C900 T16 Turbo and "Strange" handling.

[icarus51]

Hi All,
I have recently been driving my wife's 1993 T16 turbo and have noticed a worrying handling problem. I wonder if anyone here might be able to shed some light on possible causes and remedies?

The car has no problems starting and stopping and if you drive "normally" everything appears hunky dory, however if you like to drive with "spirit" then the following occurs: As you enter a right hand turn the car handles fine, but as the loading on the nearside front wheel increases the car suddenly oversteers quite violently, yet no extra movement is noted on the steering wheel. Turning the steering back in the opposite direction stops the oversteer but, if the corner is a long one and you then continue to steer around the corner this feeling of oversteer quickly comes back. Cornering on LH bends is trouble free. So far I have checked tyre pressures, 31 psi, checked wheel nuts OK, visually inspected the suspension spring and shock absorber OK and the ARB again seems ok. I am at a loss to explain the problem, my wife's comment "Oh its felt a bit funny for a while" worries me as she can't remember exactly how long the problem has been evident. I did have to change the front tyres a couple of days ago, which has not stopped the problem at all. I did notice that the NSF tyre was more noticably worn that the OSF and both shoulders were scrubbed down compared to the OSF tyre, although tyre wear seemed even across the centre portion of the tyre.

Hope someone can help me here.

Cheers

Tony

[billj]

If you get oversteer, then yes, check out the front but I'd be more suspicious of the rear. Oversteer is likely to be down to a lack of rear-end grip during the manoeuvre. I'd get the rear alignment checked (not adjustable but that will tell you if something's bent) and the bushes, and if they're OK, replace the rear shocks.

Did you check the rear tyres too?

[icarus51]

Hi BillJ

Never thought of the rear Am seeing my local indie about another problem and will talk to him about this. The rear shocks are, as far as I am aware, the originals( car has done 293000 miles). Will get him to check rear bushes and axle.

Many thanks for your quick reply. Will post outcome as soon as I can.

Tony

[billj]

[ QUOTE ]
The rear shocks are, as far as I am aware, the originals( car has done 293000 miles).

[/ QUOTE ]
Perhaps it's time for some new shocks, then
Duff rear shocks are known to cause instability on the Classic 900.

[wulbert]

Icarus,
I had a very similar sounding problem on an old '86 C900 salloon.
I could not trace the cause for months. It turned out to be the driver's side ball joint ( track rod end).
The free play in the joint was missed by myself and on a couple of trips to the mechanic over a long time.
The effect was scary indeed on long, fast right handers.

Interesting comment about your wife's mechanical "awareness".
Mine called from me from her mobile one evening, to say she'd had a "blowout" and the rear tyre was "smoking". Turned out she'd driven 22 miles home from work on a completely flat ( and brand new) Michelin. It was ripped all along the sidewall, hot and completely sha**ed.
She only stopped when following cars began to flash her.
I asked her , had she not noticed any unusual handling or noise? She replied that she noticed that the car was feeling a bit "old".
In defence, she replied she'd been trying to "relax" on the journey home after a stressful day at work.

[icarus51]

Thanks Wulbert

I spoke to my local indie this morning and the old girl is booked in on Tuesday for him to have a look. His immediate thoughts were either a lower ball joint or track rod end on the NSF. However he has also had a number of C900 where some part within the steering rack itself wears (opposite end to the track rod end), this happened on my son's 1990 900 SE, so maybe thats it. He will also, as BillJ suggested, check out the rear bushes etc on the rear axle. I must admit I hope the "old girl" can be repaired ( I mean the car not the wife ) I'm quite looking forward to seeing the odometer clicking past 300,00 miles

This car has been without doubt the most reliable and dependable car we have ever owned, when she finally reaches retirement age I will be sad to see her go.

I will post indie's findings after Tuesday

Thanks to all.

Tony

[billj]

[ QUOTE ]
I must admit I hope the "old girl" can be repaired

[/ QUOTE ]
Of course she can be repaired. It just depends on whether you are prepared to spend the mpney on the repair. I don't think it will be expensive, whatever the problem turns out to be. A few hundred maximum if she needs a new steering rack. Surely worth it if she's a reliable car.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[ejenner]

The bit opposite the track rod is the inner track rod end. Under the rubber gaitor on the end of the rack there is another ball-joint which screws onto the end of the rack. You need a special tool to remove the whole track rod although I don't think this tool is Saab specific and could be bought from a motor-spares shop. If it is the inner track rod end the rack won't need replacing.

[icarus51]

Hi All,

Quick update on the state of my wife's C900 turbo. The cause of the "strange" handling was in fact a completely kn**kered NSF lower ball joint. The indie showed it to me when I collected the old girl. The rubber boot was intact but when he removed the boot to expose the ball joint there was about 5mm of vertical free play between the ball and the socket

Anyway paid a very reasonable £40 for parts and labour and drove away, plenty of on the way home proved the old girl is back to normal, handing it back to the wife tomorrow so as I can get my 9000CSE back

Many thanks for everyone's contributions and suggestions.

Tony

[billj]

Yay! Glad I was wrong on this one as it would have cost more to fix. Wonder how it got through its last MOT?

That was indeed a cheap fix. The part itself is about a tenner and they can be a pain to replace if the bolts have seized in. Mind you, he's probably had a lot more practice at it than me

[potto]

Probably about time to treat the "old girl" to a new set of dampers though if it's on the originals at nearly 300K