Limp home, again?

[DanielZ]

Wagon is acting up and I've got a bad feeling.

It does start but throttle is unresponsive and seems disconnected. Runs lumpy, stuttering. Check engine yellow blinking.
Sid is borked, can't read a message that appears. Check is ok tho. That pattern I can read.

Prior symptoms: little slow to ignite, takes a few turns more to get it fired up. When at constant speed/load it chuggs at times. Just a lill' stutter. Became worse the day before this.
Fuel filter is new, oil is new and there were no sludge issues, it was upgraded a long time ago too. Mileage is reasonable. No chain rattle, some slow oil seapage in the usual places. Cooling is fine. New thermostat.

It went into limp mode a few months ago. I think it has again. At that point the wife made it stall hard, like really hard. Reset it, no problem. Has been smooth since apart from a stutter every now and then. Figuring the fuel filter needed a change I did that and it was beter. Throttle body was clean too.

Now, if it's not in limp home, could it be plugs need changing or that the casette has had a beating? I know getting some codes will make it easier to suggest actions but got no access to a device at this time. Sorry! 😁

Please, I need some comforting words! My LazyBaby has some life in her still.

[Digger]

Comforting words, fuel pressure regulator.
Pull the vacuum line and see if it has been getting wet with gas. Don't need any special testers or tools to check for raw gas in the vacuum line.

[DanielZ]

Thanks! Tonight I'll start with the throttle. Then visually inspect the casette. After that, fuse #19 gets pulled and the tube. It didn't even occur to me that it might be the pressure regulator...
Just hope it's not the pump...

[DanielZ]

It' getting fuel. No issues starting now. It wasn't in limp mode tho.

It 'feels' like it's not getting enough fuel. It has close to no power on low revs. Get it to 3500-4000 and it's ok. Almost like it needs help pulling the gas in.

Have to check the regulator and pump I guess.

[DanielZ]

Drove it to a guy and had the codes read. Plugs or cassette need to be changed. Going for both...

[DanielZ]

Sorry, I'll reply to my own thread again out of frustration.

So, plugs and cassette changed. Almost took, then the tachometer flatlined.

Cps... again? Second time on this car in 2 years. Gah! Dissapointeeeeed!

New one ordered for tomorrow or tuesday.

[GeoffR]

Your car is 16 years old, when did you last use injector cleaner?
Have you had the fuel pressure checked? The pump could be failing.
When was the fuel filter last changed?

Could you also update the vehicle details, do you have a 2.0 or 2.3 engine and is it a LPT, FPT or Aero? It doesn't make much difference to the problem but the test values for some things are different.

[DanielZ]

Injector cleaner was used 2 months ago.
Pump sounds fine, fuel is getting to the engine.
Fuel filter changed 3 months ago.
2.0 LPT
Codes were read and told that the cassette and/or plugs were at fault.

[GeoffR]

Injector cleaner was used 2 months ago.
Pump sounds fine, fuel is getting to the engine.
Fuel filter changed 3 months ago.
2.0 LPT
Codes were read and told that the cassette and/or plugs were at fault.

Great.
Check the engine earth strap between the engine and the car body, check the ECU earth strap.
Check the battery negative terminal and the earth point.
A poor earth (Ground) can cause this problem.

Also check the vacuum hoses on the engine, there are several. Any leak can cause problems, I would recommend replacing the whole lot with silicon vacuum hose which is cheap, I got mine from Amazon. I have replaced the vacuum hoses on all my Saabs, bar one, since 1990 and in every case it has made a difference.

[southsaab]

Was it a Saab mechanic with a Tech2 that read your codes?