SAAB Question (2003 9-3 ARC)

Hi guys,

So I'm not super familiar with SAABs so I want to see what you guys think. So I drove a good friend of mine's SAAB convertible last night. (05 aero I think.) I had driven it before and thought it was a fun car, but for some reason this time I thought to myself I should see what these turbocharged SAABs are going for on craigslist...

Now comes this morning, I got around to looking on CL and found a 2003 9-3 ARC for sale. Ad says it doesn't start "probably because it has been sitting for a few months", no price. So I texted the guy, and he actually texted back. My understanding from talking to him is if you put a good battery in it, it will crank, and act like it wants to start, but won't start.

Interior looks alright.

Exterior is a darkish red.

182k miles...

It is a 4 door sedan. (While I like the convertible, I don't really like how long a 4 seat convertible is so the sedan aspect is nice.)

Oh, and it's a 6-speed manual... :)

So, is it worth $300 to try and get it running again?

Yes

Ok, I kinda figured that it is most likely worth it.

Any thoughts on what could be causing it not to start? Common to SAAB I mean?

If it cranks, then it is likely fuel or spark I guess.

Unless it jumped timing somehow. Are these timing belts or timing chains? Google seems to say timing chain, so timing is probably fine.

First thing to check would be the Direct Ignition Cassette. Here is a picture:

It is the red deal in the middle of the motor though on the car you are looking at it will be black.

At $300, I'd also say yes. Just because you won't lose much hauling it to the scrap yard if necessary.

If you go onto the Saab forums, you'll find several threads about diagnosing a "won't start" scenario. It's not necessarily easy or cheap to figure out and fix. Not saying it can't be easy either. Just that it's not inherently easy.

I would probably buy it and bring it home myself.

I don't think that could have been the engine that had the catastrophic engine sludge. Give it a shot.

Rusted_Busted_Spit wrote: First thing to check would be the Direct Ignition Cassette. Here is a picture: It is the red deal in the middle of the motor though on the car you are looking at it will be black.

It's an 03 so no DI cassette. The 03 was the first year of the 9-3 SS, so it had lots of teething issues. I dunno, I doubt that I would want to deal with it even for $300, unless you wanted to part it out. If it was easy to fix, somebody would have fixed it, right?

In reply to Aspen:

All SAAB's since the mid 90's minus the SAABaru and the 9-7 have DIC in them. The car he is looking at is a T7 car, cars with the red DIC are T5 cars.

I think I'm going to give it a shot as long as it's not totally nasty when I go see it.

Engine bay pic...

Rusted_Busted_Spit wrote: First thing to check would be the Direct Ignition Cassette. Here is a picture: It is the red deal in the middle of the motor though on the car you are looking at it will be black.

I'll have to see if there is a good way to test the unit. I'll look around the SAAB forums unless one of you knows off the top of your head.

It's not a DI Cassette. The Ecotec based saabs are all coil on plug.

I had a customer that spent thousands of dollars having his mechanic chase an intermittent no start in his 9-3. He said it ended up being the abs computer but how can you go wrong for $300. Anyone know if you can MS these?

Rusted_Busted_Spit wrote: In reply to Aspen: All SAAB's since the mid 90's minus the SAABaru and the 9-7 have DIC in them. The car he is looking at is a T7 car, cars with the red DIC are T5 cars.

9-3SS is a T8 Ecotec car and DOES NOT have a DI cassette. Look at the pic he just posted. It has plain-old coil on plug ignition.

The Saab forums advise a lot of caution towards the '03 9-3SS cars. A handful of one-year-only parts and a problematic Secondary Air Injection system that was done away with for '04. Tread carefully.

In reply to Stampie:

MS?

AWSX1686 wrote: In reply to Stampie: MS?

Megasquirt

I say absolutely go for it

pointofdeparture wrote:

Rusted_Busted_Spit wrote: In reply to Aspen: All SAAB's since the mid 90's minus the SAABaru and the 9-7 have DIC in them. The car he is looking at is a T7 car, cars with the red DIC are T5 cars.

9-3SS is a T8 Ecotec car and DOES NOT have a DI cassette. Look at the pic he just posted. It has plain-old coil on plug ignition. The Saab forums advise a lot of caution towards the '03 9-3SS cars. A handful of one-year-only parts and a problematic Secondary Air Injection system that was done away with for '04. Tread carefully.

A quick search brought up a good bit on the SAI pump. Looks like there's plenty of things to check, and a decent amount of knowledge. It does seem to be a common problem for these though.

Hungary Bill wrote:

AWSX1686 wrote: In reply to Stampie: MS?

Megasquirt I say absolutely go for it

Ah! Of course! Megasquirt and bigger turbo? Since it's already turbo charged.

Depends how the turbo system works on these. I know some factory turbos are hard to make more boost with.

There is not really much reason to Megasquirt a GM-era Saab because their stock engine management is fantastic and DIY tunable. T8 isn't quite as well-understood as T5/T7 but with T8Suite you should never need to go standalone.

I know the T5 was wonderful for tuning.. you could do most anything to the car with it.. including telling the computer to ignore the lack of a catalyst if need be. It was highly tunable, I am not sure GM knew what can of worms they were opening up with it or not.

It's so tunable, there are kits to upgrade earlier saabs with it

issue sounds like the fuel pump. I would buy if for sure for 300. I have had an 04 sedan, and currently have an 08 vert and 10 sedan. they are great cars and very reliable.

In reply to pointofdeparture:

I was thinking of the vert for some reason and I cant see the pics at work, Sorry for the miss information.

cdowd wrote: issue sounds like the fuel pump. I would buy if for sure for 300. I have had an 04 sedan, and currently have an 08 vert and 10 sedan. they are great cars and very reliable.

Here's hoping! Fuel pump is like $200, if that fixed it I'd be very happy.

It does also need a tire (full set is likely) and a taillight, but that's all pretty minor.

pointofdeparture wrote: There is not really much reason to Megasquirt a GM-era Saab because their stock engine management is fantastic and DIY tunable. T8 isn't quite as well-understood as T5/T7 but with T8Suite you should never need to go standalone.

Now I'm really interested. I wonder if that can be done to my friend's too... I bet he'd love more power through software... :)

What happens with starting fluid??

jfryjfry wrote: What happens with starting fluid??

No idea. Planning to bring some with tomorrow. If it'll run enough to get it on the tow dolly that's a big help.