UKSaabs

hi everyone,
is there anyone who could give me some advice, i have a 99 93 se lpturbo. i have been told that i could transform it to a fpt, but how can i do this, i will be doing it myself. so advice would be grately appreciated

I'd try and pick up an boost control solenoid and the hoses from the Parts for Sale section, a guy on here called Crazybrightman was selling a NG900 Speedparts ECU a while back aswell, maybe try PM'ing him to see if it's still availiable. I think your car is the same/similar engine management to the NG900 but maybe worth making a few more enquires to double check before buying anything.

You just need someone who is bit handy with a spanner then to connect it all up. Oh and maybe a custom boost gauge aswell.

ECU from a FPT 9-3 or Trionic GM900 and the APC solonoid is all you need,
Its a bit more tricky getting the 3 pipes connected from the APC to the wastegate and compressor than the 9K, but the whole job should only take less than 1 hour.

EDIT:

Forgot to mention.. The wiring loom for the APC Solonoid is located on the offside of the car, beteween the headlamp and radiator, you may need to fit a fuse in the fusebox on the circuit that states APC.

You may also have to adjust the tension on the wastegate mechanism to the correct pre-load.(base boost)

Cant remember the exact pressure, but rule of thumb is a further 2.5 turns inwards (shortening the wastegate arm)

Connect the 3 pipes from the APC solonoid as follows.
(Markings on Solonoid body by each connection)

C = Compressor (Body of turbocharger)
W = Wastegate
R = Return (Connects to air intake, this connection will have a blanking cap that needs to be removed prior to fitting the pipe)

thanks for the advice, i told me husband and he knows wat ur on about.

the above is all correct if your car is trionic 5 ie the centre of the engine will be red and have a large alloy pipe running down the right side of the engine. if your car has a completely black top to the engine and a plastic pipe on the righthand side of the engine then its trionic 7 and you cant fit the ecu from an earlier 9-3 or 900. the good news is if it is the later engine then im sure it comes with the apc etc already fitted so all you need is an ecu from a fpt car and you instantly get more power.

i have the tritronic 5 engine

thats good then its a much better engine than the later t7 and as mentioned i have an ecu for a 900 that may also work on the 9-3 as the engines the same just not sure if they use the same alarm system i will have to find out. if so that will take your car from around 150bhp too 210bhp+

I'll be doing this job tomorrow for my son, having just procured a non VSS ecu from a NG 900 SE FPT Coupe today.

My mate was breaking one today, No APC unit, so I'll have to use MBC until I get hold of the APC. Apparantly, the NG900 was a real flying machine ! he suspected it's been upgraded (Hirsh badge on the back and boosting well into the red zone)

Will let you know if I find any pitfalls.

The return pipe I mentioned earlier fits on the turbo body extension pipe, really easy to get at

thanks for the advice, let me no how you get on.

Total flying machine

He's having to run MBC, and I haven't hit the fuel cut off yet, so there's still a bit left yet. (or I have got the MBC on the limit, lack of boost gauge doesnt help, as mine sits about 3mm into the red now)

My kid is amazed at the transformation, His LPT 9-3 already had MBC and this made a huge difference, possibly compensating for weakness in the acutator over the years, but his LPT was certainly quicker than my LPT anni

The car pulls with very little throttle, typical MBC characteristics. The job took about half an hour, mostly trying to get the top retaining nut on the ECU and replacing the carpet in a tidy fashion.

I also fitted a dump valve for him against my better judgement, but he swears it goes better than with the original recirc valve, who knows ? maybe he just likes the likes the sound of it..

Having had a 9-5 LPT I have to admit that I wouldn't consider buying another. The idea is/was a good one but for what ever reason the 9-5 doesn't quite work (for me anyway) there isn't enough torque for the weight of the car. Not sure whether the same is true of the 9000 and 900 but I do know that the extra 25 BHP the CSE Turbo has over the Classic 9000 Turbo make a huge difference so I would expect the difference between LPT and FPT to be more significant.

If you plan to increase the boost a boost gauge would be a sensible addition, just a single pipe to connect to the inlet manifold. This will allow you a good idea of what is actually going on under the bonnet.

Note to prospective buyers of later cars, avoid LPT models where ever possible. Any one wish to disagree?

GeoffR wrote:Having had a 9-5 LPT I have to admit that I wouldn't consider buying another. The idea is/was a good one but for what ever reason the 9-5 doesn't quite work (for me anyway) there isn't enough torque for the weight of the car. Not sure whether the same is true of the 9000 and 900 but I do know that the extra 25 BHP the CSE Turbo has over the Classic 9000 Turbo make a huge difference so I would expect the difference between LPT and FPT to be more significant.

If you plan to increase the boost a boost gauge would be a sensible addition, just a single pipe to connect to the inlet manifold. This will allow you a good idea of what is actually going on under the bonnet.

Note to prospective buyers of later cars, avoid LPT models where ever possible. Any one wish to disagree?

Quite simple to remap these for nowt and get 220+bhp
Alanb

alanb as you have remaped your lpt with the b235r map how does the turbo cope? am i right in thinking the lpt uses the lil garrett? or as the standard b235r map is conservative for the TD04 its not excatly pushing the limits of the smaller turbo either?

Has anyone done this conversion, and ideally has lots of photo documention for it?

Ive just bought my second saab, but this one is a lpt 9-3. So moving from my current gm900t with stage1 theres a bit of a difference in performance. Just a tad...

I didn’t take any photos as I was going along but I’ve just put a few together today.

For the conversion you need an APC solenoid, the 3 APC pipes and your mapped ECU.
Remember your mapped ECU will need your VSS (vehicle security system) coding in unless you get a donor ECU with no VSS code.

Mount the APC solenoid next to the wiring loom plug for the APC. You will find the plug tucked under the rail. Just pull this out and plug it into your APC when you’ve mounted it to the car body with a couple of screws/bolts.
Check the fuse box under your bonnet that the fuse for the APC is in place. They usually are.



Next connect your 3 APC pipes from the APC to the relevant positions. The pipes are marked up C, W and R and connect up the following way:
C = Compressor (Body of turbocharger)
W = Wastegate
R = Return (Connects to air intake, this connection will have a blanking cap that needs to be removed prior to fitting the pipe)
One of the pipes loops round underneath and is practically impossible to fit from the top so you will more than likely need to crawl under your car to get it on.



OK, that the APC solenoid and pipes now fitted. next is the ECU.

This is located behind the carpet in the drivers footwell.
Remove the driver’s side kick plate then pull back the rubber seal around the door just enough to free the carpet. You will also need to remove the torque bolt that holds the under panel so you can pull the carpet right down.
It can be quite hard work as the carpet is moulded but after some pulling/twisting and cursing it will pull to one side to reveal the ECU.



Remember to disconnect the battery before you start to remove the ECU!

On top of the ECU is a black clip containing all the wiring. Remove this but it’s usually easier to remove this after you’ve removed the mounting bolts.
The ECU is bolted to the car with 3 bolts. The one nearest to you is easy enough but the 2 on the other side are a lot harder!
Once removed fit your new ECU and reverse the procedure.
However I only put 2 bolts back in for my ECU as it was far too much like hard work to get all 3 in!
After you’ve reconnected your battery, wait 15/20 minutes before you start the car. It’s to give time for the new ECU to adapt to the car.
When ready start her up and away you go!

Thanks for the picture guide TopGear.

Ive removed the remapped ecu from my old gm900, that will be going in the 9-3. Got the 6mm hose, just need to get a APC valve. Someone I know has 2 knocking about somewhere and is going to give them to me. Where did you get the clips to hold the hoses in place from? I was thinking about having a look round a scrapyard to get them off a donor saab.

I was of two minds whether to change the ecu on the 9-3 since its in such good condition, but 150bhp is a big drop from the gm900 I had.

The connectors were already on by chance.
Picked up all 3 pipes as a set off eBay,

Scrap yard might be your best bet.

Im going scrapyard hunting tomorrow to source a apc valve and the clips.

What would happen if I didnt alter the wastegate arm length?

You will just keep base boost.
By adjusting the arm you can adjust the boost but that's as much as I know as that subject is way over my head. lol

I think its been discussed in a few threads under 'performance'
Try search or start a new thread.

Didnt get to go in the end, the 3 I tried were all closed.

Im seriously considering holding back on the stage one until I get a 6 point subframe brace on the car aswell as the newly fitted steering clamp.