Bought a 9-5 from auction - and its buggerd :( ....help!

Bought a 9-5 from auction - and its buggerd :( ....help!

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cqueen

Original Poster:

2,631 posts

227 months

Tuesday 11th September 2007
quotequote all
I've just bought a 9-5 3.0t v6 1999 from auction. It seemed sweet until I drove it out the gate and realised it was indeed - buggerd.

Basically it runs, but sruggles to stay at idle. When you floor it there is no power. i.e foot to the floor and very very slow to get going.

I only got it 100 yards and smoke was coming out from the bonnet with a strong smell. It seems like it's not firing on all cylinders. The oil seems fine and there are no rattles or strange noises. I'm stumped.

Any ideas? I bought it for £1000 and will be happy if the repair bill is less than <£500.

I went from being well chuffed to absolutly gutted in 3 seconds.

cqueen

Original Poster:

2,631 posts

227 months

Tuesday 11th September 2007
quotequote all
Sorry for the triple post, nothing seemed to happen when i tried to post...

BIG DUNC

1,918 posts

230 months

Tuesday 11th September 2007
quotequote all
Without slightly more details it is very difficult to give advise.
Have you checked the basics like plugs & leads etc.
Does it has the correct fuel in it?
Where is the smoke coming coming from?

If I were you, I would get it to your local garage and ask them to put their fault code reader on it, do a compresion test, check the spark, check the timing, check the fuel pressure, check the emisions. Those six tests ( can be done in any order ) should give an indication of the problem. A decent garage should be able to tell you quite quickly from that where they think the problem is. Could be anything really. You may be lucky & find it is something simple, but its more likely its not.

Out of interest, let us know how you get on.

aeropilot

36,535 posts

234 months

Tuesday 11th September 2007
quotequote all
The smell and other symptoms you describe might well indicate it could well be the DI cartridge, or rather one or both of them, as you have 2 of them on the V6, one for each bank of cyls. They tend to emit a smell when they fail.

If it is the DI units, you should scrape through under your 500 quid budget.

See here....

http://www.elkparts.com/product_info.php/cPath/75_482_487/products_id/3321 

However, you should get it checked by a Saab specialist first to make sure you don't pay out for something that didn't need replacing....thumbup

cqueen

Original Poster:

2,631 posts

227 months

Tuesday 11th September 2007
quotequote all
Couple of people have pointed to the DI cassette. If this is causing the plastic smell, could it also be causing the woefully sluggish performance?

aeropilot

36,535 posts

234 months

Tuesday 11th September 2007
quotequote all
cqueen said:
Couple of people have pointed to the DI cassette. If this is causing the plastic smell, could it also be causing the woefully sluggish performance?
Yes, because it's likely only one of them has failed, so you would be only running on 3 cyls as the bank with the failed DI on won't be firing.

If it is one of the DI's, best to replace as a pair.

cqueen

Original Poster:

2,631 posts

227 months

Wednesday 12th September 2007
quotequote all
Someone now saying that if it is the di the CAT will go too...?

aeropilot

36,535 posts

234 months

Wednesday 12th September 2007
quotequote all
cqueen said:
Someone now saying that if it is the di the CAT will go too...?
It's very possible, depending on long it's been run in this state, as all the unburnt fuel from the non-working bank will have been chucked straight down the downpipe into the cat......and unburnt fuel is a cat killer. This is a problem with the V6 as they will still just about run on one bank, unlike the 4 cyl turbo's that have only the one DI cartridge, so can't run when it's buggered, so standing more chance of not damaging the cat.

And unfortunately, being a V6 there is no aftermarket downpipe and cat available to replace cheaply.....unlike the 4 cyl turbo's.




Edited by aeropilot on Wednesday 12th September 08:25

cqueen

Original Poster:

2,631 posts

227 months

Wednesday 12th September 2007
quotequote all
Ok now I've also heard that the di cassette is a Saab recall and so there's a possility I could get it fixed for free. Could anyone shed light on that?

Nick_F

10,295 posts

253 months

Wednesday 12th September 2007
quotequote all
There's a free fix on 4-cyl DI cassettes for a specific range of chassis numbers, 1999 - 2001, I think, don't know about the V6, though.

cqueen

Original Poster:

2,631 posts

227 months

Wednesday 12th September 2007
quotequote all
Gonna get the VIN at lunch time and pass it onto my friend at Saab, fingers firmly crossed!

cqueen

Original Poster:

2,631 posts

227 months

Wednesday 12th September 2007
quotequote all
My model isnt coverd! bugger! oh well