Warm engine, hard starting; cold engine, easy starting

[euromobile900]

I would stick to a stock regulator. Putting on a 3-bar regulator must be accompanied by other changes (ECU fuel map, injectors, etc) if you want the engine to run properly. If the regulator is bad, you would know it. Fuel pressure regulators usually fail when the diaphragm gets perforated, allowing fuel through the vacuum hose. If this doesn't happen, then I would say there's not a problem with it.

Have you checked for vacuum leaks? I find that for this, process of elimination works well. Just drink some wine and plug off the various holes in the manifold with wine corks. If anything changes, there's your leak. The two most common places for leaks are brake booster and the climate control flaps (the line running across the bottom of the windshield to the white plastic bomb-shaped container in your right fender). Of course, you don't have a brake booster, do you?

[Badwolf]

Car is over at my buddy's shop, so I'll have to get over there and take some photographs. I want to get this cleared up so I can drive her again. Dang. Thanks for the tips.

[Badwolf]

Sam - When you say "if the regulator was bad, you would know it," what should I look for? Currently, I have no throttle response, you cant keep the car on idle (it dies), and if you give it a lot of gas under the hood, it usually dies. Is this what I would experience?

[euromobile900]

Sam - When you say "if the regulator was bad, you would know it," what should I look for?

You should look for gasoline in the vacuum line coming away from the regulator. The engine will suck it in and make it run very very rich. Yes, even on a turbo car (running vacuum at idle). You can also remove the vacuum line to the regulator, put your finger over the vacuum line so the engine doesn't suck in air from there, and see if it makes a difference in how the car runs. A bad regulator should not show any change, whereas a good regulator will show a marked difference (even if your engine gets better when you unplug the regulator, this doesn't mean the regulator is bad. What you want is a response).

I've never heard of replacing the regulator at the same time as the pump. That said, it might be a good idea to check your fuel pressure. You will need to drill and tap a fuel rail banjo bolt for this purpose, then screw any gauge in. 1/8 NPT is fairly common for gauges, and the taps are cheap from Napa or another auto parts store. Trying to think of any possible source of a vacuum leak, maybe you ought to check the intercooler and hoses, too?

[Badwolf]

Update - Big B was having a devil of a time trying to get this thing figured out. We took it to Swedish Auto Werkes on Cave Creek Rd in Phoenix. Turns out the new fuel pump was bad. It would run, then cut out, then run when tapped with a hammer on a bench. What a pain in the ass. Now I have send it back as defective. Don't need a new one now, as Steve at SAW installed a new one. He says the car is running great, but hesitates a wee bit while still cold. I thought that most cars needs to be warmed before reaching maximum performance. The car also needs a new battery. It's less than 2 years old, but Phoenix chews up batteries (due to the heat) and spits them out.

Bummed at the cost and time, but at least she's sorted out.

I just want to drive it.

[euromobile900]

Those Walbro fuel pumps are just the worst, aren't they?! You'd never suspect the fuel pump either, since you just replaced it. The early pumps don't fail nearly as often. Glad you found the problem, but sorry it took so long.

[Badwolf]

So, here's the latest:

Went to pick up the car from the shop - (had to wait for wife to get paid) - $638.00 later - we get to the shop, and the BRAKES seem to have stopped working. The pedal is hard (same as it's always been) but now there's nothing behind the pedal - the car won't stop properly. It wasn't like that when I dropped it off. So my wife is fuming, I'm annoyed, wasting a ride (and the accompanying gas) and dropping dough that we really couldn't spare on a car that's not really road safe at this point. So now I'm probably looking at even more money for more work that I can't afford. I mean, WTF did I do to deserve this?

Now I have a faulty fuel pump from TheSaabSite (I called them, but I have little faith that I'll wind up with anything but either a worthless, faulty fuel pump or a warranty-replacement fuel pump that I don't need). I'm going to have to make that into it's own thread. Saab owners need to be aware of vendors who won't properly stand behind their parts. Taking a wait-and-see attitude with it right now.

I'm trying to attach the bill - we'll see if it works.

[euromobile900]

And that is why I do my own work!! I can't STAND the so-called professionals. ABS brakes...hmm...all I know is that they have an accumulator and a pump, and if these go bad, then you have issues like being unable to stop. There are experts on these forums who can help diagnose.

[Badwolf]

Both the ABS light and the Brake Fluid lights are on, so I figure there's a real problem here. There's plenty of fluid in the reservoir. I don't think the garage did anything, but it just seems that when it rains, it pours.

FWIW, I don't have the knowledge or tools to do my own work when it gets too in-depth. I can do routine maintenance and basic repair, but when it comes to diagnosing fuel system issues and "all-of-a-sudden-there" brake issues, I have to throw in the towel.

[Badwolf]

TheSaabSite.com refused to offer any sort of warranty on their faulty fuel pump - watch out of you decide to deal with them. Their rationale was that the pump probably faulted due to the faulty check valve (ALSO obtained from them) that was installed. The $9.00 valve was replaced; the $150.00 fuel pump was not. The "best they could do" was to offer me a new fuel pump at a discounted rate, plush shipping. THAT doesn't sound like a warranty to me.

I would wholeheartedly advise AGAINST using them for any sort of parts.

You've received fair warning.