96 aero - clutch and gearbox fun

[SV]

Hello all,

I just got back from my holidays in France. It went as follows:
- 10 miles after I exit the ferry: speedo goes dead, turbo pressure limited, car stalls if given the slightest chance.
- After a week-end in Paris, I drive to Nanterre to get it looked at. In traffic, about a mile from the saab garage, the clutch pedal goes to the floor. Get towed to the garage.
- After a few days, I get told the score: the "hydraulic receiver" on the clutch failed, need new clutch. The speedo died due to the gear in the gearbox failing (and not just the sender that is easy to fix...)

Drove back to UK yesterday after driving with no speedo for 1000+ miles, but with a new clutch.


Questions:
- how much would you expect to pay for a new clutch fitted by a ssab dealer?
- Any recommendations on a place in UK to get my gearbox fixed? I'd like to get it rebuilt, it is otherwise a good box, been rebuilt 40k miles ago. The closer to Guildford in Surrey, the better!

Car is a 9k aero manual from 96, with 100k on the clock.


Cheers,
Stephane

[paul anderson]

SV,

Are you sure it's the gear in the gearbox that has gone, not the gear on the end of the sender. I recently had one fail and if it hadn't been for a couple of chipped teeth, you would have not noticed the wear - until you compared with a new one. At £7 and a quick 5 minute job ( providing the retaining bolt comes out ) it's worth a try before taking the box out. The Plastic gear just snaps into the sender unit.

Paul @ Kippen.

[philcrombie]

Highly recommend Carlssons in leatherhead. Nice polite service / Saab only and they did my uprated Sachs clutch on the Aero after I roasted the original - all well 40k miles later. As for prices : Looking at £150 for the standard sachs clutch kit parts and about £250 odd (iirc) labour with these chaps. More from main dealer.
Agree on checking the sender - but worst comes to the worst they can also rebuild the gearbox but it doesnt sounds like there's much wrong with it.

[SV]

Ok, I'll get in touch with Carlssons and see what they have to say.
I was told by the french garage that the culprit was the gearbox rather than the sender, but I'll ask them to check.

Regarding clutch prices, I guess I should not have asked, as I got done for a lot more than the £400 you quote...


Cheers,
Stephane

[rparker]

I had a clutch put into my 1995 Aero by DCA for around £300 inc labour I think (although that was 2.5 years ago, prices may have gone up). I'll dig the bill out and confirm that for you though. It was a genuine Saab part. They're not as close as Leatherhead, but I find the drive from Bordon (near Petersfield) to their place in Thatcham more than makes up for the extra prices charged locally.

Have to wait until after work when I get home to check the paperwork box, but I'll report back on the price.

Richard

[adrian]

£150 for Sachs clutch and £50 to a mate to give me a hand - took us 2 nights. Done two 9000 clutches now and its really quite straight forward but I think you need two to get the box back in.

[SV]

Looks like I could have got it done for a lot cheaper here...

To be honest though, they appear to have done more than just change the clutch: as the hydraulic receiver went, they replaced it, as well as the clutch cable, some hydraulic cylinders, and other bits and pieces. The clutch plates were replaced while they were at it, but that was not the main cost.

Anyway, thanks for the adresses suggested, I will phone around and see what they have to say.

Pete, I could do with the details of your man in Hastings. A bit of a drive from guildford, but if he is that much cheaper, then it could be worth it.

Cheers,
Stephane

[rparker]

Mine was £214 for the clutch kit and £126 to fit it, if that helps at all! Sounds lik emy clutch was more expensive than it might have been, maybe that's the difference between Saab written on the box and Sachs!

[grentarc]

I bought a Sachs kit for my '95 Aero, took 1 day to remove the 'box, clutch and flywheel... got flywheel machined, then another day to get rear crank seal, flywheel, re-kit slave cylinder, clutch and 'box back in, change rear brake pads, change front ARB bushes, change gearbox mount to poly etc etc... i have changed 3 9000 clutches now... 2 in my old '87 and one in my aero now (the '87 had a faulty replacement clutch that exploded after 5,000 kms)
also bought a pressure bleeder... makes short work of the bleeding of the brakes and clutch!

[SV]

I went to Carlssons today to confirm the problem, car is booked for the repairs in 10 days time.

Got an older 9k (2.0 non turbo) as a courtesy car, it seemed to handle better than my aero (more responsive steering), I guess I need to get my suspension/steering checked as well...

[rparker]

I've noticed that non-Aero's I have driven seem to be more responsive on the steering, I just put it down to having narrower tyres...

Also all the extra weight of the elctric motors and such in the Aero seats might be a factor

[SV]

Ok, all sorted now.
Picked up the car this morning, it is a lot more fun like that!

Job done by Carlssons of Leatherhead, for the expected price (700 inc VAT).

And according to them, nothing wrong with the handling, as suggested the bigger tyres probably account for the different feel. Which is good, because I have spent enough money on the car for this year.

Cheers,
Stephane

[paul anderson]

SV,

Are you sure it's just the wider tyres causing the loss of 'sharpness. I have a '92 16v, a '95 LPT and a '97 Aero and I consider they handle better in that order. True I have the judicious addition of some polyurethane bushes and a front strut brace but I found the biggest difference in sharpening up the Aero was to put the tyre pressures up to 36 psi. I think it's 32 on the 15" variants

Paul @ Kippen

[SV]

Hi Paul,

Well to be honest I think it is a combination of factors. Firstly one of my front shocks is soft, so under braking it does not seem to be well planted on the road, and instead it seems to float a bit. I need to change it I suppose.

On top of that, I'm not running my tyres at 36psi, as this tends to make the ride very harsh. (e.g.: at 32psi, my CDs keep jumping at 30mph in town...). So they are at around 30psi at the moment...

I suppose this would explain this feeling I have. Luckily I don't often push the car, so that is not too bad. Thank you for your input, this helps understand me why it feels like it does at the moment.

Cheers,
Stephane