[naureh22]

just thought I would share my experience and hope this might help someone.

the termperature needle in my Saab would never reach middle unless you drive aggresively and even then it would fluctuate. so if you're cruising in the motorway it would be below the middle mark. if you accelerated hard it would go up to the middle mark but then come back down.

it never went above the middle point. this made me think that the thermostate must be open and not letting the engine warm up to it's optimum working termperature.

So i set about looking for a thermostat. ringing the dealers I was quoted £90 but found one for £53 (£60 inc delivery) at this website http://www.bestpartstore.co.uk/7181775

it is a part number TH47588G1.

to change this myself it took about 2hrs approx. it was my first time.

start with removing the battery and the battery tray. 3 screws at the bottom of the battery.
then remove the turbo intercooler pipe to the right of the engine bay (while standing in front of the car)
now you'll have clear access to the 3 torx screws holding the water thermostat housing
there are only 2 hoses on the thermostate housing, easy to release.

since fitting the new thermostate my temperature needle now rises to the middle very quickly and will now maintain that position throughout the journey.

 

[mikelan]

I've a 2011 model and it operates the same way, needle never reaches the middle and takes ages to heat up.
I hasn't considered it a problem as fuel economy is as expected.
Did you replace the thermostat with a different rated one ?
Also did you verify the one you removed was opening at the expected temperature ?
I'd be interested to know was it faulty or just rated at a different temperature.

 

[naureh22]

I'm not sure about fuel economy as the engine is still heating up to a certain temperature. The thermostat is designed to open at 88°.
When I took mine off to inspect originally it seemed OK, I could squeeze the spring etc so I just squirted some wd40 on it and put it back on, it worked great for about an hour but then again it would never hit the middle or if it did it wouldn't stay there for long. I've always had this issue as I only bought the car in September and I always noticed that my heaters would take a long while to give hot air. So I thought for the sake of £60 I'll give it a shot and since changing it about a month ago and have done more than 500 miles since than I'm very happy with the results.

Hope that helps.

 

[wrighar]

On the TTid's you can change just the stat, about £10. it's the Tid ones that need the housing too, costing more.

[h=1]Thermostat & Housing, Saab 9-3 1.9 8V & 16V Z19DT/Z19DTH 05-12
Saab 9-3 Sport - 2005-2012 - All 1.9 8V & 16V Models with a Z19DT/Z19DTH Engine
£27.70[/h]
And £36 for the TTID one with housing (not really needed)

 

[div2112]

Yea changed mine on my 93 tid 150 in about an hour cost me 55 quid.

 

[naureh22]

How's the temperature needle now after you changed it div2112?
I did my friend's on the weekend and he has a 05 Tid vector.

I'm glad I changed mine, was getting annoyed with the fluctuations.