I love picking up a new car (who doesn't?). Joseph and I were hungry so we had some food in France, then hit the Autobahn. We refueled at the first Esso station in Germany (I get gas at US prices on German Esso stations), then drove the 339 km home.
The 900 couldn't have ridden better. For a 249000 km car she rides straight, brakes surely, and has enough power to easily go up a steep incline on the Autobahn at 110 km/h. I pushed her to 165 km/h at one point to see how she felt at that speed and it was fine, but I backed off anyway. I drove home at a speed hovering from 110 to 130 km/h, and a half tank of gas was burned.
Joseph really enjoyed driving the NG900, I told him if he wanted he could have pushed it to 140 mph, but being a gentleman he never went faster than me on the Classic. He just followed along. I dropped him home on the C900, then went for a car wash, to clean off the bugs on the windshield, and to check for water leaks. After a real good spray around doors, windows, and the hatch I found no water inside. Good! I took a few pictures before it got too dark and then drove home. Driving in the dark I realized the headlights are out of whack, and I imagine Thorsten rarely drove the car at night.
One thing I felt is that the idle seems low, and sometimes the battery light comes on when idling. A quick dab of the throttle and the light goes off. Another small thing I realized is that sometimes when I reverse there is a light clunk coming from the front right suspension. On Monday I will be putting the car on a lift to change the oil and will probably go over the front suspension with a wrench, tightening everything up. Then two new tires and she will be ready for the US Army road inspection. As well as she rides I am sure she won't need anything else.
Two questions: how do I raise the idle on this car, and how do I adjust the headlights, I imagine with the hood popped up but not opened, correct?
Obligatory pictures:
Joseph in Sarreguemines, he is always smiling, this dude is forever happy
Me and the Classic on a French parking lot
Fueling up my Swedes on the Autobahn
The Nardi steering wheel
248,955 km when we left France
After washing in Germany
Cool license plate frame and the prancing moose magnet
She was there!
Well, this SAAB was made in Arlöv, but Trolhättan is the spiritual home of all SAABs, so we'll let it slide...
I'll get better pictures tomorrow with the sunlight.Last edited by rpiereck; 15 April 2012 at 00:17.
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14 April 2012 #2
Renato Piereck Spreading the Saab virus
- Join Date
- 24 Jul 2011
- Location
- Ansbach, Germany
- Posts
- 1,520
- Saab(s)
- '00 9-5 Aero SC, 87 900i 8v
Here is some of the documentation that came with the car:
Plastic SAAB folder
Lots of stuff inside
First owner
Telephone number for Skandix, SAAB parts supplier in Germany. "You need to keep this number" said Thorsten.
TüV Inspection print out from 1996
Complete 1987 C900 wiring diagram
Owner's manual in German, some prior owner did plenty of highlighting and note taking inside
The car was originally purchased through SAAB International and Diplomat Sales, on 30 June 1987
SAAB European Service Guide 1987-1988, in English. Lists all SAAB dealers and service shops
Service book in English
Some brochure
I'll be scanning those documents above into pdf later.
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14 April 2012 #3
Jeffrey Master SaabTech/Moderator
- Join Date
- 25 Oct 2010
- Location
- Point Pleasant, PA
- Posts
- 1,316
- Saab(s)
- - 86' 9KT - 95' 9K Custom CS - 06' 9-3 Combi - 07' 9-7X Arc - 08' 9-3 Convertible - 08' 9-3 TurboX -
Awesome - I love that steering wheel!
European Motor Services, LLC - Point Pleasant, PA 18950 - www.europeanmotorsvc.com
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15 April 2012 #4
Edward G Saab Enthusiast
- Join Date
- 10 Mar 2011
- Location
- Victoria Australia
- Posts
- 121
- Saab(s)
- T5.5 84 900T8
The clunk when braking after reversing is normal and is worn guide pins in the front brakes. The pins are pre bent to provide resistance and stop the pads from moving in their seats, the bend in the pin eventually straightens out and the brakes then clunk when reversing. It's completely benign and if you bought new pins (which you can do) the clunk will most likely return before the pads wear out again.
How low is the idle? the correct idle is 850+/- 50 rpm. Is your car an 8 valve? Idle adjustment necessitates adjustment of the mixture, which needs to be done with a CO meter.
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15 April 2012 #5
Renato Piereck Spreading the Saab virus
- Join Date
- 24 Jul 2011
- Location
- Ansbach, Germany
- Posts
- 1,520
- Saab(s)
- '00 9-5 Aero SC, 87 900i 8v
That makes sense for the clunk when reversing. It happens when I hit the brake!
The idle was around 750, I guess, but the graduation on the tachometer is only 0 and 1 for 1000, so it's hard to tell. I found a set screw and a jamb nut on top of the throttle body where the gas pedal cable hooks up, I raised the idle a bit, now the battery light stays off, looks like it's idling at 850-900 rpm.
Also last night I went out and found a dark parking lot, put the car against a wall, marked the center of the beams, backed it up about 20 meters and adjusted the headlights, now they're spot on.Now: '00 Saab 9-5 Aero Combi - '89 Peugeot 205 CTI - '91 Peugeot 309 GTI
Gone: '87 Saab 900i - '95 Saab 900 SE Turbo
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15 April 2012 #6
Edward G Saab Enthusiast
- Join Date
- 10 Mar 2011
- Location
- Victoria Australia
- Posts
- 121
- Saab(s)
- T5.5 84 900T8
Not 100% I understand what you mean, but as long as you didn't adjust the throttle butterfly stop or the throttle cable length to set the idle you did the right thing.
As a note , with an 8v, if you change the idle you've inherently changed the mixture (Idle air screw lets more air in) and so you have leaned your mixture out a little bit, necessitating a re-adjustment of the mixture to get correct CO
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15 April 2012 #7
Sam Carlson Tutorial Bot
- Join Date
- 14 Aug 2010
- Location
- Medford, MA
- Posts
- 684
- Saab(s)
- '90 900 LPT with a flat-nose conversion
Clunk could also be a worn sliding yoke (see my caliper rebuild thread in tutorials). Both problems are fairly benign, despite the loud noise that is made! Loose sliding yoke is the worst, because this can cause nasty judder or wobble when braking. It's easy to fix if you take the brakes off and bring them to someone with a welder.
The battery light could be any number of things. Check the positive terminal on the alternator, to make sure the wire is screwed down tightly. Also check the alternator ground, though this shouldn't make the light go on. Check the voltage at the battery at idle (should be between 14 and 15 volts), and check the battery cables for good connection/no corrosion.
With Euro headlights, the proper procedure would be to adjust them with their adjusting knobs with the hood slightly open, if you are dextrous enough to reach in there and do it. IIRC, it's doable, but I haven't mucked with European headlights that much.
Scandix has a website too, you know! They have things you can't get anywhere else! SKANDIX - Your quality choice in VOLVO and SAAB car partsAsk me a question about your c900! I promise I either can answer it or know someone who can
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15 April 2012 #8
Renato Piereck Spreading the Saab virus
- Join Date
- 24 Jul 2011
- Location
- Ansbach, Germany
- Posts
- 1,520
- Saab(s)
- '00 9-5 Aero SC, 87 900i 8v
Yes, I adjusted the butterfly stop.
Headlights are straight and adjusted now, it was pretty easy, did it in a dark supermarket parking lot, against a wall, had a flashlight to help me find the knobs. Pretty easy job!
I have been to Scandix website before, I am finding out that many SAAB guys here in Germany like to kick it old school and some don't even have an email account! The whole SAAB Club Franken is telephone only, no website, no nothing!
Well, yesterday I also noticed that when I cruise at slow speeds, like 20 or 30 km/h the engine was hesitating. On the Army base here the speed limiuts are low, so I do a lot of driving on base at those speeds. I had a set of NGK BCPR6ES-11 spark plugs, with 34,000 miles, from my NG900, they were still in good shape, so I decided to put them on the 8v. The plugs I pulled out of the 8v were BCPR5ES, and were definitely much older, and the electrodes were starting to become rounded at the edges. With the BCPR6ES gapped to factory specs and installed I test drove the oldie and sure enough it's cruising smoother at low speeds!
I also did an oil change. What a PITA it is to get that oil filter out! Why is it so high on the engine but under all the intake crap? I imagine a filter relocation kit is probably a popular mod on these cars, and maybe I should do one.
The engine oil temperature on the center console isn't working, and I noticed the engine oil drain plug is a temperature sensor, but apparently there is one by the filter too. Correct? I need to get some fresh batteries for my multimeter and check those wires.
Pictures of the interior from today:
Seats say "automatic seat heater". When do they go on, when the heater is on in the cabin? My manual is all in German, und mein deutsch is sehr schlecht! (my German is very bad)
The other door is just as clean.
That EXTRA button turns the radiator fan on manually, and that red light to the left will light up when activated
Rear seats look comfy
Now: '00 Saab 9-5 Aero Combi - '89 Peugeot 205 CTI - '91 Peugeot 309 GTI
Gone: '87 Saab 900i - '95 Saab 900 SE Turbo
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15 April 2012 #9
Renato Piereck Spreading the Saab virus
- Join Date
- 24 Jul 2011
- Location
- Ansbach, Germany
- Posts
- 1,520
- Saab(s)
- '00 9-5 Aero SC, 87 900i 8v
That steering wheel sure is comfortable, but the horn button is huge, with light springs. So many times I am turning the car I accidentally honk the horn, I am pissing off my neighbors (Germans hate honking horns).
Now: '00 Saab 9-5 Aero Combi - '89 Peugeot 205 CTI - '91 Peugeot 309 GTI
Gone: '87 Saab 900i - '95 Saab 900 SE Turbo
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16 April 2012 #10
Sam Carlson Tutorial Bot
- Join Date
- 14 Aug 2010
- Location
- Medford, MA
- Posts
- 684
- Saab(s)
- '90 900 LPT with a flat-nose conversion
I have actually never heard of anybody using a filter-relocation kit on these cars. It's true, though, the 8v cars are a bit tough as far as filter access goes. Just don't bend the nylon fuel lines to the injectors! They break easily. You can actually replace them with braided stainless ones from a VW Rabbit, if you want something more durable. It's a common modification.
The oil sensor by the filter is for pressure. It turns on the oil pressure light when pressure is below a certain level. If you have an oil pressure gauge, it should also read pressure for that. Oil temperature would be read by the drain plug sensor, if you have an oil temp gauge. I never liked those very much, because the drain plug is kind of a vulnerable location for a sensor wire. I always thought it would get caught on something and ripped out. Maybe that's why the gauge isn't working!
The automatic seat heaters go on when the temperature of the seats goes below a certain level. There's a switch in the seat that turns it on and off based on temperature. They are usually broken! Either the element itself is broken, or the switch (particularly where it connects to the element) is broken. I've soldered seat heaters back together, only to have them break again in a matter of months. It's not worth it! If you could find a seat pad (like from a 9000 or something) then it would be worth it, but you have to get similar seats. Like, since your seats have curved stitching, you have to get a seat pad from seats with curved stitching. You can test the heater element by measuring the ohms across it with your multimeter. Should be something like 4 ohms for the bottom cushion, and the same for the backrest. Usually it's the bottom cushion whose element breaks, because it's being sat upon.Ask me a question about your c900! I promise I either can answer it or know someone who can
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