Northern Auto Tech - ECU and Blue & Me Repairs
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Saab 9000 CSE (Saarge)

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Introduction

Saab 9000 CSE 'Ropey'

So for the first time since my first car (I'm up to car 5 now) I don't own a Fiat... It's been an interesting ride having absolutely loved my '92 Fiat Panda but couldn't find a worthy successor.
So I've ended up with the Swedish, its still vaguely a Fiat, its pre-GM and based on the Fiat type four platform.

So here's my 9000 CSE 2.3 Turbo
It cost me approximately 25p, has some niggles but it's a lovely car.





First things first needed some sort of modification so I fitted a classy boost gauge. Had to ditch the analogue clock to fit it so now I don't know what the time is unless I switch the radio off but as a result I get to see the many boosts I'm making :cool:



It's actually the wimpy low boost version with only 180hp but its 75 more than the fastest car I've owned to date :D

That's about it for now, eventually I may turn the boost up a bit... 300hp is easily attainable from these without any internal work :devil:
Click to expand...
I've been meaning to post an update for about 5 months now :eek:
I always had a real soft spot for the classic 900 and the 9000, I bought it because I saw an immaculate silver one in a car park, went home and looked them up again because it'd been a long time since I'd seen one and then ending up buying this :rolleyes:

I'll get some more pictures up soon but so far its just being a daily driver really.
Had some hiccups along the way including losing most of its coolant on the hard shoulder of the motorway, but once I got it to stop leaking it managed the rest of my 80 mile trip before I got it sorted (mostly).

The wastegate spring is really weak and was barely hitting 5psi but the actuator is so rusted (the clip that held it on turned to dust so the whole thing stopped working) so I can't adjust it so instead I fitted a bleed valve :slayer: Hits 9psi but sometimes it'll overboost a touch and hit fuel cut which ruins the fun :p
 
Well I have an actual update now, car now has a stage 1 tune on the ECU and the boost controller that the Aero's have to allow the ECU to manipulate the boost level.


This relatively boring box replaced my previous 'ordinary' ECU at 180ish hp to a nice 240ish, boost is turned up to 17psi :devil:

It was all fun and games for about 150 miles and then my 150k clutch started slipping :bang: It'll hold up for now so long as I don't load it up massively but I'll get it replaced soon :(
Also whilst hammering it on a slip road suddenly heard lots of hissing and boost dropped considerably, pulled over and checked all my new vacuum lines assuming one had popped off, all fine, got back in and drove a bit further and realised the hissing was very loud in the car and not out. :idea: Line had popped off the back of the boost gauge :rolleyes: So temporarily disconnected until I can be bothered to get at the back of it.
 
Didge3 said:
No JDM wipers unfortunately (?) Can indeed do a one-wipe without having to turn them on. It did have pointless headlight wipers (pointless in England anyway) but I removed them a while ago.
Click to expand...
Saab 9000 sister car to lancia thema essentially same cars apart from badges and engines.
Very underrated amazing cars.
 
Thicker metal but means more metal to rust, at the age they are now, mine being the last production year, its got some frilly bits. Its mainly body parts rather than the underpinnings so with regards to MOT its clean sheet but one of my front wings is awfully bubbly!
So much for going easy on the clutch, can't help myself with the extra oomph I now have, it slips whenever I get into high boost now, smelt it on a few occasions... Next payday will probably end up paying double the price I paid for the whole car....
 
Keeps on going, up to 3000 miles on the slipping clutch now, really pushing my luck :eek:
Various issues popping up all over the place now though, think its going to be a long MOT sheet come test time :(
Most recent being my idle shooting up to 3000rpm which was fun, not particularity easy to drive when the car is constantly trying to accelerate up to 3k :eek:
Turns out common issue when you turn up the boost on these when they're old, the brass fittings can get forced out of the intake manifold giving you a big ole' vacuum leak.



That's supposed to be fixed into the hole...
So needing a temporary repair at 7pm I used the best I had in the car,



Tape! Worked surprisingly well, holding the fitting in place at least but its not sealed against anything. I've gotten some JB Weld to stick the old bit back into the manifold.
 
Last edited:
Re: Saab 9000 CSE

We're now calling him Ropey as he's getting it by the day, got another year ticket under the belt, only failed on some disintegrated jubilee clips and headlight adjuster being broken, both of which fixed myself, cheapest MOT failure I've ever had at £9.
Nearing on 156k now with the clutch still slipping, I'm really starting to push my luck with it :eek:

Pretty overdue its service at this point too, so as soon as it gets a bit warmer...
 
Finally gave him a proper wash after just getting jet washed most of the winter. Looking a touch better now,

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Also fitted necessary sticker for turbocharged cars,

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Unfortunately not all is well, I'd forgotten about last years intermittent cooling leak problem which after quite a bit of troubleshooting turned out to be the expansion tank which has a small crack in it, once the coolant expands enough it all leaks out rather quickly... What did I do upon working this out last year? Leave it partially filled and carried on! :devil:
However sat in heavy traffic this evening and car turned into a kettle for the first time since last summer, decided to bite the bullet and buy an expansion tank :rolleyes:
 
Clutch slipping has gotten to the point of having to use the throttle very gingerly at motorway speeds so I've unplugged my 'boost controller', its a original Saab electronic valve of sorts that when the ECU tells it everything is ok (knock detection, engine temperature, engine RPM) it'll allow full boost, if one of those things isn't within spec it'll limit boost. By unplugging it I've sent it back to the basics of the mechanical wastegate which is only allowing 5psi, down from 18... :( But it no longer slips in any gear with my foot firmly in the carpet.
Clutches are expensive... :cry: :rolleyes:
 
Brief update.
Still going, just hit the 160k mile mark, clutch still slips in high boost but I drive it very economically nowadays to cut down my astronomical fuel bill. £100 per 250 miles ish because its all commuting in slow traffic. I was saving to get the clutch and various other bits fixed but I've come to the conclusion the car isn't worth it to me, its completely impractical for what I need, too big for driving in a city with a heavy clutch, heavy steering and of course its very thirsty.
So instead I'm redirecting my savings into a new car altogether.
I'll have to try to flog the Saab because it'd be horrible to scrap it, its got so many parts that would probably go to waste otherwise. MOT runs till March so hopefully I can flog it with 2-3 months left on it so a new owner can at least have a few months of not worrying about it!
 
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