Antifreeze type

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Does anyone know what type of antifreeze I need for my 1996 NG900 Turbo ? G11 or G12 ?

[Shazam]

Does anyone know what type of antifreeze I need for my 1996 NG900 Turbo ? G11 or G12 ?

It is G12, but a lot of Saabs have been swapped over to the regular old green stuff. So make sure it is red. I believe that Pentosin was the actual brand the used too, if that matters to you.

Mine was swapped over to the plain ol' green stuff before I got my hands on it, and I've seen numerous others that are no longer the G12.

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G12 it is, thanks.

The reason I'm replacing the coolant is that the cylinder head to heater core hose gave up on me on Sunday, 150 miles away from home. Luckily, I had some duct tape and managed to seal it, I filled the tank with some borrowed water and got home.
The question is, is this some kind of early warning ? How can I check the remaining hoses other than feeling and pressing on them ?

[Shazam]

G12 it is, thanks.

The reason I'm replacing the coolant is that the cylinder head to heater core hose gave up on me on Sunday, 150 miles away from home. Luckily, I had some duct tape and managed to seal it, I filled the tank with some borrowed water and got home.
The question is, is this some kind of early warning ? How can I check the remaining hoses other than feeling and pressing on them ?

I wish I knew. Whenver I'm working on the car, I try to do a visible check on the hoses, and feel a few. But, just this past Wednesday I had the upper radiator hose blow as I was going down the highway. A puff of steam and a splash of coolant down the side of the car later, I was on the phone with a tow truck. The hose blew so bad that I would have been unable to tape it. Fortunately I have free towing through my insurance.

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I guess I'll have to do a little research and find some cheap ones so that I can change as many as I can.

[Joel H]

My recall is that SAAB coolant -- which is no longer available as far as I know -- for the 1996 SAAB was green, not orange. My 2002 9-5 used an orange Dex-cool by GM, but the 98 900 and 95 900 we had called for SAAB coolant that was green.

[Shazam]

My recall is that SAAB coolant -- which is no longer available as far as I know -- for the 1996 SAAB was green, not orange. My 2002 9-5 used an orange Dex-cool by GM, but the 98 900 and 95 900 we had called for SAAB coolant that was green.

Hmmmm... From TheSaabSite (typically a good source) claims that:

[FONT=sans-serif]Pentosin RED[/FONT]

[FONT=sans-serif] - Lifetime Coolant, Nitrate, phosphate and silicone free. Specially suited for alloy engines (94-98 Saab's ANTIFREEZE but can be used for all Saab's)[/FONT]

I've also seen two other 900's (a both '97s) with red/orange coolant. Neither owners seemed to be the type that would switch from green to red and go through the work required to do so. The other 900's I've seen were green, but I figured they just swapped to the more common green after a flush, or cooling system repair.

[JohnJardine]

I have three 900 2 1985 and a 1991 all are on mercedes coolent because I was told that it doesn't cause headgasket leaks like all the rest. He had done a study and found that out.

[Joel H]

I agree with the comments on using Mercedes coolant, the Pentosin Red, or just use GM DexCool (which Eeuroparts sells as the coolant for these cars currently). It's just that the original OEM SAAB Coolant -- which as far as I know is not longer made -- was green for 900's in the 95-99 range. I had changed all the hoses and water pumps on a 95 and a 98 900 so bought a bit of SAAB coolant 7 or 8 years ago.
I'm not sure when it changed, but when I bought my 2002 9-5 new it used orange DexCool. My understanding is that it's OK to add red / orange coolant to green, you just loose some of the benefits.

[MI-Roger]

You can't go by color as the coolant blenders can add any color dye they want.

That being said...... The Saab Blue coolant was a G-48 formula. It was switched to GM's Dex-Cool in 2002 as others have said. Unfortunately the G-48 and Dex-Cool are not compatible, so switching coolants in a car requires flushing the entire system.

Mercedes coolant formerly was a G-05 formula and yellow in color. G-05 and G-48 are fully compatible and can be mixed without worry.

Mercedes changed their coolant specification in early 2013 to the G-48 formula, and it is now blue! Using the new blue Mercedes coolant is identical to the old Saab Blue anti-freeze in composition and color.

BMW (and maybe Volvo also too) specified a G-48 coolant and their brand was dyed blue as well. The new Mercedes coolant can be had for around $21/gallon, the BMW branded coolant is much higher in cost.