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  1. #41
    Saab Enthusiast
    Join Date
    25 Oct 2015
    Location
    Oakland, CA United States
    Posts
    57
    Saab(s)
    2002 9-5 Aero
    So I was washing my car at one of these, wash-your-own type of places, and I looked at my front wheels dead-on, and I saw steel tread on the outside of both front tires.

    Additionally, the tires themselves were low on any tread. I bought tires just shy of 20,000 miles ago. Prior to the 'ole brain cancer.

    So, I was a little shocked. I then realized that I have done a lot to the suspension of the car. The shocks, tie-rod ends, a wheel hub, and some sub-frame bushings have been replaced. The car needs a wheel alignment and I need to get these tires changed. I cancelled my weekend-trip plans to save on money and got the deed done.

    When I went into the alignment place I purchased two higher-tread-life rated Yokohomas. I was using a higher-cost Michelin tire but it was rated at a 300, whereas the Yokohoma is rated at a 500. The Michelin tires, to begin with, have a lower-life than most tires. When I added them to my suspension issues, their life was dramatically reduced.

    I'll take a look at the model of tires and throw that on here later.

    Oh yea, I also replaced the thermostat and refilled the coolant about 2,000 miles ago. Also an oil change, but those are just sort of, no problem. It's just getting out there and doing it that I find difficult.

    However, I still love the damn car and it now handles like never before (for me).

    Further projects include a starter, an oil-pressure regulator, a serpentine belt and pulleys, heated-seat-switch LEDs,and the valve cover gasket sitting in boxes in the garage. I also am hunting down a brake light and rear light failure (I've checked the wires at the trunk, where they do the sharp turn, and they are fine. I am thinking I need to stand behind the car and have my sister help me with pushing on the brakes.)

    I'm hoping to do at least one, if not all, of those things this weekend...but we'll see whether I can convince myself to spend a day, or two, in the garage.

  2. #42
    Frank
    Administrator nordwulf's Avatar
    Join Date
    30 Jul 2010
    Location
    USA - Netherlands
    Posts
    7,901
    Saab(s)
    previous: 2006 9-3, 2001-06 9-5, 2011 9-4X
    I had Yokohama tires on my 9-5 before and they were good tires nd got a lot miles out of them. I also had alignment issues because of the sagging rear suspension (most common on the wagon) and that messed up my tires as well.

    Good decision to spend the money on tires instead of the weekend trip. Not as much fun but a better investment.

  3. #43
    Saab Enthusiast
    Join Date
    25 Oct 2015
    Location
    Oakland, CA United States
    Posts
    57
    Saab(s)
    2002 9-5 Aero
    Good Morning All. This past weekend I did some more work on the car. I finally got around to purchasing some new cylinder head bolts. This whole process took about a week.

    So I remove the DIC. Then, I go to remove the camshaft cover screws and one of them is completely stripped. Fuck.

    So I went online and found a few different ways to remove a stripped torx screw. The first is to use a rotary tool and cut a line into it so that a flathead screwdriver can fit. There were also multiple kinds of tools to extract a stuck screw. So first I tried creating a slot in the screw head. The screws are actually hardened so I was having difficulty with that.

    I eventually stopped trying that and decided to head to Home Depot to find a bolt extractor that sits on the outside of the stripped screw and removes it. However, the Home Depot I went to did not have the size needed (approximately 15mm) and since I was wanting to remove the screw that day, I bought a kit.

    I cannot remember the kits name, but it has some drill bits with some threads on the other side of the bit to remove the screw. The idea is you create a depression in the screw, then turn the bit around, and reverse the screw out with the threaded end of the bit.

    I tried doing this for fifteen minutes. It only started to strip the bit. So, I gave up and then ordered some bolt extractors from Amazon. The only issue with these was they may not fit completely around the head of the screw because of the depression the screw sits in. When the bolt extractors arrived I attempted to remove the screw. All the bolt extractors did was to really scar up the top of the screw (I was using an impact wrench to add increased torque). They could not fit into the depression because the screw was too close to the camshaft cover.

    So, I then headed to Ace Hardware to find a wider screwdriver so that maybe it could span across the head of the bolt. Unfortunately, I already owned a 3/8" and that was as wide as screwdrivers got at Ace. I asked one of the employees what to do. At first they suggested the routes I had attempted. However, after a few minutes of conversation the employee remembered they carried an impact screwdriver that one uses with a hammer. When he showed me that, I remembered I already own one of those.

    So I headed back home with some back up tools (just in case the impact screwdriver was not going to work) and headed home. After about an hour of cutting into the screw, I got enough of a bite with the hammer and the damn screw finally popped off. The amount of celebration cursing I did was phenomenal.

    The rest of the work was easy. Removed one cylinder head bolt at a time with a breaker bar, re-threaded the new bolt in, torqued it, and moved onto the next.

    I do not currently have an exact replacement for the camshaft screw but will order one today from eeuroparts.com.

    I now need to save up enough money and buy some front bilstein shocks because the KYB's I purchased during my whole brain cancer thing are already shot. The rear KYB's were replaced with Bilsteins already because of a failure of the rear, passenger side shock bolt threading. The bottom of the shock became disconnected from the tire and then drug on the ground. The threads and the rear shock absorber needed changing so I had both done.

    I have a starter in the garage, an oil pressure sensor, and the rebuilt alarm unit I need to put on the car.

    I am heading out to travel to Scotland for about a week this coming Wednesday. I will take care of those other items once I am back.

  4. #44
    Saab Enthusiast
    Join Date
    25 Oct 2015
    Location
    Oakland, CA United States
    Posts
    57
    Saab(s)
    2002 9-5 Aero
    So I have yet to install the starter or the oil pressure sensor. I just really hate working on the car and try to delay any work on it for as long as possible.

    I did, however, finally replace the serpentine belt and the rear idler pulley today. The engine had been making a lot of noise for a while. However, more recently, the noise was a lot louder than it's ever been, especially on the highway.

    The work was not that complicated. I used eeuroparts.com Serpentine Belt DIY page because it also included torque specifications.

    The job was pretty simple once I got under the car. I also have a replacement tensioner pulley, but the one in the car seemed fine, and since I will need to be purchasing a timing chain tensioner, I thought I could replace those two together in the near future.

    The rear idler pulley was the cause of all the noise from the engine. The outer part of the pulley, the part that touches the belt, was completely detached from the inner part of the pulley, where the bolt runs through. It's no wonder the engine was making so much noise.

    The belt itself did not look terrible but I replaced that anyways.

    The job took me about 3 hours total and was one of the easier jobs.

    Also, after the re-torque of the cylinder head bolts, it looks like I do need a new head gasket and likely an oil pan gasket.

    Still love the car despite the constant things that need to be worked on. Don't imagine I'll give it up unless something catastrophic happens.

    I'm at a point where I have nearly every tool for the car. Just hoping the crank pulley keeps itself from leaking.

    Also, I am hoping to get a tuned ECU in the coming future.

  5. #45
    Saab Enthusiast
    Join Date
    25 Oct 2015
    Location
    Oakland, CA United States
    Posts
    57
    Saab(s)
    2002 9-5 Aero
    I posted a desperation post in the main 9-5 thread section. I cut a portion of that thread out and continued it here.

    The car is incredible to drive again. The car still has its issues. But, damn, is it a joy to drive.

    The weekend of the 22nd I'll be back under the car throwing a starter and an oil pressure sensor in. I have also got to order a new pair of front shocks and this time, I will order springs.

    Sometime in April I have got to do the head gasket. A new set is currently sitting in the garage but then when I am doing the head gasket I may as well also do: the water pump, the alternator, replacing ALL the hoses with silicone, polishing of the head, and the timing chain guides. All that also costs money. But, as long as I make one purchase here and another there, I'll eventually have all the pieces to do the job right. Additionally, I figure with the alternator, I could just purchase a rebuild kit.

    I watched a few youtube videos and also did a couple of alternators way back in auto shop. Figure, it can't be that difficult and after watching some youtube videos, it doesn't look THAT difficult. But the time involved with doing the job, might be saved in just purchasing a refurbished alternator.

    I also still need to get to the motor mounts, some of the subframe bushings, and fix the A/C. I may try to do that latter item prior to the summer. It will likely be hot this year.

 

 

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