UKSaabs

I have succumbed to my lack of resolve and too much space down the side of the house and bought another 9-5 which was for sale HERE

Having lost the long description of the why, how and whats because I spent too much time matching Le Tour and my posting got lost in the time-out I will post a summary for now.

Travelled down by train, picked it up and drove it back to Wigan and stashed it in the station carpark. Then a couple of days later drove to carpark, swapped cars and drove nameless to Alty's for a service, ATF flush, sump drop with mods to strainer and new PCV stuff. The exhaust also tried to fall apart when removed. Using the original downpipe, the unused mid-section I had at home and some new bits the exhaust was sorted. The discs will be ready to replace next service (I have spares in the living room) and a couple of the bushes are showing a smidgen of play. May pass MOT, may not. I will have then done anyway before Feb when the MOT is due.

Being the "Airflow" it has all the Aero suspension, wheels and bits and bobs on the dash but a LPT turbo (or should that be LP Turbo??). I wasn't going to touch the ECU but am wavering and I am not sure about the carbon dash as I don't have a matching cardigan.

This is to be my commuter. Auto for stress free traffic crawling works for me. It will also allow me a bit of flexibility in working on Itchy. I still haven't fitted the quick-shifter...

I have taken quite a shine to it already. Literally. Today I washed it, something I cannot remember when I actually got wets hands with any of the others. Are you sitting down? I have also started polishing it too. Proper stuff, the kind those strange types use in the Spit & Polish Room. The peanut Butter will also put an appearance as well this week.

I will name it at some point, but nothing has come to mind yet. And that's it for now. Will see how it runs this next few weeks and finishing the polishing and peanuting of parts.

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Underskatt aldrig en gammal man med en gammal SAAB

Tis simple Tim!

https://youtu.be/867iyhVFyEw

You can have Silvia pt.3 if you like.

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Remote Control Leakage Detection IDEA person!
I thought of this FIRST!

Silvia, whether in parts or not is too much like a "person". But thanks for the offer.
Something will pop up sooner or later.

I'm not sure what I was browsing for yesterday but on that auction site onto my results popped some Black Walnut dash surrounds. "Oh I like them" and I "watched" them. Today I fired up my EPC to see what the part numbers were and did a Google search. More to find out what prices they are going for than anything.

Result!!

I found THIS at Saab Parts Direct for £43.96 delivered. One is currently on it's way to Wigan.

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Underskatt aldrig en gammal man med en gammal SAAB

Nice one Tim!

That isn't the same as what I got in Edvie is it? It is a loverly colour innit? I don't know what code it is. It was out of 2004 RW!

Never seen this colour on any of my 9-5's. This why I kept it. I have binned plastic/walnut/brushed ally/carbon fibre dashes.
Not binned this!

I do just happen to have the missing ashtray to match. I will not need this in Edvie.... She will have the cubby hole instead!

Cue evil laughter (much profit) from me!.....

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Remote Control Leakage Detection IDEA person!
I thought of this FIRST!

Mwah ha ha all you like. I want a cubby hole.

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Underskatt aldrig en gammal man med en gammal SAAB

That is the RIGHT answer Tim. Cubby hole = even more profit!

Told you I was evil! Didn't I?

Even if I have to buy another 9-5!

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Remote Control Leakage Detection IDEA person!
I thought of this FIRST!

Choice. I did the same to get rid of the shiny silver one that came in mine! Not quite as black as the pics look (more obvious wood grain in mine anyway) but so much better than the common wood ones. Might swap it for a carbon one at some point, but that's just becase I get bored easily!

The first couple of weeks were uneventful and then I got a CEL. 3 actually where basically said it's your CPS and and your DIC that's not playing nicely. Swapped the DIC at the weekend and that's two faults cleared. Just waiting for a period free of rain after 6pm to tackle the CPS. I'm going in from underneath for this one.

Things to do:
Replace the CPS. This needs a rain free evening.
Fit a set of Heko wind deflectors. They should be fitted one evening this week. They don't require lying down on a damp floor so can be any night.
Check the H7 bulbs up front to see if they are "good" ones. Uprate as needed
LED bulbs in the reversing and rear fog lights. No hassles from SID about these.
Replace all the interior bulbs with LEDs. I may go for an age inappropriate purple hue.
Replace the vacuum hoses with silicon. I have loads to chose from, maybe purple again.
Put my spare Saab Warning Triangle in the fittings in the boot lid.

Still no name has sprung to mind.

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Underskatt aldrig en gammal man med en gammal SAAB

Well that surprises me. It's only a couple of weeks since I decided that the CPS needed replacing and it's been done. Not by me I must add. There's a garage about 5 minutes walk from the office that is. errm, a bit messy. Actually it's main work seems to be tyres and all manner of bits of bikes and off-road buggys and stuff. Proper back-street garage in all senses.

However they sorted out the mess I made when changing the CPS on Itchy and could fit me in today when my other local garage had a two week wait for a slot. Dropped the car off this morning on the way to the office and collected it this afternoon with an error free dash.

I did start to attempt to change the CPS over the bank holiday weekend but my aches and pains made that a farcical non-starter shortly after I'd got the front all jacked up so i could attack it from underneath. Car in the air and I could barely get on the ground without pain. Arthritis - i could do without...

It also feels quite sprightly. Though that may be the "benefits" of the auto being quicker changing gear when *cough* commuting.

Still nameless.

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Underskatt aldrig en gammal man med en gammal SAAB

Nothing much except I have named it BigBus as it's main function is to transport me to and from work with as little effort and stress as possible. Being an auto it manages this wonderfully enough for me to ignore the MPG returns.

Over Xmas the vehicle of choice has been Itchy and when I came to move BigBus after several days it was very reluctant to start. Maybe the OBDII reader I left plugged in could have been a cause but I made an executive decision and got a new battery. No faffing about trying to drag a few more months out of a failing battery for me! Started first time with it fitted and has been sound ever since. The old battery had a date on the side from six or so years ago so it was time to retire it.

A nice comfortable place to be.

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Underskatt aldrig en gammal man med en gammal SAAB

I took BigBus for an MOT this morning, using the time slot originally booked for Itchy. I didn't take itchy as I have still not resolved the emissions issue. To be honest all I have done is swap the DICs between Itchy and BigBus and it's been a bit inclement the weather round here this week. (Dear Santa, I promise to be good for a garage)

I am pleased that BigBus passed with just a tweak to the right headlamp alignment and a promise that I will replace the number plate bulbs. Tony (MOT Man) was going to change them till he saw the state of the rusty heads on the screws.

I am a little disappointed that no error followed the DIC, though that does suggest all is well in that department on Itchy.

I should point out that BigBus's MOT was up in Feb anyway.

And... Tony did say I could take Itchy round and he'd check the emissions when I wanted to check any changes, even if he was doing an MOT at the time. I'm sure I'll have to wait a it but that's a proper solution on how to check it out without paying for an MOT.

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Underskatt aldrig en gammal man med en gammal SAAB

My 9-5 has the same problem, very rusty allen bolts holding the number plate light covers on. I did try with the best fitting allen bit I had but one of them just rounded as you'd expect and I haven't tried removing the other three yet. If you find a way of removing them then please let me know

Renamed, again!!
Driving to work musing and I thought of joss stick, the reg is A17JOS. And if I ever get round to getting a correct age related reg nobody will work it out. It amused me. Also "Bus" was awkward.

The reason for the thread update is I got round to fitting these on Saturday. The deflectors that is.
Note the classy carpark at work.

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Underskatt aldrig en gammal man med en gammal SAAB

Other fitting than the deflectors it's just been driven to and from work and shares the driving workload at the weekend, depending on if I can be bothered to shuffle the fleet around on the drive. The new office in Westhoughton means a slightly changed route and the average speed is up to 18mph and the mpg is up to 21.7mpg (as per SID). Oh how the morning drive flies by...

I checked the ATF the other day and it's starting to look ready for another flush but apart from checking the oil and spoiling it with Many Rons petrol it just does the job every day. No plans to Noob it as I've Itchy for that sort of stuff. The Sport button does the job in the commuter crawl well enough when aiming for a gap.

Still very pleased with it.

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Underskatt aldrig en gammal man med en gammal SAAB

Pleased to hear it is still serving you well

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When you think you know it all, it's a sure sign you don't.

Did a round trip to Worcester in it the other weekend and got the mid-30s mpg. It's doing a fine job.

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Underskatt aldrig en gammal man med en gammal SAAB

Such fine cars. Understated, understressed and unknown to many people.

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'99 9-5 2.3 SE manual sal. With upgrades.
'06 Jeep Cherokee 2.8 CRD.
'00 BMW e39 523i manual.

The gearchange was beginning to feel a touch clunky so I've had it changed this morning as part of a service. Feels much better now. They replaced a couple of exhaust rubbers as well.

The Christmas lights on the dash for the brakes, TCS, etc couldn't be interrogated so we decided to get the unit refurbished. They've been appearing and disappearing regularly for a while and my investigations make me think the same. Other than that there's nothing to worry about for the MOT next month.

I'll use the 9000 as my daily while the ABS thing is being sorted.

Another happy six months of just putting petrol in and driving it.

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Underskatt aldrig en gammal man med en gammal SAAB

Hurrmph, now on the naughty step because the gearbox spat it's dummy which needed the AA to attend and get me home. I'll be investigating more over the weekend.

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Underskatt aldrig en gammal man med en gammal SAAB

Sorry to hear that, hope its easily sorted.

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When you think you know it all, it's a sure sign you don't.