Found my LeMons car!

[RSB]

Headed to Yulee, Fl to pick it up. Planning to race in the Feb. race at Kershaw S.C. May have one more spot for a driver...http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/cto/1474290034.html

[Andy S]

If it throws any error codes at you then let me know if you need me to translate them. You'll find that us Saab owners learn how to read those error codes and what they mean *very* quickly.

Usually they mean 'That'll be $1,000 for a repair, please!' in my experience...

[Todd McCreary]

manual trans with a turbo? could be a pretty hot little number.

[RSB]

Darn!

Sorry about the "dead" link. The guy removed the ad. I'll try to post another pic....Sure is scary not knowing a @#!^*$% thing about a SAAB!

[Andy S]

They really are great cars, and those engines can sing for a long time. I absolutely love mine, even now it's got 160,000 miles on it.

The only issue with them is that they're basically computers on wheels. I had the ignition cassette replaced on mine a couple of years ago by a little local garage, and they just couldn't get it to work again. Turned out it had to be taken to a Saab dealer to be hooked up to their computer just to 'marry' the part - i.e. tell the computer that the new part was part of the car and should be controlled by it. If you have any issues with the electronics or a computer-controlled part then you're dead for the day.

[RSB]

Yikes!

Damn, you're making me even more scared! I was REALLY having second thoughts on buying this car after looking under the hood! What a mess in such a small compartment! And I haven't even crawled underneath it yet! May end up using a Camaro for my next LeMons project if things don't go well in our first race. Especially after all the "wine and cheese" racers on the LeMons forums are bad-mouthing Chevy's. I know how to make a Camaro handle and can pretty much diagnose and fix anything on it. Unfortunately, my teamates wanted a small, front wheel drive car with a 5 speed. Time will tell, I guess.
Andy, if you get a chance, look at the picture I posted in another thread and tell me what to change!! LOL!

[Andy S]

The good news is that you've got a car that has way more performance built into it than most average drivers can ever appreciate, so you start in a good place. It's also going to be very reliable as those things are built to do 200,000 miles with little trouble.

The bad news is the computer of things. The computer is incredibly sensitive and has a whole bunch of tricks up its sleeve should it think things aren't going well. The most common thing on my 9-5 is the throttle body failing, and one day the computer decided that it wasn't working the way it wanted, so stuck my car in 'limp home' mode than only a dealer reset could remedy. I don't know if it's the same in the 9000 but the ignition cassette thing - where the whole ignition set-up is a sealed unit that had to be replaced as one piece and then 'married' to the computer - can be a nightmare too. I've had two of them fail.

But the good news is that all you really need to know is here: The Saab Central Forums

They have one specifically for you car too, and will love the challenges you could set them! If you're near Orlando and get into trouble there's also an independent Saab shop called Swedecentral in Winter Park who are really nice guys: Swedecentral of Winter Park

Most importantly, they have access to a Tech2 computer, which is the diagnostic computer usually only found at Saab dealerships. Get into real problems and they should be able to help.

Hope that is all of use. Good luck flying the Saab flag!

[Todd McCreary]

I was REALLY having second thoughts on buying this car after looking under the hood! What a mess in such a small compartment!


i would strip out everything i could. given how twitchy Andy says the onboard cpu is, you might want to contact some of those Saab shops to see if they can help you with that.

[RSB]

Thanks

Thanks for the info. The car is stripped already....thank God!

[Andy S]

You should be fine then. Thankfully the 9000 series is a bit more mechanical than the later models like my own 9-5. Your biggest issue will be if a major part goes and the computer won't accept your repair, but in this kind of race I guess that's a risk you can take. Anything else you need should be somewhere on Saabcentral as those guys are pretty thorough. Twice I've been able to diagnose a problem from advice on that website that the Saab dealer couldn't figure out!

Definitely stay away from the 9-5 or 9-3 though - there's barely anything mechanical left in them that the computer doesn't control. My own doesn't even have anything as basic as a throttle cable - a sensor on the throttle pedal links via the computer to the electronic throttle body!