Saab 9-5 2.3T Serpentine Belt and Idler Pulleys

[Shazam]

Nice work! Anyone can work on cars when you've got write-ups like this!... just takes some patience.

[IndpMind]

Totally off subject ( great pics btw) but what size tires are you running there? Look pretty beefy off those stock wheels (if their stock).

[raquettelaker2]

They are 225/45-17's. Stock tire size for the 9-5, but those rims are from a 2005 9-3ss Aero. They stick out a tiny bit more than the 9-5 rims. I uploaded some other pictures of my car in my "Garage."

My Garage

And here's a whole flickr album of it:
2004 Saab 9-5 Aero - a set on Flickr

[IndpMind]

They are 225/45-17's. Stock tire size for the 9-5, but those rims are from a 2005 9-3ss Aero. They stick out a tiny bit more than the 9-5 rims. I uploaded some other pictures of my car in my "Garage."

My Garage

And here's a whole flickr album of it:
2004 Saab 9-5 Aero - a set on Flickr

Ah, I see. I have the traditional 5 spoke like you had, and btw my car is steel gray as well. Awesome color. I'm going w/a set of TSW Jarama's hyper silver. They have a 1.25 inch lip. I was thinking of going to an 18 in the summer, but I want to keep my gas mileage the same, along w/the ride quality. While I prefer the meaty tire look ( BMW) I'm just adding more weight to the car.... Unless I go w/an OZ or Enkei wheel at 18lbs. and over 300.00 per wheel. I'll pass for now. Thanks!
Your serpentine belt tutorial is very nice. Better than the other ones I've come across w/pics. I have an auto trans. 71K on it. I'm going to take off the MAF hose to get a better visual to see if I have the center pulley. Can't tell w/ mount bracket installed, but going to hold off till spring to change it out.

[nordwulf]

For the tensioner pulley, do you have to replace the entire assembly (4898755 $84) or just the pulley (5172309 $25)?

[psymon]

For the tensioner pulley, do you have to replace the entire assembly (4898755 $84) or just the pulley (5172309 $25)?

You can do either. It is recommended you change the entire assembly since the those parts have a similar wear lifespan. It's your call once you have it off and see what it feels like.

[nordwulf]

I didn't order the entire assembly and it looked fine after I got it off. So I just replaced the pulley for now and will do the entire assembly if needed in the future.

I didn't take the right wheel off. The WIS shows just turn the right wheel outward (to the right) and you have enough access to the lower pulleys to guide the belt.

The tape method worked great, only took me a few minutes to put in the center pulley. It actually took more time to get that tensioner assembly out. It all is pretty easy to do and maybe takes a few hours or less. Without the instructions, it would probably have taken twice as much so thanks for the excellent write-up.

I got the aftermarket pulleys from thesaabsite. They're from Scantech and showed Made in Taiwan. Not sure where the OEM ones are made but hopefully these are going to last. My 9-5 has about 60K miles and it didn't seem they really needed to be replaced. No weird sounds or vibrations. The belt was in need of replacement (rubber started to crack) and now I don't have to worry about the pulleys for a long time. I paid $75 for all 3 pulleys.

Part number	Description	Price
4752960	Idler Pulley AFT	$21
5172309	Tensioner Pulley Only for 4898755 on #2 AFT	$25
4968590	Idler Pulley Left Vin X3022044 Up AFT	$29
4899548	Serpentine belt - long	$41
	Total	$116

[Lex Andrews]

I had what looked to be #7 go on me back in October, as the engine ran #7 was rubbing against the engine block. I got my local garage to do the work after 2 weeks waiting for parts as they replaced #1 and #2. It ran fine till 2 weeks ago. The car runs with a whine and it sounds like its coming from the Power Steering?? but not sure. The garage did advise that the belt needs to be changed at some point in the future. So when it gets a proper service and MOT thinking April, I'll get the belt changed as well.
Just for reference the pulleys/tensioners, which # correlates to what?

[mienkoiv]

I had what looked to be #7 go on me back in October, as the engine ran #7 was rubbing against the engine block. I got my local garage to do the work after 2 weeks waiting for parts as they replaced #1 and #2. It ran fine till 2 weeks ago. The car runs with a whine and it sounds like its coming from the Power Steering?? but not sure. The garage did advise that the belt needs to be changed at some point in the future. So when it gets a proper service and MOT thinking April, I'll get the belt changed as well.
Just for reference the pulleys/tensioners, which # correlates to what?

google my friend, google

SAAB 9-5 (9600) Serpentine belts

[RDISaab]

I'm getting my new-to-me 2008 9-5 up to speed and one of my discoveries is that it has the short serpentine belt and no center idler pulley (obviously).

From my reading here and elsewhere I thought all post-2006 9-5s had the long belt installed from the factory.

So, a couple of questions:
1. Why does my 2008 have the short belt?
2. Should I assume that by 2008 Saab had worked the bugs out of the short belt installation or should I retrofit the long belt and center idler?

Thanks!