Comments on: 9-5 Aero failure – any thoughts?

By: Lawrence

Lawrence — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 12:19:59 +0000

My 2000 Saab 95 Aero was recently in the shop for replacement of a crank sensor. Engine started but Turbo failed at 147K. Mechanics attributed the failure to engine sludge. Now it’s sitting in my garage until I can replace the Turbo. No warning indicators prior to this event.

By: Frank

Frank — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 12:35:24 +0000

I think I will do that from now on, basic i have a new car right now.

Thanks

By: Joe Loo

Joe Loo — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 09:53:55 +0000

Frank, you seem to be the victim of heat due to hot weather as we have in OZ. I’ve had a similar incident with my 9-3 Aero one day in summer where temperatures were in 39 heading fast to 40 + degrees and was stuck in heavy traffic. At the end the tironic box had to be replaced but I had a few warnings in “check your engine” that was not going away. The kit for the 2.3 is called Aeration/Breathing kit which replaces the original as it has bigger hoses and wider grills for the hot air to come out of the engine. It’s a Saab part not an after market one. Ironically I have to change the oil of the 9-3 in the next 2 weeks. I promise to get all the details, part #s etc and mail this to Swade so that he can share this around as this has been the saver for my 9-5. Prior to this I was having oil leaks due to high temp in the engine and through expansion on hot days the oil was leaking. No more since this unit was installed. Steve Emmanuel from Saabserve was the one that got this solution and from my last visit he can not keep up with demand as every 2.3 he services is ending up with this unit. After this nasty episode try to change oil at 5 -7 Ks. The cost is minimal when compared to serious damage like yours let alone the frustration, angriness, bad mood etc etc….it’s not good for our livers !!!!

By: Frank

Frank — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 07:45:51 +0000

Hello again,

@David: I check the oil level one night before (about 400km before) and it was OK.

@MC: the first owner was the executive of the dealership, and trust me he did everything to the car and kept in verrry good shape, everything is intact, the only thing is that shit happens when you expect at least…

@Nevitz: the difference is also the turbocharger, Aero has a high pressure charger

@ Simon A: they check everything, and all things works in the set parameters, the explanation was that the oil sensor is mounted too low and when it come on is far too late

@eggsngrits: the oil comes out on the exhaust like a white and dense smoke, but I see it only when I arrived in town at a traffic light, too late.

@Joe Logo: the dealership changing oil intervals is here at 15.000k, with full synthetic Mobil 1, I was changing the oil at 8.000-10.000km.
What exactly do you do to change the air flow? And when I change the trionic box they told me that the cause of the failure can be the hot weather and I see that the engine is very hot and slow chilling down, it is good on cold weather, but on hot weather……

If I expected what was happening and stop right there I only have to change the turbo, my disappointed is that the lights doesn’t come on when they should do, and you know that the car is equipped with a lot of electronics and computers they have to know when something is wrong especially something like missing oil.

I only want that Saab know this problem and at least make some changes to the future models.

I really like this car, it gives you everything, power, comfort, safety.

Thanks again

By: Joe Lobo

Joe Lobo — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 00:46:42 +0000

Well, any turbo engine simply must have oil replaced in 7.5 k intervals as a maximum or earlier. Sludge build up is a killer and despite manufacturers suggesting oil change at 15K+ intervals if you do not regularly replace Oil and Filter you will blow up the engine very soon. The other issue in the 9.5 (and in general with all 2.3 lit Engines) is the original aeration system does not allow proper breathing which in hot climates like ours makes the engine run too hot. I have changed this on my 9.5 and there are no more oil leaks and the engine runs much more relieved. At A$100 or so it’s a very small investment. All Viggen owners should look at this as a must as engine temperatures in Viggs go even higher. I am surprised that high temperature warnings did not show up prior to the engine stoppage. It is a very rare case I must admit.

By: eggsngrits

eggsngrits — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 23:18:23 +0000

This is a sad, sad, story. I feel for you.

One question: if the turbocharger failed and oil leaks from there, it isn’t really burning oil, right? The oil is simply leaking into the exhaust line, which I guess is very hot, but not necessarily hot enough to burn the oil, correct?

Just trying to learn something here….

By: Simon A

Simon A — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 22:16:56 +0000

My lpt failed in a very similar fashion – but when the seals wnt, it dumped most of the oil through the exhaust… leaving one hell of a cloud of smoke and oil on the guy behind me!

It didn’t, however, give me any warnings about oil pressure or anything. no Check Engine, nothing. I drove it to the nearest town (luckily I was close!) with no boost at all, and had it towed 200Km to the nearest Saab joint.

Fortunately, the only damage was to the turbo.

This was on a long-suffering lpt with 180,000k’s. I was told that the Aero was much less likely to suffer the same fate, as the Mitsu turbo is much stronger than the Garrett.

The only other side effects were a BPV full of oil and not working properly anymore (nice excuse to get a Forge unit!) and a grotty Throttle body. get your mechanic to check these when you get the turbo done.

By: Richo

Richo — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 22:10:52 +0000

i’ve had the same issue in the Viggen. Low oil, no light. I check mine every 2 weeks and replace every 5k. Always was a bit confused as to why the car never told me it was starved.

and my belief is that the B205 is a GM inspied engine, not a red block.

By: Nevitz

Nevitz — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 21:35:05 +0000

I was under the impression that the 2.3t and the 2.3T engines were the same, and just were equipped with different ECU software to increase boost pressure. Is this the case?

What are the differences? Is there a different turbo?

By: MC

MC — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 20:41:59 +0000

There are some troubles fairly known with the 9-5 Aero engine.. by some reason the early models have an oil circulation problem the for a brief moment stops the regular circuit creating a huge pression inside the engine, making it to collapse just like this one: no noise, no lights, quietly dying.. Seems to me that having the car regularly serviced at a Saab dealership should have been taken in consideration to get you a new engine, not only a repair.. otherwise the problem will probably happen again!
Check w/ your dealer about what was really done to your car..