saablog

Despite information on SaabCentral, to the contrary, I'm afraid that the head gasket  is the source of BSOS woes. I found the following information on www.thesaabsite.com when searching the FAQs under Engine Smoke:


A problem that will cause your car to smoke or steam after sitting overnight could be a faulty head gasket. A faulty head gasket will allow the cooling system pressure to bleed coolant into the combustion chamber overnight causing the vehicle to blow white smoke and create a sweet smell from the exhaust until the exhaust has become hot enough to burn all of the antifreeze away. The gasket usually blows between Cylinders # 2 and # 3.

If the engine is only smoking during cold start and you have a sweet smell coming from the tailpipe check the headgasket to see if it is leaking down overnight. You can often check this by pulling the spark plugs and looking at the piston tops. If they are silver then they are likely getting steamed cleaned because coolant is leaking into the combustion chamber during the cooldown process.

The first paragraph very accurately describes what I've got. I've just called my repair shop and gotten a quote for replacing the HG: $1850 with rebuilt head, $1400 without. The necessary gaskets themselves purchased online are $72.50 plus shipping.

I'm afraid I don't have the skills to replace the HG myself. It looks like my cherished, fun project car is dead unless I can find some friends or family members willing to help me undertake replacement of the HG.

Friends of BSOS 900, please comment or email me with your thoughts. Thanks.

The sages at Saab Central told me how to check quickly whether the head gasket had failed... pull each spark plug and shine a flash light into the hole to inspect the top of the piston. If coolant is getting in there, the piston will be washed and clean looking. Otherwise it will be dirty like the inside of a motor.

I did that, and all of the pistons were dirty. So what does that tell me? I've still got escaping coolant, that SEEMS to be getting out through the exhaust. Check out my videos.

You'll remember reading that the 900 turned 120,000 miles recently. If you're really astute (or if you look in the Saablog archive) you'll recall that this month marks the 2-year anniversary of my purchase of the car. As Washington state requires emission testing bi-annually for vehicles in the metro area, I went today during lunch to have the 900's emissions checked.

One of the things the testers do is look for the CHECK ENGINE light on the dashboard; if it's illuminated you immediately fail the test. When the 900 idles for longer than a minute or two, its CHECK ENGINE light tends to illuminate. The lamp goes out when I start driving again. It doesn't bother me, but I couldn't risk having it turn on while I idled in line for my emissions test.

All of the "idiot" lamps for the dashboard are accessible through the driver-side speaker opening. When the rear window defroster lamp burned out last year, I replaced it with the cruise control's lamp since the cruise control is inoperative. I won't admit to having done anything wrong, and the 900 did pass its $15 emission test. Now I just need to pay the $49.50 and renew the license.


Of course, it doesn't make sense to license a car that doesn't work, or that I'm going to have to be rid of. Lately I've been having A LOT of smoke on startup, and I burned through the coolant in my coolant reservoir in just 800 miles, so I believe I'm consuming coolant. That likely points to a headgasket failure. Today a heavy white smoke bellowed from the back of the 900 until I was merging on to I-5, so for almost a mile.

I don't think I have the mechanical aptitude to replace a head gasket. I certainly lack the confidence required to undertake replacing the head gasket. It will cost upwards of $1000 to have a mechanic replace it, and then I'll still have a failed 2nd gear synchro (though I'm quite good at double-declutching) and will still need new brakes.

I need to sit down with the ledger book and see how much money the 900 has cost me this year. Having a third car is so fun, especially my eye-catching classic 900, which is a car I've always wanted to own, and which has practically spawned its own lifestyle brand (Black Saab Orange Stripe). Having gotten the interior up to snuff this autumn makes the car feel (on the inside) like comfortable, well-cared-for car. But I can't justify spending thousands of dollars to bring it back to life, when it wouldn't have as much resale value as what I had put in to it. It's sad because I really like having the car and driving the car.