How to Get Perfect Fluid Levels

The SAAB 9-5 has some of the hardest to read dipsticks. The markings can be confusing and the fluid seems to end up on parts of the stick that you know doesn’t reflect the fluid level. Personally, it leaves me doubting my level readings.

I use my fluid vacuum and a clothes-pin to get the perfect level after a fluid change or top off.

Start by refilling or topping off the appropriate sump as normal. Add a little extra fluid so it is just slightly over-filled. Less than a quarter quart is plenty extra.

Line the end of the vacuum tube with the max level line on the dipstick you are using.

And then clip the clothes-pin on the vacuum tube where it lines up with the top of the dipstick seal.

Put the vacuum tube into the sump, stopping when you reach the clip.

And then start sucking out the extra fluid. The vacuum pump will stop when the fluid level is correct.

SAAB 9-5 Stage 1 Project

The wife says I can’t use our money to purchase a Stage 1 ECU upgrade. Something about frivolous, waste of… something… I don’t know, the engine revving noises in my head were drowning out her voice at that point. So I’ll be slowly squirreling away money for this project. My goal is $1000 total and to save at least $100 a month, but I don’t plan on it taking 10 months. I’d really like to get this done in the summer while the streets are snow, salt, and sand free and the weather is nice.

I added a little tally near the bottom at the side of the page, for my own motivation. I figure my fear of the public seeing the tally not changing will keep me moving the project along.

SAAB 9-5 Spark Plug Gap Experiment

Yesterday on this SAABCentral thread the question was raised about spark plug gap size and fuel mileage. I offered to re-gap my plugs and see what happens.

My spark plugs were gapped at 1.1mm and I was getting 25mpg before I started.

I re-gapped them to .88mm and put everything back together.

Moments after tightening down the direct ignition cassette I drove to dinner. Immediately there was an improvement in the car’s idle. The idle was smoother and quieter; I had forgotten how quiet the car could run. I don’t have the proper tools to gauge performance on the car, although my butt-dyno did not feel any decrease in performance. Obviously it is too soon to know if the miles per gallon have changed.

I plan on driving around with the smaller gaps this weekend, see what happens, and report back here and on SAABCentral. I’ve decided, barring any problems, that I’m keeping the gaps small for the improved idling even if there is no improvement in gas mileage.

UPDATE:

I widened the gaps to just under 1mm because my MPG started falling with the small gaps and the car had trouble starting one afternoon.

I’m also in the middle of another spark plug experiment. As I confessed at the end of this post from October, I installed Autolite platinum spark plugs in my SAAB 9-5 instead of the stock NGK brand. I’m up to around 6,000 miles on these plugs and I’ve had no issues. As I stated at the time, I’m willing to put my cassette at risk to help prove that a different brand of plug won’t cause any problems.

A Great Place To Install Auxiliary Switches On The SAAB 9-5

I don’t have a need for some extra switches, but these are the kind of things that go through my head while I’m sitting in my car. Looking around the internet, it’s popular to put switches in the various blanks on the 9-5 dash. It makes sense and allows for easy access.

But I looked at the weird coin holder in the console and  I saw an opportunity.

The space behind the holder is wide open

And if you don’t want to draw attention to the switches, just pull out the armrest.

A plate would need to be made to cover the hole and secure the switches, but that wouldn’t be difficult. I also wonder about a small, non-critical gauge like an amplifier power or temperature gauge for a custom car stereo.

The Windshield Fiasco

Back in February I wrote about my windshield getting chipped by the gravel our road crews put on the streets during ice and snow. This weekend I finally got that damage repaired.

Before:

After:

Chip repair is free* with my insurance, but I don’t think I will ever bother doing it through them again. At the least I won’t be returning to the shop my agent sent me to. The repair was fine, but the customer service was poor and it took two trips before I got it repaired because they lied to me over the phone. I was quoted 20-30 minutes on the phone and was told 1.5 hours when I arrived. I had taken an early lunch from work to get it repaired and couldn’t wait that long. I had to come back the next day. This time I was told 20-30 minutes and it ended up being 45 minutes, which is more acceptable; but while I was waiting there was an old lady that came in and said she had been told 1 hour before she arrived and was now being told 2 hours once she was there. It sounds like this shop has a problem with scheduling jobs and estimating time, plus the people were borderline rude to the customers. I’m not posting the business name, but I’ve been warning friends and family about this shop and recommending they stay away.

Bottom line: The amount of time (both driving and waiting), the road toll I paid to drive up there the first time, my lost lunch, and the hassle… this free* chip repair was more expensive than going to the store and buying a do-it-yourself repair kit. I have used the store bought kits before, the finished results would have been the same. I learned my lesson; pay the $10 for a repair kit from the store and do it myself.

I’m not sure if many people know this, but the people at the insurance office often get things for referring customers to a specific business. This means you might not get sent to the best shop, only the shop that gives the best swag. My wife used to work in an insurance office and it seemed every business had some deal (gift cards, movie tickets…) for sending business their way. So don’t be afraid of refusing to go to the first place your insurance company sends you if you have a bad feeling about that business.

*it’s not really free; we all pay for everyone’s chip repair when we send in our money to the car insurance companies.

SAAB Secrets: Spare Tire Edition

“On the outskirts of every agony sits some observant fellow who points.” Virginia Woolf

I discovered this morning, as I was leaving for work, that I had a flat tire. Unless you’ve had a flat tire on your SAAB you probably don’t know the color of the spare tire. It’s ‘clown car’ red. Sure, it’s done as a safety feature, but I think there was some malice thrown in there too. Why not put some salt in the wound of having a flat tire by giving the car a bright red spare.

Photo Shoot

It’s almost spring, the weather is almost nice, the sun is almost shining, the car is almost clean, sounds like it is almost the perfect morning to take some photos.

Remove and De-badge SAAB 9-5 Name and Model Emblems From Trunk

Not everyone wants to de-badge their car. That’s fine with me, I tend my own knitting. There is nothing wrong with the brand and model badges on the back of the 9-5, but I really do love the way the trunk looks with just the blue SAAB emblem in the center and no other identification.

It is easy to remove the chrome SAAB and 9-5 badges from the trunk ( or boot) . The results are really clean and I think it makes an improvement. The chrome letters and numbers on the SAAB trunk always looked cheap to me and they were great at collecting gunk (as you can see in my 9-5 emblem’s “before” picture). I decided to remove the offending parts, leaving only the center emblems to identify my vehicle brand.

To start the de-badging process I used my wife’s hairdryer to heat up the emblems. It only took a minute and the letters were loose enough from the heat that they could be pulled off with my fingers. You might want to use dental floss if you have some tougher chrome letters than I did. I think it helped that the foam tape underneath was eight years old.

Next I used a combination of thumbnails, WD-40, paper towels, and a plastic wedge to remove the foam tape and adhesive residue. This part isn’t hard, it just takes patience and some muscle. After all of the residue was removed there was an outline of the numbers and letters left on the trunk. I used a clear coat cleaner from Myguiar’s to remove the lines without damaging the paint. Everything came clean and there is not difference in paint from the newly exposed parts compared to the rest of the trunk.

I also like the idea of people not knowing what kind of car I have. SAAB is a very rare make in my area. Yes, a few might recognize it as a SAAB from the body shape or the logo, but even less of those will know the model. I want people to see my car and wonder what kind it is.

While I didn’t have problems with paint fade (eight years old, but white paint and garage kept), I would caution people that might have discoloration due to weather and time to only take one emblem off at first and check to see what the paint under the area looks like. You might have to stick the emblem back on if the paint is too drastically changed.