I’ve been told that my ‘Bargain’ saab that I bought at the start of the year is not financially viable to fix. Apparently both the fuel pump and the turbo are goosed.

I can’t bare to send her to the scrappy, rest of engine runs fine, has a new clutch and flywheel fitted, lovely condition inside and not bad out..

Seems a hame to just give it to the scrappy..

ebay, describe it as it is

Hora in 3….2….

local car facebook pages.

not economical to you fixing it in the garage paying labour is a bread and butter job for a wanna be edd china .

price it accordingly and someone will take it .

ive got rid of some right shite with all faults declared on them pages.

I can’t bare to send her to the scrappy

..particularly good fun with no clothes on

Our local college is always looking for this sort of motor , I think they even pay for some of them .

Apparently both the fuel pump and the turbo are goosed.

What engine is it? And how is the diagnosis being arrived at? Can’t speak for the turbo but a goosed ‘fuel pump’ might only be a bad solder in the EDU. Theres a world of difference between reading the codes and knowing what they mean.

Are you mechanically minded?
Take it off the road by a CSO for winter and tinker with it on the drive when you have time.
Should give time to source a recon fuel pump (or the solder thing) and a turbo.

Might be safer / easier with a petrol. I assume the diesels have high pressure pump etc. So a bit riskier diy proposition.

I’ve been told that my ‘Bargain’ saab that I bought at the start of the year is not financially viable to fix. Apparently both the fuel pump and the turbo are goosed.

That’s a nonsense phrase.

Market value is just what a book says. Nothing more. You invest time and money in it, but you can’t view the return in financial terms. What you get back for investment is reliable comfortable motoring.

You have to weigh the cost you put in and the *condition* of the rest of the car (not its market value!) against the cost of replacing it and the condition of that replacement. So if you put in a grand and get a sweet running good car that you love, then it’s worth it because that’s what you get – not because it makes the car worth a grand more. If you flog it and then spend two grand on another, there’s no guarantee of anything, you could be in the shit again in no time.

What have you been quoted for the repairs? Turbos can be had for a wide range of prices. Dunno about fuel pumps. Sometimes garages just can’t be bothered and don’t need the work, so they won’t bother trying to help you.

Shootin’ car?

That’s twice tonight I agree with molgrips on something car related.

I feel I should mention overtaking to restore the balance. 😛

What model?

What garage and what parts have they priced

That’s twice tonight I agree with molgrips on something car related.

I’m on a roll tonight!

Its a 3l tdi model

I already sourced a reconditioned high pressure pump for not a lot. Apparently the turbo is pissing oil, however I haven’t noticed oil levels drop hugely.

Fitting the pump however probably going to be an issue, although will give it a go one weekend with my Dad who knows his way around an engine. Trouble is that its got some stupid limp home mode that effectively sticks the car ‘barely drivable’mode .. so if the turbo is also slightly knackered then I’m assuming even if its at 90% functionality itll trip the computer and make the car undrivable

For those in the know…I assume the hardest bit of this is taking all the bits out the engine to get to the pump and turbo. Once this is done are they easy swaped over with right tools, or will the ECU reject all the bits I stick in?

Trouble is that its got some stupid limp home mode that effectively sticks the car ‘barely drivable’mode

A car can do that for the simplest reason, it’s not necessarily serious. If it’s at all unsure of how much pressure there is, it’ll go into limp mode. I have had it on my car because the static air pressure sensor (in the ECU) disagrees with the boost pressure sensor before startup. This was caused by slightly grubby earth points. Once I’d located the right one to clean up it was 2 mins with some emery cloth. Actual turbo knackeredness won’t trigger limp mode afaik but could be wrong. If your turbo is physically sound and the seals are simply leaking, you can buy a new core or have it reconned for not much money.

.I assume the hardest bit of this is taking all the bits out the engine to get to the pump and turbo.

I did a turbo like this yes – just un-bolt and re-bolt. I don’t think any calibration is required, but maybe some adapting. Turbos don’t have any electronic components in for the ECU to know about. It’s controlled via sensor feedback, and they should all be there still.

Dunno about the pump, but I’d be optimisic that it’s a simple swap. The injectors are the critical bits that control the exact amounts of fuel.

What are the codes when in limp

I’ve been here before with a Saab.

Wasnt obvious.

Also I take it the 3l isn’t like the 2l and the pump needs coded to the immobiliser ,?

That’s what I’d do…maybe.

Nice – couple that with some self-driving tech, and you’ve got a winner.

My old Saab wasn’t economic to get through MoT.
Was about to push it from garage to scrape, but one of the garage mechanics gave me the same I’d have for from scrappy, and as far as I know it’s running again!!

lots of cars are not economic at garage prices – it doesnt mean they are scrap cars as kcal points out.

for example i got quoted 1200 quid to replace the rear axle(after a torsion bar snapped) on a 1400 quid berlingo…….but knowing the car and knowing it has recent front suspension , near new tires and a solid engine i decided it was worth more to me than scrap (but not 1200 quids worth)

so i bought a refurbed warrentied axle for 300 quid and spent a morning removing and a morning replacing the axle + cleaning up various parts underneath and updating the braking system = much better value than buying another 1500 quid car in my eyes.

equally i had a golf where the waterpump gave out when the wife was driving so the pistons melted to the block. I GAVE that to the guy at the garage rather than have it towed to the scrappy(i hated that car). He dropped in a new engine and flogged it on – but i know he didnt make much money on it as i saw it being advertised an i know what the engines cost.

I was in a similar issue with my old Focus, lots of small niggles I couldn’t sort myself nor justify paying to be fixed. Scrap would have been £0 so I put it on ebay with every single thing I knew that was wrong listed, even that it leaked a bit if parked nose up on a hill, got £155 (then £30 listing+sale fee) and a garage owner picked it up, he was going to fix it up for someone. It also had lots of life left other than the issues I had so good that it will live on and I got a small amount for it. He left positive feed back that night

I’m not sure it sounds that hard a job to fix, my neighbour (a mobile mechanic) changed a turbo in an old pajero I had in under an hour.
Another mobile mechanic I used stripped out half the engine and replaced a pump seal in 1&1/2 hours. I guess what I’m trying to say is keep looking there will be someone who will be able to repair it economically. That’s if you don’t manage to do it yourself.
Good luck.

I’m not sure it sounds that hard a job to fix, my neighbour (a mobile mechanic) changed a turbo in an old pajero I had in under an hour.

Depends on the layout and how much space there is. It’s very easy in principle, but if you have to remove half the engine that takes time. On my old Passat there was bags of space – not so much on the newer one.

really depends on the car

but having worked on saabs in the past i doubt a turbo and pump swap will be easy money – access being the issue.

Hardly comparable to a pajero – you can pretty much climb into a pajero engine bay along side the engine in anything other than the v6.

Ive had the head off the land rover in under an hour…..inc turbo and manifolds.

ive spent an hour working out how to remove a bolt on other cars where access has been poor and getting the force to the bolt has been a ballache + then half the engine had to come out to get at it … Might have been easy to fit in the factory with an extension bar before years of corrosion set in.

Old car that’s not fixable? Leave it at the bottom of the dirt track to your house. After a decade it will be buried up to it’s axles. Presumably eventually dissappears from sight and mind.

Seems to be working for my sister in law in France.

“Beyond economical repair” is really just for insurance purposes, isn’t it? If you’re happy to put your hand in your pocket then it’s meaningless I’d have thought.

my landy was well beyond economical repair with every single bit needing work.

in true car SOS style it lives again and gets the nod where ever it goes – even got the “thats a solid old truck” from the MOT man this year – even if i did do the welding haha.

I had a 51 plate Peugeot 307 xsi that we bought in 2004, apart from its quirky electrics it was a great car to drive, still looked reasonable and drove well. Clutch went a few months ago and for us it wasn’t worth fixing, timing belt was also due a change so we were looking at least £500 to fix, plus our son is learning to drive so we really needed a new driver friendly car anyway – a 2 litre petrol engine in a small car isn’t new driver friendly 🙂

I stuck it on eBay and a mechanic bought it for a sum I was happy with. He gets a decent car that he can fix and costs him parts only and I know the car gets a good home.

So give it a wash, stick it on eBay with the faults listed – it will sell, just might take a few goes.

If you have the time to tinker a bit, an old less valuable “doer upper” is fine to have.

In a past life I used to run older cheaper cars, and do what work I could on them myself. I often spent close to the value of the cars a few times, but it was worth it as I got to know my way around the car and kept them more reliable than an unknown car of the same value would have been.

absolutely t_r — really I should have got rid a couple years before that, but it was running – just — and had a mindset of too hard to find a replacement. To be honest the engine was running OK, bodywork was not bad, steering linkages were a big problem though. And as you say its time to dismantle, gain access, rebuild and then put back together. The new car did drive a lot sharper, I’m not sure what was going on with past MOTs..

I was glad to see it was back on the road, was a good solid car and looked good in understated stealth way, not really quick but was well used in its time.

Ah, having said that I see it’s back on SORN!

things have to be quite bad to fail an mot.

its a very basic check of roadworthyness.

i personally find it terrifying that some classics have a no MOT required status.

Indeed. I think the previous garage / one man band may have influenced the MOT guy as I can’t believe it went from OK one year (with many passes before) in Edinburgh and as soon as I took it to indy garage here (with no axe to grind as they turned down chance to get it through) it fails on a heap of items with matching list of advisories.

e.g. “steering column is loose” (it would come up a 1/2″ or more) – it had always done that but it is subjective. More worrying is the lurching feeling of the steering and the speed wobble around 50-55mph that had been developing for years, kind of worrying to see what did hold it together under the bonnet (not a lot)..

Most people used to sell such motors to my Dad 😳

Leave it at the bottom of the dirt track to your house. After a decade it will be buried up to it’s axles. Presumably eventually dissappears from sight and mind.

Seems to be working for my sister in law in France.

Most people just bury them under the patio

MOT wise it’ll need new tyres and disks, which I can get for around 300 quid.

I already have the pump which I got for 80 quid..

Its my second car but I need it for dog and bikes. I’m reluctant to buy another ‘banger’ as it feels more sensible to spend the cash on the car I already have, at least then I know its not going to break down within a week of buying it.

As someone asked – Full list of engine codes pulled from the garage are

0102 – mass air flow circuit
1381 glow plug relay short
0073 Outside air temp high
0087 fuel rail system pressure to low
0502 Driving speed signal to low
0402 egr system
1246 Boost presure fault

I used a OD reader on it myself (one on laptop with downloadable software) amd the only fault i got was 0087. Apparently the Pressure is as low as 10 bar above 2000 rpm, which explains why accelaration is a bit sluggish!!

Interestingly the Saab specialist down the road apparently checked the turbo 6 months ago when I was having the problem initially and it was fine…so bit confused as to why after 1000 motorway miles later its ‘badly leaking oil’. They ended up replaceing the intercooler!

😕 You too?

We had a period in the late 70’s when my dad decided he was mechanically competent. Mechanical compost would have been a better turn of phrase.

Instead of getting 2 or 3 year old cars and keeping them for 2 or 3 years he decided to buy 10+ year old cars and “fix them up” as they developed problems. To save money. Apparently.
At one point we had 3 cars. And only one licence holder. 2 of the cars had “terminal problems”, the other would randomly cut out and blow huge clouds of smoke out of the exhaust pipe.

My mum put her foot down, got her licence, bought a new car (our first ever) and sold the other 3 while dad was away on a business trip. That was a fun few days when he got back.

All three were back on the road before a fortnight, repaired.
Dad had been “repairing” them every weekend for about 6 months and got exactly nowhere.

tpbiker – that list sounds familiar.

has it had a new exhaust prior to you buying it perchance ?

nope…same exhaust. how come?