2000 Saab 9-3 Engine Blew!

[dief123]

The engine on my 2000 Saab 9-3 blew after only 34,000 miles. Anyone else have an experience like this? Customer Service refuses to pay and car is only 3 months past warranty even though it is 16,000 miles under warranty. What a piece of shit!! Probably due to GM ownership, a good car brand bites the dust.

[SaabJohan]

If the car is standard the most engine failures tend to be caused by crankcase ventilation, turbocharger failure or cracked pistons.

Usually you should never give up, they might pay, or pay at least part of it

[lubeth]

Originally Posted by dief123

The engine on my 2000 Saab 9-3 blew after only 34,000 miles. Anyone else have an experience like this? Customer Service refuses to pay and car is only 3 months past warranty even though it is 16,000 miles under warranty. What a piece of shit!! Probably due to GM ownership, a good car brand bites the dust.

Hey there....
I just started searching message boards because I wanted a place to vent and also the opportunity to see if anyone else was in the same position as I am. Looks like you and I are not alone. My 2000 9-3 saabs engine also blew very prematurely!!! It only had 49,000 miles. My dealer is in the process of trying to find me a used engine. Saab has offered a little $ (good will gesture) but I worry whether it makes sense to put a rebuilt engine in this car. Could I be in for more trouble. Could it be something else entirely that made this engine blow? Any suggestions out there? I have maintained the vehicle with oil changes and I can't undrstans this at all!!!!

[dief123]

Originally Posted by SaabJohan

If the car is standard the most engine failures tend to be caused by crankcase ventilation, turbocharger failure or cracked pistons.

Usually you should never give up, they might pay, or pay at least part of it

Saab USA Customer Service paid me a 'good will' gesture payment of $2500. The cost to have the engine block replaced and rebuilt was $7500. Not much 'good will' there in my opinion. You're name says you are a Saab enthusiast. Is this due to your ownership of older Saab models. Those have always seemed very cool to me and that's what led me to my purchase of my 2000 9-3. I can't help wondering though, that my model is primarily a general motors product and thus the decline in quality. What do you think about that? I wish I would have bought an older pure swedish model...

[SaabJohan]

Originally Posted by dief123

Saab USA Customer Service paid me a 'good will' gesture payment of $2500. The cost to have the engine block replaced and rebuilt was $7500. Not much 'good will' there in my opinion. You're name says you are a Saab enthusiast. Is this due to your ownership of older Saab models. Those have always seemed very cool to me and that's what led me to my purchase of my 2000 9-3. I can't help wondering though, that my model is primarily a general motors product and thus the decline in quality. What do you think about that? I wish I would have bought an older pure swedish model...

No, the engine problems are related to contamination of the oil due to a poor crankcase ventilation/low friction piston rings. That's if you have a B205 or B235 engine. The older B234 and B204 doesn't have this problem.

New piston rings for lower friction was introduced in the 4th generation of the inline fourcylinder engines (B205/B235). These engines was used in 9-5 since its introduction and later on also by 9-3. These rings put less force on the cylinderwalls, this does however not only decrease friction, it also increases gas leaks. That means that a new crankcase ventilation system had to be designed, the prototype used an electronic valve to ventilate the crankcase to the intake manifold or turbocharger inlet depending on manifold pressure. However, american laws says that a function like that must be electronicly controlled, and it wasn't possible to do that so the system was redesigned using "choke" and one way valves.
The problem with this system was that it also caused a poor crankcase ventilation, this leads to that the oil can lose its lubricating properties but a high crankcase pressure can also cause leaks and turbocharger damage.

A second, smaller problem was that the pistons was made lighter. They were infact made so light that any defects in the pistons can cause them to crack. This is however not that common, the earlier problem occur for 30 of 1000 cars.

From 2004 this problem was solved, earier engines will get an extra 8 year warranty and Saab has said to take care of all costs which relates to this problem is the car have been maintained properly.

[adept-I]

Start and stick to a 3K mile oil change schedule instead of what's recommended by the factory, and regularly remove and clean out the PCV nipple and the hoses running to the throttle body from it, as well as the AIC valve.
They all have a tendency to gum up from the residual oil buildup known as "sludge" that is then flushed into the block, making things all that much more worse.

[MonsterBengt]

I've never heard of a blown 9-3 rngine before, atleast not in the 1st gen. The 2nd gen though wouldn't surprise me, with that shitty Opel block.

[hajohnson]

Originally Posted by dief123

The engine on my 2000 Saab 9-3 blew after only 34,000 miles. Anyone else have an experience like this? Customer Service refuses to pay and car is only 3 months past warranty even though it is 16,000 miles under warranty. What a piece of shit!! Probably due to GM ownership, a good car brand bites the dust.

I too live in Colorado and we have had the same problem, my Daughter has a blown engine after only 49,000. What we need is a good Class action Lawyer.
I wonder ?

[mtn hack]

Me too. 2000 9-3se with 65000 blew in Colorado, Aug of 2005. I got a good will gesture of $1500 on a $6K bill. Thankfully the dealer worked with me and got it reduced a bit more ($3500 out of pocket).

I am still worried that this may happen again. I have a year warrant, but what then?

PS: mine was the piston disintegration issue. Cause...?

[speeddemonGtV6]

I have a 1999 9-3 Viggen, they are all prone to engine sludge, the chances of this have been greatly reduced by putting full synthetic oil in it, every 3k miles as recomended above... I also have more to worry about, as the 99 Viggen model was equipped with the engine knock sensing system linked to the Direct ignition cassette... this is prone to failure and causes pistons to blow.

[Scout10]

Another Blown engine. 60,000 miles.
Sludge in the oil pickup. No help from GM/Saab.
Perfect service records - semi synth oil/Saab oil filters.
GM not helpful.

[Tapil]

what gen does the 99 9-3 saab fall under? ((3rd?))

[saabserviceman]

Originally Posted by Scout10

Another Blown engine. 60,000 miles.
Sludge in the oil pickup. No help from GM/Saab.
Perfect service records - semi synth oil/Saab oil filters.
GM not helpful.

surprising to hear GM/Saab wouldnt help if you had perfect records.
Was it serviced at a dealer. Did you have a good relationship with your dealer?

[saabserviceman]

Originally Posted by hajohnson

I too live in Colorado and we have had the same problem, my Daughter has a blown engine after only 49,000. What we need is a good Class action Lawyer.
I wonder ?

You need to develop a relationship with a dealer. Have good service records and work with them. 49k hard to believe the engine blew unless you never changed the oil.

[mbunakeith]

crankcase ventilation is only part of the problem. i bet you $$$ that the mass airflow sensor turned your pistons into dust.