Saab vibration woes

[CdnSaab]

I've had my 07 9-5 for about a year now, 63k on the clock, 5 speed automatic and it drives great. I love the car when I'm driving it but when I come to a stop the love fades. The problem is my car vibrates a lot when in Drive at a stop. It doesn't just vibrate a little either, it's almost embarrassing how much the car vibrates, people think there's something wrong with it, especially with the AC turned on. I replaced 3/4 motor mounts with only 1 looking bad(torque mount), top mount and transmission mount looked fine after removing and inspecting them. There's just so much of this issue that I find perplexing such as how new mounts don't make the car smooth again, how anyone bought the car brand new when it vibrates so much, why I can't find any new car reviews online that even mention the vibrations in drive. I just don't get it. I came from a 2000 Honda Civic that was smoother in drive at idle!

What's the solution?

[Digger]

What you're describing could be near normal operation. To save on gas and help keep the air clean some new cars turn the engine off when stopped in drive, others drop idle speed so low that the engine runs rough. Personally I find this very irritating and the solution is to hack the engine computer and write new code to make this go away. Against Federal Law here in the states and probably the same in Canada. Next best solution is keep the engine in "perfect" running condition and that covers everything from the gas cap to the air filter.

A list of things you can do to make this less noticeable is use good gas, keep the air filter, throttle body, injectors clean and depending on your regular driving habits, put your foot down hard every so often to blow the carbon out, so to speak. All this won't stop the RPM's from dropping to rough idle low while sitting at a stop light, but depending on your regular driving habits it might not run as rough. To keep my car from running rough idle rough at stop lights, I pull on the steering every few seconds while stopped to keep the engine running at higher idle.

[nordwulf]

The 4-cylinder engine is not the smoothest at idle but it also shouldn't be excessive like what you describe.

The engine has two balancer shafts that are chain-driven by the crankcase. I haven't heard about any problems with these and, if there is a system failure, it probably would be even worse at higher RPM. So that's probably not it.

An idler pulley was removed to save cost and that can cause vibration at idle. It is not a difficult to add the missing pulley and use the original longer belt. Your car may or may not have the center idler pulley and it's easy to check. The steering wheel in some of my 9-5 was vibrating significantly at idle. I think it went away when I put the transmission from Drive into Neutral.

TSB: http://saabworld.net/attachment.php?...3&d=1440726492
Idler pulley install and belt replacement: http://saabworld.net/showthread.php?t=712

Idle rpm that is too low or too high can also cause vibration. It should be 825 rpm with a warmed up engine and 1200 rpm when cold.

[CdnSaab]

The balance shafts take effect over 1800rpm(source: WIS).

I don't know what's considered normal vibration, I'm just comparing it to any other vehicle I've been in, which none have felt like this. I'd like to try and change the RPM but getting a Tech-2 around here might be difficult. Another concern is I feel like this car goes pretty fast once I let off the brake pedal without touching the gas. If I were to raise the idle it'll be going even faster. Now I know this may not be an important concern, but what is a healthy idle rpm for the transmission?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[nordwulf]

There is a TSB for engine vibration and idle speed that is too high:

Bulletin Nbr: 248-2563
Date:...........Juni 2005
Market: US/CA

Cars affected
Saab 9-5 M98- with engine alternative B205, B235 and B308

Background
In certain cars, vibration may arise in the body at idling speed and when the car is stationary.

Certain cars, equipped with automatic transmission, may have idling speed set too high, which may mean that the car moves forward too forcefully when lever position D is engaged.

In the case of customer complaint, the following procedures must be carried out.

Symptom description
Vibration in the body. Drive is too forceful when the gear is engaged (dragging).

Procedure
1. Establish whether the car has idling speed vibration problems or a tendency to creep at idling speed.

2. Adjust the engine's idling speed. Connect Tech2.
• Select "Diagnostics"
• Select "Model Year"
• Select "Car Model"
• Select "Engine Type"
• Select "Engine Management System", "Trionic 7"
• Select "Adjustments"
• Select "Idle Speed Offset"
• Adjust the idling speed, press OK.

If the car exhibits vibration problems during cold starting for example, then the speed should be increased at a minimum (10 - 30 rpm). If the problem remains at all engine temperatures, then increase the speed by more than 30 rpm.

If the car drives forward too forcefully when engaging gear, lower the speed in steps of 20 rpm.

3. If the car is equipped with automatic transmission then the customer should be informed that the tendency to creep at idling speed will increase if idling speed is increased.

4. If possible, test the car together with the customer after the procedure.

[swisssaabist]

over all saying here by fellow friends above, i will suggest to raise your car and unscrew the bolts of the engine and transmission and do the tightening again at correct torque with engine raised with a jack.