Today I noticed I was having difficulty engaging gears on my 1987 c900 Convertible. When I got home I noticed there was fluid dripping from under the car.

On lifting the bonnet I found that it was the radiator that was covered in brake/clutch fluid. I got SWMBO to operate the clutch and saw a jet of fluid come out of the flexable section of the clutch hose and hit the radiator.

So my question is how difficult is the hose to replace and where can I get a new hose? Is it a job best entrusted to a SAAB main dealer or a local garage?

It's a fairly long (and twisty) pipe (from the master cylinder to the slave) with the flexible bit near the end.

As far as I'm aware, you have to replace the whole lot (rather than just the flex bit). I did just that on my old 900. Fiddly, but perfectly do-able DIY. The worst bit is bleeding the clutch afterwards. Don't forget to clamp the hose from the brake reservoir to the clutch first.

According to my EPC the part number you want is 53 31 137 (replaces the old part number 89 35 124). You may also be able to get a used part from a breaker. Try Paradise Saabs (http://www.paradisesaabs.com/).

ive found the best way to bleed the clutch is simply to use a pressure tester on the brake fluid resivour and and apply slight pressure until fluid runs clearly out the slave bleed nipple into a bleed bottle.

nathan

It seems like this is quite common in the the classics... I had the same problem with my '88 cabriolet that I recently just purchased for $300 (wasn't drivable but started up and idled strong)... I noticed that brake fluid was squirting up near the front when I would press the "pressure-less" clutch in. Being able to reach the problem with the removal of the intercooler hose, I was quick to reconnect where it was disconnected (not too sure what it's called). Now that it was connected, I still had no pressure and didn't have a pressurizer. So I let the weather fix it for me. After letting it sit in the midsummer sun for a week, I gained pressure and was able to get it in gear and and as more time went by, more pressure built up. Now it feels fine.