Welcome to the world of Saab ! Register
Results 1 to 6 of 6
  1. #1

    Join Date
    18 Mar 2021
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    2
    Saab(s)
    06 93 2.0T

    Very very sluggish in 1st gear

    Hey everyone. So I just bought a 06 Saab 93 2.0T with the 5spd manual. It has no engine light at all but first gear is a nightmare. You floor it and you feel like a 2 year old on a pedal bike could smoke you. The other gears seem to be fine. The turbo works as it should. I did over 100mph with it on the way home and it handled that fine with no lag or jumps. No surges. No spitting or sputtering. Just severely bogged down in first. The guy I got it from said it’s due to a pin hole in the crappy stock intake but I kinda ain’t buying that. On the way home I came to a stop sign on a hill and I almost didn’t make it up. The car didn’t want to go. Once it got moving it was fine. It’s a rocket in 3rd and up. I called my normal mechanic and he basically said we should just start replacing parts until we figure it out. Unfortunately I didn’t hit the lottery today so I didn’t like that idea. Anyone have any cheap fixes I can try before I get into the big scary stuff?

  2. #2
    Saab Owner Digger's Avatar
    Join Date
    28 Oct 2016
    Location
    Minneapolis Minnesota
    Posts
    1,136
    Saab(s)
    2006 9-3 2.0t SportCombi
    Just because its a Saab doesn't mean it's a secret and the 2.0t in your Saab is the GM echotech with a Trionic engine controller. This engine works like any other gas engine except that for maintenance and programming you need the Saab software. Every GM dealer has a Tech 2, only a few have Saab software and odds are the tester you rent from the local auto parts store isn't going to come with Saab software. A trip to the local Saab specialist gets you to the scanner and software which will cost you some money, but will most likely save you twice as much in purchase price of parts you didn't need.

    Most of us aren't clairvoyant and that means that we need to guess at all the little operational details that you didn't mention when asking for advice like what is the tach telling you when you step on the gas in 1st, so the best advice you will get from me is start by cleaning the throttle body and watching the butterfly when you turn the key to the on position. A two man job that will give you all sorts of helpful information to pass on.

  3. #3

    Join Date
    18 Mar 2021
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    2
    Saab(s)
    06 93 2.0T
    Thanks for the response. The rpms seem to be acting normal just going up slow and accelerating slow. Not jumping or over reving or anything like that. Last night I did clean the throttle body slightly and it acted great all night. This morning I came out and it was back to being very sluggish. Maybe I just need to do a more thorough cleaning?

  4. #4
    Saab Owner Digger's Avatar
    Join Date
    28 Oct 2016
    Location
    Minneapolis Minnesota
    Posts
    1,136
    Saab(s)
    2006 9-3 2.0t SportCombi
    A good throttle body cleaning fixes lots of drivability issues and do take a look at how well the butterfly moves after you clean. Should you need to replace the throttle body, do a search for my throttle body posting of a couple years ago and find the cheapest replacement cost GM part number. The Saab part number leads to a price 4 times the generic GM number.

  5. #5

    Join Date
    03 May 2021
    Location
    Denmark 8700
    Posts
    3
    Saab(s)
    NG 9-3 YS3F 2003 1.8T
    my came white error at the water (feeler/sonde something cant remember the name) , is our off order, or something was not right measured by this thing (sonde), fix that and you problem maybe fixet,

  6. #6

    Join Date
    24 Aug 2021
    Location
    Houston
    Posts
    2
    Saab(s)
    2009 Saab 9-3 sportcombi
    I had a similar issue.
    It was my turbo inlet pipe.
    The pipe between the turbo and air filter.

 

 

Similar Threads

  1. Smooth, sluggish acceleration with hound dog noise following turbo gauge
    By Saabster Tale in forum Saab 9-5 (1998-2009)
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 13 August 2021, 20:27
  2. Limp home mode? sluggish? NO engine warning lights
    By swede70 in forum Saab 9-3 (2003-2014)
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 20 December 2020, 14:52
  3. Not moving when in gear
    By Riley97 in forum Saab 900 (1979-1994)
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 25 February 2019, 12:45
  4. Car won't go into gear when started!!!!!
    By SaabNoob86 in forum Saab 9-3 (2003-2014)
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 17 February 2019, 19:42
  5. 1999 saab 9-5 v6 no power above 3000 rpm sluggish
    By willbeck47 in forum Saab 9-5 (1998-2009)
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 04 January 2014, 02:19

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
All times are GMT. The time now is 23:28.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5
Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.