Saab 9-5 Aero Wagon Daily Driver Content

Since I have bought this car it has been missing the middle grill and driver side turn signal has been broken. A few orders on eBay and I was able to replace both. The headlights were a little yellow but looked like they had a coating on them.  Meguiar’s headlight restoration kit and they looked more presentable. 

The headlights have yellowed in the weeks since they were cleaned up. I want to clear coat them but might just ceramic coat them for the time being. I also replaced a few vacuum lines with silicon hoses and that help a lot with performance. I want to do a boost leak test as I feel there are still leaks   

I have a ton of parts to go on this car but it has been busy with daily driving duties. Unbroken fog lights, Aero front lip, lowering spring and struts to name a few things.  I have a few performance upgrades in mind too. 

Since you did most of the bolt on upgrades required, you really should look into a Stage 2 or 3 ECU tune.  It will really open up the car and probably get you better gas mileage.

Also get rid of the coolant bypass valve now before it fails on you later. 

https://www.eeuroparts.com/Parts/406978/Heater-Hose-Kit-Silicone-Black-DO88KIT122S/

Coolant bypass valve and new hoses are on the list of things that I need/want to do.  I want to do a stage 3 tune but want to address the engine mount and vacuum leaks before I do the tune. I’ll try to order those things soon and start  getting the parts I have on the car.  

Stampie said:

Aero, wagon, 5 speed. Yep checks all the boxes for me too. 

Funny I was the first response on this thread. I had forgotten about it. Yesterday Ted mentioned he had a Saab for sale, then said Aero closely followed by yep manual trans.  Today we made a deal on it. I'll pick it up in two weeks.

It even has Challenge street creed now. 

This evening we picked up our rental car to take us down to Orlando.

I had requested a Yaris because racecar but unfortunately they didn't have any. It already has 4 Jeep wheels in the trunk that's getting GRM expressed to Tampa. 

On the way right after work.

Rental car turned in and awaiting the Saab.

In the Saab and heading back to Jacksonville.

Right after this we learned that torque steer is a lot more real when you're driving it like you own it. This thing gets up and goes.  Lil Stampie said it's the perfect sleeper because you just wouldn't expect a wagon to take off like this.

Heading back was pretty uneventful once I learned the radio controls and how to turn on cruise control. Then about 60 miles from Jacksonville I hear a thud under the car. Ok guess I hit something on the road. Then about 30 seconds later another smaller thud. There's a rest area let's pull in. 

I start to get out to look underneath but don't have to even get out to see a piece of metal poking out from under the car. I pull and without too much effort it comes out. 

Yeah that's strange. Don't see anything else so we go to leave after Lil Stampie throws away the trash from dinner. Right before the point of no return he says "where's my right earbud?"  If you have a preteen you know that in those simple words we just hit crisis level 10.

Ok so I reverse back down the road and we stop before walking back to where we were before. Lil Stampie has a theory that he threw it away with the trash. He walks up to the trash can and gives me the look of hey think you could do this for me?  Nope not my earbud.  Lucky for him I walk over to where we had parked and sitting there on the road is a right earbud. That got me a big hug so worth it.

Those were the only issues.  Here it is at home parked in its new spot.

This made me smile this morning. You know the PO is good peeps when they include refill for the methanol injection system. 

I have a VERY similar looking piece of angle aluminum sitting in my scrap bin. 

Also, never connected "BeardedOne" with Ted, until now. 

As you can imagine these don't show up in the yards often so when I got an alert on Wednesday I made plans to go today.  This is the yard I hate and they started off with a cash only policy to enter the yard. I've met the owner several times and pretty sure that's for tax reasons if you know what I'm saying. 

First up was this 2001 9-5. 

One of the things that bothered me immediately was the drivers sun visor drooping. I quickly grabbed that and the DIC. Turns out one of the CoP had a crack in the plastic. I wanted the headlights but one was broken on a mounting point.

Onto the 2002 9-3.

I wanted it's shift knob but it's in the same condition as mine. 

I pulled it's DIC but after seeing one CoP like this I said you know I already have 2 spare DICs, how many does a man need. Rhetorical question Angry.

I did get a bonus when I noticed this 15mm wrench sitting under the hood. 

Decided to check out and dude charges me for a plain sun visor. Jokes on you dude cause this Saab has a fancy ass visor.

Once I got back out to the Saab I noticed while the side facing the driver when up matches, the back side was black. NBD except my OCD wouldn't let me have the passenger side mismatched. Minor but looks like the surround isn't the same either. 

So I head back in to pull the passenger side visor. Start looking around and notice a cup holder sitting on the driver's seat.  Took me a bit but I finally figured out that it goes inside the center console. I then decided to grab the front emblem but the hood was up. What was holding it up?  The screwdriver I put there the first time while pulling the DIC.  Good catch.

Now I can check out and head home for lunch. 

Anytime you get a used car you expect minor things that maybe the PO just got used to but you notice it.  Yesterday the more times I had to start it the harder it was to get the clutch safety switch to engage. This morning I said hmmm I wonder if the floor mat is interfering. I moved it back and hey now it starts easy.  Then today I was having issues with the clutch pedal sticking. It would stick right at release point.  Not every time but after I stalled the third time at a light I looked down while operating the clutch and noticed that I had moved the mat perfectly so that the pedal would catch on it. Moved the mat back even more and woohoo no more sticky clutch.

I need to be very careful driving this car. Several times I looked down and found myself going 90 in a 60. It's not like I was trying to drive hard. It's just so easy to push the gas pedal a little and oh E36 M3 look at how fast I'm going.

So my next day review of the car is I still love it. I just need to settle down and realize how fast I'm driving it. 

Replace the engine and trans mounts. That will fix a lot of the torque steer. 

Also, I believe ALL 2000+ 9-3's (black DIC) have the 'big' turbo. I think you already have the big turbo with your 9-5 aero, but in case you ever need another. 

Also also, if you ever need another intercooler, I still have one in my garage. Think I got rid of the rest of my saab parts though

In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :

Yeah I can fill the shifter move when revving. Going to look at them soon.

We got our front emblem on. 

Jealous. Manual wagons are super rare.

Great score! 

The rear trans mount is kind of an adventure to get to - if you search way back, I have a thread about my wagon when I did the subframe bushings and rear motor mount.  If you get clunking around corners and when parking it's probably involving subframe bushings in part.  Definitely worth it though! 

Edit - found it: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/saab-9-5-midlife-refresh-project/108303/page1/

((Dont read page two though, It devolves into a fail, and the car is still sitting in the garage dead because I ran out of energy to get it done.)

Cool car.  I've always liked Saabs.  I frequently search for Viggen.

What's the plan for paint?  Prep it and take it to Maaco?  Just spray the hood?  Drop it off at Duster's for a month?

In reply to XLR99 (Forum Supporter) :

Thanks.  I kinda remembered that thread.  There is a clunk sometimes.  I forget what all BeardedOne has replaced but he gave me a list.  

In reply to TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) :

Current plan is keep it as is.  It fits the soccer mom look.  First order of business is fixing all the little things.  The AC doesn't work and when you first turn on the climate control the fan keeps drawing down at the same time the interior lights will dim.  Last night I figured out how to do diagnostics for it and it came up with Code 21 which is short or open for the motor controlling the recirculation.  It's supposed to be a quick pull then check a resistor.  It's kicked my fat behind for a couple of hours.  Right now I've got a bit stuck in a blind hole so bad that I've resorted to supergluing a socket onto it.  Taking a break for lunch before going out and getting disappointed more.

Fits the soccer-mom look, eh?  You're gonna need a makeover yourself.

Yoga pants, scrunchy (beard and pony-tail), and venti PSL.  Done.

In reply to TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) :

You haven't lived until you see how I fill out some yoga pants.

Stampie (FS) said:

In reply to TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) :

You haven't lived until you see how I fill out some yoga pants.

Breathtaking, I'm sure.

Let me tell you a tale of how to take two broke things and make one working thing.

Last night in my researching I found out that you can do a diagnostic on the climate control system. I knew the AC didn't work and the system itself seemed sick. 

I ran diagnostics and got 1 fault of code 21 which is air recirculation motor open or short. Reading more it seems the pre 2002 models tended to break the lever arm while all of them had issues with a resistor going bad and causing the motor to run constantly. 

According to them out there in internet land it was easy. Pull the glove box. Two screws, one electrical connector and Bob's bought another Hyundai. Yeah ok. First I messed up and watched a video for a 9-3.  I blame the whiskey for that. Next I finally IDed the part and removed the first 6mm screw no problem. The next screw is in a blind hole about two inches deep.  I didn't think right at first and put a bit in there with a 1/4 inch adapter. Did I say the hole was tight?  Well it was. The bit got stuck in there and refused to come out. Finally I super glued the adapter to it. Ok now how do I get in there?  My 6mm deep socket is to fat. Let's go to Harbor Freight!  Got the shortest thinnest nut drivers and it took me 30 seconds to get the last screw out.

When I pulled it out the arm wasn't attached.

I took it apart and the resistor obviously has gotten hot. In fact it desoldered itself from the board. That explains the signs of high current draw like the fan randomly going down then back up.

Then I noticed that the arm didn't break. The shaft that came up from the left white gear had sheared.  That makes sense as is the resistor failed the motor would run constantly and sheared the shaft because this one has the reenforced arm.

I really want this done today so off to the junkyard I go. I pull the part from the Saab 9-5 I was at yesterday.  Sure enough it's arm is broken but just the arm not the shaft.

I take it all apart and the gears and resistor look good so put it back together using the arm from the original part. 

Throw it in the car and run diagnostics and tada! No codes!

Stampie (FS) said:
Two screws, one electrical connector and Bob's bought another Hyundai.

That is gold. Too bad Bob won't see it 'cause he is busy doing race car things.

I was thinking about how I could make the Saab more of a true daily driver.  It's great because it has way more interior space than the Miata for simple things like groceries.  It can hold my junkyard tools in the hatch area.  Only thing is how do I bring my cart.  I know ... get a platform trailer hitch attachment.

But I don't want to see a trailer hitch coming out from the back of the car.  That lead me down a rabbit hold and ended up with the European penis hitch.

true pimp would put wheels and a steering axle on the hitch platform, so the tray IS the cart. make the handle easily removable with a hitch pin like the tow bar on the miata. 

That hitch will make you even more popular with the soccer moms in the pick up line.

Emphasis on pick up.

Finally! One of my threads has an update!!
 

I had the same problem of speeding around town when I fixed the downpipe and intake. Curious of how it is with a tune. Definitely a fun car and it really likes the higher gears.  
 

I meant to tell you about the mats they move around a lot.  They were from the Roadmaster and just thrown in there as the Tan generic rubber mats made there way to the Roadmaster. 
 

Looking forward to updates!! 

In reply to BeardedOne :

It is a great car and thanks again for selling it to me.  I went to the convenience store at the end of the street last night.  Was disappointed when I realized I never got to hit the turbo.