I like the incas on your notchback too .. I wonder how they'd look sandblasted and clear coated?

1. You don't need bigger wheels to run better brakes. For the size of the 99 the brakes are already pretty big, you might just try some better pads or better fluid.

2. Hesitant like the starter won't turn over or it won't fire? The starter is directly under the exhaust, so the solenoid tends to cook if the heat shield gets worn out.. or just in general over time causing it to stick on hot starts..

sjones wrote:I like the incas on your notchback too .. I wonder how they'd look sandblasted and clear coated?

They'd look like they do now
They were supposed to be colormatched to the car, and came out too dark, but still much better than before

Jordan wrote: Hesitant like the starter won't turn over or it won't fire? The starter is directly under the exhaust, so the solenoid tends to cook if the heat shield gets worn out.. or just in general over time causing it to stick on hot starts..

Makes sense. It is in an awkward position. My buddy told me to just whack it with a wrench next time No troubles today though.

The 99 is still serving me well as a daily driver; no problems all summer (except another flat last week, down to only 1 spare tire to go with my 6 extra wheels )

Depending on what happens with my job though, I may be posting this for sale sometime soon
Thanks to SPGFTW I have a full 99's worth of spare parts (unless you want them back, you know you want another 99 )

If anyone may be interested, shoot me a PM. I know it is the wrong time of year to sell such a car even though it is not really "project status (just could use new seats & carpet).

If I don't sell it then hopefully by Spring I can give I some more love

Are you able to keep your car ? Pretty sure I have one of the Last factory B motor water pump rebuild kit's. . . . . . .If anybody's lookin for one.

Scandia wrote:Are you able to keep your car ? Pretty sure I have one of the Last factory B motor water pump rebuild kit's. . . . . . .If anybody's lookin for one.

If it is the rebuild kit including a new water pump shaft, Scanwest had installed one of those on my black 99 turbo for the previous owner. It was Genuine SAAB. It ate the idler shaft gears after 15 miles. On the Saabnet model 99 board and on these forums, members were saying that the later rebuild kits' shaft gearing pitch was off slightly leading to high rates of failure.

that sounds like BS. It may have stemmed from the fact that there are two versions (8 and 12 cog) that are not interchangeable. But a 'slight' change in pitch makes no sense.

I agree with Jordan. I think most of those pump failures were from not quite proper installation.I had the tools years ago (still do) and I never had a pump failiure on any customer car.

shrug, I unno, two of the things that I've noticed that get constantly repeated on the various message boards are that:
- the last batch of new water pump shafts had the a gear pitch that was slightly off
- using a new shaft with an old idler shaft will cause gear meshing issues

The second one is what I see repeated most often and is perhaps what I should have posted above instead. It also makes the most sense. All of the suggestions I've read have always been to reuse the existing water pump shaft.


I can't imagine any of the failures resulting from someone mixing up a 8-cog with a 12-cog shaft, much less the shaft lasting 15 miles, a week, etc. I'd expect the gears to explode the minute the engine turned over?

That would be my guess. You wouldn't even be able to get the shaft installed the gear teeth are so different. Unless you tried to install it with a hammer or something.

Yeah I'm not saying people actually installed the two different ones, it just sounds like a misinterpretation of something like that.

Just because it people constantly repeat something on the internet forums doesn't mean its true

It equates to a conspiracy theory which I take with a grain of salt until I see some actual evidence to the contrary.

Going back ~10 to 14 years the NJ SAAB club (or NYSOC?, or NESA or someone...) used to have tech sessions at the Technical Training Center in CT. John Moss would host, provide knowledge and entertainment. My dad went to one on SAAB cooling systems (I was busy rallycrossing) and when he got home he told me that John Moss had told everyone that the last batch of B motor water pump kits had a manufacturing issue with the pump gear that caused the teeth to tear into the impeller and that you should re-use the existing pump shafts. I can understand people suspecting interweb rumors but I'd consider John a pretty reliable source.

Scandia wrote:Are you able to keep your car ? Pretty sure I have one of the Last factory B motor water pump rebuild kit's. . . . . . .If anybody's lookin for one.

Yup, still have it; still driving it daily since I did not get the job I wanted.
Hate subjecting it to city stoplight abuse but it's been reliable, and better than hopping buses.

I've been flat broke this Winter, unable to fix anything on the SAAB, but hopefully I will have some $$ in Spring for a 2nd car, then the 99 can be relegated to fair-weather duty, and hopefully receive whatever goodies I can locate for it.

Anyone going to the ISSAQUAH, Washington meet next month?
Thinking of driving the 99 up for that, although it is rather far from me.

Issaquah is about 25~ miles away from me, I might be forced to go. But I'm not very good at being sociable, my friends in high school had a name for it that fit well, but I can't remember it.

An example would be IronJoe inviting people around the area for his Trionic 5 Install. I had assumed he must have needed a lot of prep work, like removing the engine, etc. etc. and wanted it to get done fast, hence inviting a lot of people. So I was genuinely confused when I had showed up, 'The Grey Ghost' was almost completely assembled, all Trionic bits were fitted except for the wire harness which was en route from Oregon; people were just talking, drinking beer and eating pizza. It wasn't until the following week at work that I had told my foreman my confusion about it saying that there wasn't really anything we could help IronJoe with. "It was just a get together to hang out, idiot."

That foreman was a dick.

http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/showt ... p?t=246661
Crwchf01 in Kent, WA (near-ish Issaquah) is going to have a "Fix-IT" Weekend at his large garage complex at the end of March it sounds like. He has many of the Special SAAB tools for transmissions, clutches (think he has three different big clutch tools, flywheel and crank seals, crank pulley tools/wrench (that big honking four foot wrench) etc. He would be making them available for use during the event. He owns only SAAB 900s, but many of the tools are still the same between 900s and 99s.

I myself have a B-motor water pump tool, a CIS Injector cleaner/fuel pressure tester (looks unused), a box of valve shims, and a 9000 upper engine mount tool.


The last Fix-IT event back in September was more of a social gathering, there was just one other person besides myself working on their car, everyone else was being sociable. Due to this, there is a high likelihood most of the tools would be available for use.

SalemSaab wrote:

Scandia wrote:Are you able to keep your car ? Pretty sure I have one of the Last factory B motor water pump rebuild kit's. . . . . . .If anybody's lookin for one.

Yup, still have it; still driving it daily since I did not get the job I wanted.
Hate subjecting it to city stoplight abuse but it's been reliable, and better than hopping buses.

I've been flat broke this Winter, unable to fix anything on the SAAB, but hopefully I will have some $$ in Spring for a 2nd car, then the 99 can be relegated to fair-weather duty, and hopefully receive whatever goodies I can locate for it.

Anyone going to the ISSAQUAH, Washington meet next month?
Thinking of driving the 99 up for that, although it is rather far from me.

I will be attending. It is always a good meet. More Saabs the better. The Volvos are usually 3/1 ratio, but they are cool.
There might be a caravan you can join in on coming up from Portland. I know Daniel was going to try to come up Saturday to my place for some welding. I'll be having a pre get together on the 16th for wrenching and BS'in ....
Kuponut, it would have been more wrench and learn if the T5 wirebundle were there. But all in all it is about hanging out comparing notes and learning about what worked and what didn't. Store that in your database for the future and knowing who ask when the time comes, or you can just drink beer.