Hello,
I bought a 9-5 2.3T Estate last Saturday. It's the first Saab I've owned, and I must say I'm quite impressed. I drove old Beemers for a few years, an E23 (728) for 6 years followed by an E32 (730) for 5 1/2 years, then lastly, an E34 Touring Diesel (525) for 2 years. The only thing I didn't like about them was the steering box, but other than that, I loved them.
I get the feeling I could also become quite attached to my 9-5 after a while, as it has some good things going for it. I love having the cruise control like I did on my 730 and 525. Aircon that works (it never did on any of my Beemers), and sport mode on the auto box. None of my Beemers had a sport mode on their auto boxes if I remember rightly.
Anyway, I have a couple of questions.
First question:
Since buying the car in London last Saturday (20/07/2013), the first time I managed to take it over 50mph was on Monday morning, on my way to work. I noticed immediately a shake in the car at speeds between 55mph and 70mph, with the worst shaking taking place at just under 65mph. The shake didn't come through the steering wheel or my feet, but seemed to come through the seat.
Needless to say I took the car to Kwik Fit on my lunch hour and they balanced the front wheels for me. That evening I drove home, and it had improved somewhat, but I could still feel the shake through the seat at the same speed as before. So I took it back on Tuesday and had the rear wheels balanced as well. This made quite a difference, and the car became almost smooth up till around 75mph, after which I can feel the shake through the seat, but much reduced from before.
The bloke at Kwik Fit told me he put the rear wheels on the balancing machine, and after running them to check how much they were out, he was surprised to find they were both in balance. However, he then took off the balance weights that were already there and ran the wheels on the machine again, to see how far out they were. Interestingly, the machine indicated that on both wheels he should put the same weights back in exactly the same places as before. This he did, and refitted the wheels. So why did just taking the wheels off and putting them back on again make such a difference to the ride?
I wondered if putting them back on the car in possibly different positions on the hubs was what made the difference, but I don't really know. Anyone got any ideas? If it's not the wheels causing the problem is there anything else at the back end that could make it feel loose? There doesn't seem to be any play on either rear wheel when I give them a good pull and push, so I'm a bit stumped, although I have noticed that one of the rear wheel bearings makes a bit of a rumble from around 40 to around 70, after which it seems to get quieter, but that could just be because the noise is being drowned out by wind and other mechanical noise.
It's all a bit of a worry really, as it makes it feel like the car is floating slightly out of control all the time.
Second question:
The rear suspension appears to be identical to that on my Vectra B, but I noticed today that the rears on the Saab appear to slope in towards the top slightly, but on my Vectra they are vertical. So are there any differences between the two, and could I buy a tool intended for the rose joints on my Vectra B (which needs them changing) and use it on my Saab when the need arises?
Any and all suggestions/advice will be gratefully received.
Best regards all,
BobH
I bought a 9-5 2.3T Estate last Saturday. It's the first Saab I've owned, and I must say I'm quite impressed. I drove old Beemers for a few years, an E23 (728) for 6 years followed by an E32 (730) for 5 1/2 years, then lastly, an E34 Touring Diesel (525) for 2 years. The only thing I didn't like about them was the steering box, but other than that, I loved them.
I get the feeling I could also become quite attached to my 9-5 after a while, as it has some good things going for it. I love having the cruise control like I did on my 730 and 525. Aircon that works (it never did on any of my Beemers), and sport mode on the auto box. None of my Beemers had a sport mode on their auto boxes if I remember rightly.
Anyway, I have a couple of questions.
First question:
Since buying the car in London last Saturday (20/07/2013), the first time I managed to take it over 50mph was on Monday morning, on my way to work. I noticed immediately a shake in the car at speeds between 55mph and 70mph, with the worst shaking taking place at just under 65mph. The shake didn't come through the steering wheel or my feet, but seemed to come through the seat.
Needless to say I took the car to Kwik Fit on my lunch hour and they balanced the front wheels for me. That evening I drove home, and it had improved somewhat, but I could still feel the shake through the seat at the same speed as before. So I took it back on Tuesday and had the rear wheels balanced as well. This made quite a difference, and the car became almost smooth up till around 75mph, after which I can feel the shake through the seat, but much reduced from before.
The bloke at Kwik Fit told me he put the rear wheels on the balancing machine, and after running them to check how much they were out, he was surprised to find they were both in balance. However, he then took off the balance weights that were already there and ran the wheels on the machine again, to see how far out they were. Interestingly, the machine indicated that on both wheels he should put the same weights back in exactly the same places as before. This he did, and refitted the wheels. So why did just taking the wheels off and putting them back on again make such a difference to the ride?
I wondered if putting them back on the car in possibly different positions on the hubs was what made the difference, but I don't really know. Anyone got any ideas? If it's not the wheels causing the problem is there anything else at the back end that could make it feel loose? There doesn't seem to be any play on either rear wheel when I give them a good pull and push, so I'm a bit stumped, although I have noticed that one of the rear wheel bearings makes a bit of a rumble from around 40 to around 70, after which it seems to get quieter, but that could just be because the noise is being drowned out by wind and other mechanical noise.
It's all a bit of a worry really, as it makes it feel like the car is floating slightly out of control all the time.
Second question:
The rear suspension appears to be identical to that on my Vectra B, but I noticed today that the rears on the Saab appear to slope in towards the top slightly, but on my Vectra they are vertical. So are there any differences between the two, and could I buy a tool intended for the rose joints on my Vectra B (which needs them changing) and use it on my Saab when the need arises?
Any and all suggestions/advice will be gratefully received.
Best regards all,
BobH