Hi chaps, advice please
Discussion
Hi folks,
Just a bit of advice if possible. I am looking at buying a saab 9000cse 2.0 turbo as a runaround for a bit.
It's a k reg, 147k, everything works (allegedly) with no issues, It's Mot't until next november as well which is a bonus.
Do they suffer from anything other than normal old cars?
Obviously I will carry out my normal checks, but I thought I would ask the experts if they have anything particularly terminal that is related to these particular models.
I have previously owned a non turbo 2.3 s 9000 which seemed unbreakable and one of the few I have regretted selling as no doubt it would still be going strong, so maybe I'm looking at the 9000 with rose coloured spectacles but my spidey sense tells me it's ok..
Thanks in advance.
Mike.
Just a bit of advice if possible. I am looking at buying a saab 9000cse 2.0 turbo as a runaround for a bit.
It's a k reg, 147k, everything works (allegedly) with no issues, It's Mot't until next november as well which is a bonus.
Do they suffer from anything other than normal old cars?
Obviously I will carry out my normal checks, but I thought I would ask the experts if they have anything particularly terminal that is related to these particular models.
I have previously owned a non turbo 2.3 s 9000 which seemed unbreakable and one of the few I have regretted selling as no doubt it would still be going strong, so maybe I'm looking at the 9000 with rose coloured spectacles but my spidey sense tells me it's ok..
Thanks in advance.
Mike.
Mike
One of my mates has a later 9000cse which has been fine. Not aware of any "special problems myself. Have a look at:
www.saabcentral.com/features/9000_index.php
There's enough there to keep you busy for a bit!
One of my mates has a later 9000cse which has been fine. Not aware of any "special problems myself. Have a look at:
www.saabcentral.com/features/9000_index.php
There's enough there to keep you busy for a bit!
Have I ever let you down. Matt_FP said:
a f
g saab sir, have you gone mad?
That response always makes me
Yes, I find people tend to change their minds the next time a suitably fettled example blows by them and leaves them wondering which way it went
Mike, they're great cars. As long as it has history and has been well serviced you should be OK. 150k is nothing on these old things
Well, I picked it up today, and drove it back 200 miles 
No overheating, nearly everything works, the only things that I don't think function are the heated seats, the knob that says "info"........the front discs although nearly new are warped a bit so under braking it wobbles a bit....and the tyres need balancing....finally, the leading edge of the headlining has come away a bit from the sunroof.
Service wise, it has saab stamps up to 108k, then service by the last owner who is a mechanic and has assured me it has been serviced every 6 months..
It passed the last Mot easily and currently has 10 months left until the next one.
Trouble is, is that he lived on a farm, so needless to say it looks like a bit of an off roader from the outside, so I'll have to get my car washing head on tomorrow.
Impressed with how it went though.
If that's only the baby turbo then the carlsson jobbies must really go like hot snot.
Oh yes, it cost £400...I think that's a bit of a snip really.
>> Edited by silverback mike on Wednesday 28th December 20:58
No overheating, nearly everything works, the only things that I don't think function are the heated seats, the knob that says "info"........the front discs although nearly new are warped a bit so under braking it wobbles a bit....and the tyres need balancing....finally, the leading edge of the headlining has come away a bit from the sunroof. Service wise, it has saab stamps up to 108k, then service by the last owner who is a mechanic and has assured me it has been serviced every 6 months..
It passed the last Mot easily and currently has 10 months left until the next one.
Trouble is, is that he lived on a farm, so needless to say it looks like a bit of an off roader from the outside, so I'll have to get my car washing head on tomorrow.
Impressed with how it went though.
If that's only the baby turbo then the carlsson jobbies must really go like hot snot. Oh yes, it cost £400...I think that's a bit of a snip really.
>> Edited by silverback mike on Wednesday 28th December 20:58
Sounds OK
The heated seats are usually an easy fix - the wire that goes into the base of the seat breaks around the temp sensor, and can be easily fixed with a bit of soldering. It's usually fairly obvious where as the foam will have singed around it. Take the seat cover off the base and have a look.
Is it definately an LPT (2.0t as opposed to 2.0T)? Should be 150bhp or so. My dad used to have a 2.3 FPT on a K plate (200bhp)(he now has a 2.3 FPT on a P) - the power delivery on the earlier model was very different, very raw, whereas his newer car is a lot smoother...
Enjoy the car
When you are looking to move it on give me a shout as I'm still tempted to run one as a daily driver to keep the miles off the T16S...
The heated seats are usually an easy fix - the wire that goes into the base of the seat breaks around the temp sensor, and can be easily fixed with a bit of soldering. It's usually fairly obvious where as the foam will have singed around it. Take the seat cover off the base and have a look.
Is it definately an LPT (2.0t as opposed to 2.0T)? Should be 150bhp or so. My dad used to have a 2.3 FPT on a K plate (200bhp)(he now has a 2.3 FPT on a P) - the power delivery on the earlier model was very different, very raw, whereas his newer car is a lot smoother...
Enjoy the car
When you are looking to move it on give me a shout as I'm still tempted to run one as a daily driver to keep the miles off the T16S...
silverback mike said:
....the front discs although nearly new are warped a bit so under braking it wobbles a bit....and the tyres need balancing....
If it has had cheap aftermarket disks fitted that may be a possibility - I had some replaced on my old Omega because they 'warped' after about 6k miles. Allegedly.
But having learned a little more since then, and on the basis that on the Omega the symptoms could come and go even with factory disks fitted, I decided that warping may not have been the problem, especially since there was no obvious reason why the disks would have warped.
Mostly the effect can be put down to material deposits from the pads onto the disks or, as I think was the case with the Omega, some inconsistency on the pad pressures applied probably due to inconsistently sticking brake calipers.
I base this on the results of pad wear after a track day when the set of 4 front pads, about half way through a 'normal' lifecycle, ended up with the outer n/s within a gnat's of no friction material at all, the two inner pads on both sides at about the replacement level, as expected, and the outer pad on the O/S looking like it had hardly ever touched the disk! Interestingly the brake pad wear sensor gave no warning at all, though at some point during the day the sensor wires had been sliced through on the worst worn pad. (OK, I will admit that I didn't spend much time staring at the information panel!)
Some dramatic steering wobble under heavy braking in the morning session had disappeared by the afternoon once the brakes stopped smoking. I guess the pressures on the pads came back into balance again!
The alternative, of course, is that being a mechanic the previous owner may have often been too busy to complete jobs on his own vehicle to customer standards. Seems to have been the way for many of the professional mechanics I have known over the years no matter how good their customer work was.
NiceCupOfTea said:Behave yourself
That response always makes me
Yes, I find people tend to change their minds the next time a suitably fettled example blows by them and leaves them wondering which way it went
Mike, they're great cars. As long as it has history and has been well serviced you should be OK. 150k is nothing on these old things
numbnuts said:
Behave yourself
Currently running around in 280bhp and 310ftlbs worth of 9000 CSE, previous 307bhp and 314ftlb 900 was fairly nippy as well.
Saab, you either get it or you don't.
Well done Mike, sounds like a good buy, you'll have to have a go in my 9K and see what you think of it!
matt_fp said:
Behave yourself
Currently running around in 280bhp and 310ftlbs worth of 9000 CSE, previous 307bhp and 314ftlb 900 was fairly nippy as well.
Saab, you either get it or you don't.
Well done Mike, sounds like a good buy, you'll have to have a go in my 9K and see what you think of it!
Hells teeth, I would love a go in that Matt, look forward to it.
Another slant to the 9000 versatility, I have just returned from the tip, emptying the saab of a single bed base, 2 small mattresses, a few bin bags, a video recorder, roboraptor wrapper (try one of these they are excellent fun), a set of wheel trims and a wad of underlay.....mind you,I had to tie the hatch down, but it was literally unbelievable.
I think you're right Matt, you either get saabs or don't, I must admit I am mightily impressed so far. Mind you I'm becoming a pseudo swede, I have a Volvo S60 (which has also impressed me a great deal) I now have a SAAB, my brother married a swedish girl, and now lives over there...
somethings up, I can feel it. couple of things to keep an eye on
at 147 k miles the timing chain (if it has not been done already) will be getting marginal keep an ear out for rattling on start up
once it starts you have a couple of k's before it lets go
cheap way is to do a split chain which should cost a less than £200 from an independant
front discs are easy and cheap to replace
a set of brembo's from German Swedish and French (lots of them about ) will cost you about £40
And if its power you want 300 hp no problem
475 is a bit more difficult....
I know a guy thats taken his 2.0 lpt to over 350...
also these engines will rev to 10 k......
>> Edited by ylee coyote on Thursday 29th December 20:22
at 147 k miles the timing chain (if it has not been done already) will be getting marginal keep an ear out for rattling on start up
once it starts you have a couple of k's before it lets go
cheap way is to do a split chain which should cost a less than £200 from an independant
front discs are easy and cheap to replace
a set of brembo's from German Swedish and French (lots of them about ) will cost you about £40
And if its power you want 300 hp no problem
475 is a bit more difficult....
I know a guy thats taken his 2.0 lpt to over 350...
also these engines will rev to 10 k......
>> Edited by ylee coyote on Thursday 29th December 20:22
Cheers Coyote 
I had a good listen to the chain, it's as quiet as a mouse at the moment, but will definately keep a close ear on it.
Christ almighty, there are some bonkers 9000's out there, I had no idea these things could be tweaked so well.
>> Edited by silverback mike on Thursday 29th December 20:26
I had a good listen to the chain, it's as quiet as a mouse at the moment, but will definately keep a close ear on it.
Christ almighty, there are some bonkers 9000's out there, I had no idea these things could be tweaked so well.
>> Edited by silverback mike on Thursday 29th December 20:26
depends
the 2 l (I have forgotten the number ) out of the 9000 and NG 900 can be made into real screamers and they are not short of the torques either
however the B234 is the daddy this can be tuned to 500 hp on standard internals no problem and give 450 ft lbs of torque
the 235 2.3 engine in the 9-5 has a few issues
the pistons are only good for 300 hp before they break ,also the piston rings were designed to be "low friction" and there is quite a bit of "blow by" which the crankase ventilation system finds difficult to cope with
there has been several modifications to the system but none wholely satisfactory. This can cause sludge build up and blocks oilways causing failed turbo's and big ends and quite a few siezed engines...
cured by getting the latest pcv mod kit and changing oil religiosly..(or sticking in a b234 block)
the 2 l (I have forgotten the number ) out of the 9000 and NG 900 can be made into real screamers and they are not short of the torques either
however the B234 is the daddy this can be tuned to 500 hp on standard internals no problem and give 450 ft lbs of torque
the 235 2.3 engine in the 9-5 has a few issues
the pistons are only good for 300 hp before they break ,also the piston rings were designed to be "low friction" and there is quite a bit of "blow by" which the crankase ventilation system finds difficult to cope with
there has been several modifications to the system but none wholely satisfactory. This can cause sludge build up and blocks oilways causing failed turbo's and big ends and quite a few siezed engines...
cured by getting the latest pcv mod kit and changing oil religiosly..(or sticking in a b234 block)
The thing that gets me is the speed with which an overtake can be executed. I was toddling along behind someone yesterday doing about 40-45 on a 60 NSL and saw a reasonable gap. Now that's a rare thing and not to be passed up for overtaking practice!
Squeezed the right pedal and about 1 sec later I was alongside at +20mph and lifting and 1 sec later back on the correct side of the road at 60 settling into a cruise. And that on 95 octane unleaded as the Sainsbury's 97 seems to be in short supply.
The only problem seems to be that staying on the throttle for another half second or so will have the speedo needle touching 90 and it really is just too much fun getting there to resist sometimes. And that's in a standard Aero 9-5 with allegedly just 250bhp.
I would imagine around 300bhp and some more torque would be very interesting indeed.
Squeezed the right pedal and about 1 sec later I was alongside at +20mph and lifting and 1 sec later back on the correct side of the road at 60 settling into a cruise. And that on 95 octane unleaded as the Sainsbury's 97 seems to be in short supply.
The only problem seems to be that staying on the throttle for another half second or so will have the speedo needle touching 90 and it really is just too much fun getting there to resist sometimes. And that's in a standard Aero 9-5 with allegedly just 250bhp.
I would imagine around 300bhp and some more torque would be very interesting indeed.
Gassing Station | Saab | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff