(Part 2) Best products from r/saab

woah, you have a coupe , never knew saab made one~!

LOL at that price. get the D501C coils off amazon and your good. hes quoting you OEM coil prices plus labor it sounds like
https://www.amazon.com/Delco-D501C-Original-Equipment-Ignition/dp/B0016HTBWY

So, a little while ago I posted on here about maybe buying a 2000 9-3 Viggen convertible.. and based partially on the replies I got, of course I ended up buying it (this really isn’t helping Reddit’s reputation with my wife…), though this article on Jalopnik definitely helped.. (hell the last paragraph basically told me I had to buy it..)

Now that it’s sat in my driveway, the fun begins.. and I’ll take any advice you guys have.

Current issues:

• The roof leaks.. a fair bit - I had the car sat in the driveway for a couple of weeks while I was out of town. I got home in the middle of a pretty bad storm where it had been pouring all day, so I figured it would be perfect for checking out the water-tightness of the roof and sure enough, there was water dripping in in a few spots: Front LHS leak, Rear RHS Leak, Rear Center Leak, Roof Central Leak. Based on how widespread the leaking was and because the seals around the perimeter still look pretty good, I’m thinking the soft-top may have just lost it’s waterproofness? (this would explain the wet spot in the middle of the roof, as well as why the leaks would only appear after a prolonged downpour..) Does anyone have any experience with this, or waterproofing products they’ve used successfully? I found this article on SaabCentral talking about a product call Renovo, but it looks like it’s a little tough to get in Canada, I’ve also found this “Protex” stuff on Amazon.. though I’ve had one mechanic mention just a good covering with ScotchGuard..? – In the meantime, I got a car cover to put on the car when it’s parked and it definitely seems to be keeping her dry
  
  
• Temperamental roof mechanism - When opening the roof, it needs a little help for the initial opening (lifting the rear window), if I go and give it a little manual lift while someone holds the open button, it seems to work fine; then for closing, it stops a few times through the cycle and I get a malfunction message.. but if I release the button then press it again it keeps going and eventually finishes. I’ve been told this might just be that it’s low on mineral oil.. does anyone with a soft-top have any insight?
  
  
• Spastic Alarm – This one seems to be a known issue.. the backup batteries on the alarm system die and then the system has a stroke and turns into a massive asshole, going off whenever it wants, not letting me disable it and generally pissing off all my neighbors. There was a lot of different info all over the web about which fuse would disable it, don’t know if the fuse box is different on the Viggen but none of them were right (seriously.. I ended up just cycling through every single one.. the damned thing kept whining the hole time). Anyway, I ended up just tearing the little possessed demon out. So not really an issue anymore, just needed to vent about this one..
  
  
• Rad fan cycling – Noticed the other night while she was idling in the driveway that the rad fan cycles on and off rather often and for short periods. Checked her temp and it looked stable.. is this common for this car or is there a chance I have a faulty temp sensor?
  
  
• Headlight wipers – first issue here is one’s missing.. anyone know where I can find a replacement..? Second issue.. they seem to just stop wherever they want to.. usually right in the middle of the light.. though this morning when I left I noticed they were back to flat at the bottom of the headlight.. do they just eventually reset themselves..?
  
  
• Oil – This is my first turbocharged car, I’ve heard they can burn through oil and if you don’t keep it topped up you can oil-starve and damage the turbo. Is this true on this car? How often should I be checking my oil levels? And what oil would you guys recommend I use? (the engine has about 100,000km - 62k miles on it and the rest has about 340,000km – 211k miles).
  
  I think that’s all I’ve got for now, though I’ll take any other advice you guys might have for me about things to look out for / monitor / keep an eye on, etc.
  
  Thanks!

Hold up, there are some super affordable ones on Amazon, have lasted almost a year for me now (and still going). Let me go find a link

Edit: there you go
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004AYA2PA/ref=oh_aui_i_sh_in_o0_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Brightness seemed about the same from my old ones, slightly higher temperature than only ones (like 5500K vs 5000K)

I bought 4, to me, even if they have half the life span or less, paying $50 for 4 sure beats buying 2 for $200 (Canadian)

I just called my local Best Buy, they set me up with a harness and din adapter no issues. Keep in mind when changing your receiver you will lose likely the door mounted speakers and your steering wheel controls. I didn't mind as I got a way better set up for a little over $200
Here's what I got and I am VERY happy with it
BOSS AUDIO 616UAB Single-DIN MECH-LESS Multimedia Player (no CD or DVD), Receiver, Bluetooth https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CG8N0H8/
ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_pb6MybFVX6G0F
And this woofer

Rockville RTB12A 12" 600w Powered Subwoofer Bass Tube + Bass Remote+Amp Kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016PYXBZ0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_hc6Myb37Q7HC0

I used this one when my antenna broke apart. First you need to carefully remove the white plastic part, leaving only the metal plate against the roof. (alternatively you can remove the whole assembly by removing the nut on the underside). Then you take a razor blade or exacto knife and cut out the middle of the adhesive pad (the dummy antenna is hollow) leaving about 3/8" around the outside. I also sprayed my antenna matte black so it looks like the original. Honestly, it turned out really well. I can post pictures if you're interested.


http://www.amazon.com/Pilot-Automotive-Shark-Antenna-CZ292CF/dp/B00AWYBCAG/ref=pd_bxgy_263_img_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0NTZ2MR0TKX27M4HCXGH

Yes I would advise you to watch a video tutorial on how to. Would be much better than a written one. Only advice I have is to gather 4 or more friends to help you out. I had one person in each corner of the vinyl and one other person on the heat gun when needed. 5 people help made it easy but still required A LOT of patience. Patience is key!! Also, this is the vinyl I ordered. Gave me plenty of room to work with and also extra for wrapping my mirrors :D http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007P6R78A/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Think this is gonna be the wife's car so we'll see how it goes next snow storm lol. I did see some bootleg scanners on Amazon meant for a saab abs system. I wonder if they actually read the codes.

iCarSoft Volvo/Saab i906, Bundled with FREE Microfiber Cloth https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MYPORQ3/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_EDQMyb5K6VSD0

World Wide Remotes, via Amazon. The back and front are single plastic pieces, not as nice/tactile as the rubberized originals, for sure. They don't ship with an emergency key blank, and I can't speak to quality or long term hold up - obviously. The buttons are a little stiff out the box, but they're working well for now. Most importantly, they lock right into the ignition as well as the originals, so that's good.

This picture is very flattering. At the moment the trim is faded a little bit.

I've had good luck woth Mothers brand "back to black" you have to reapply every 3-6 months though

Edit: Mothers 06112 Back-to-Black Plastic and Trim Restorer - 12 oz. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GZLMEN4/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_NrbLxb0MWADR6

amazon, what i love about it is it feels like aluminum: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AWGMHOY?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

No problem.

As far as the sound dampening is concerned, well, yes and no. Here's a few options you have in regards to the doors:

• The most effective, yet time consuming and difficult route is to line to door frame itself in the sound deadening. When you remove the door cards, you'll notice the metal door frame itself is covered in a grey foam sheet of sorts, so in order to seal up the door frame, you'll have to remove it, which is a fairly simple process, as I believe it is held in with 6 or so speed clips (don't take my word on this). Afterwords, simply roll up the window and proceed stuffing. However, if you go the dynamat route, you'll want to buy a proper roller to help lay the sheets against the door, both on the frame against which the door card resrs, and on the inside of the door frame (a bit of a finicky process, patience is key).
  
  
• Alternatively, another, simpler option is to simply apply the dynamat/whatever to the inside of the door card itself, you can save yourself the headache and achieve a very similar result, you will be amazed at how much road noise this kills. Naturally, you can also do this alongside with sealing the door frame, but keep in mind how many sheets of dynamat you'll need to purchase. For the door cards alone, a single pack of dynamat door kit should suffice. However, you'll want to purchase a pair if you want to cover both the door cards and frames.
  
  
• Lastly, you'll want to kill the noise that the door card makes as a result of rubbing against its door frame. This is a pretty simple step, you'll just need about 12 feet of weather stripping for the two front doors, run it along the edges of the card that make contact with the door frame. I'd honestly advice to door this all around on all 4 doors, will make a massive improvement towards killing the squeaks and rattles.
  
  Whatever route you choose to take, a roller and some dynamat tape will come in handy. You'll want to use the dynamat tape I linked you to to completely cover the speaker surround, to prevent leakage. Lastly, I strongly suggest checking out speaker baffles. They're cheap, and incredibly efficient at projecting sound forwards into the cabin, so you lose no sound into the door panel, and they also further help seal off sound leakage.
  
  Edit: To address the possible subwoofer, something worth checking out are self-contained, self-powered subs, particularly Infinity's Basslink. Self powered subs are small, efficient, and easy as hell to install and use, no boxes to buy/build, no amp to mess with, the list goes on. In the case of the Infinity Basslink, it will fit nicely under the drivers/passenger seat, and is a breeze to wire up, just run speaker wire to the trunk amp and splice that sucker in with the 6x9 leads, which get a full-pass frequency signal from the DIN (headunit). Having experience with one before, the sound is pleasingly tight, not at all boomy and 'loose' sounding such as the case with larger subs in ported boxes.

CarGuys Liquid Wax. It works pretty well, better than I expected when I bought it. I’ve got to find a heated parking garage to wax it again for the winter.

Right, well the reason I ask, is if you've seen the guide on... I wanna say twinsaabs, the front main seal job is quite tricky. It's interesting compared to the 9-5, which I believe is just removing the harmonic balancer, and a large snap ring.

On the 900, it's a whole piece- handful of bolts, harmonic balancer, plus the main bolt all come off to do the job. The Fel-Pro kit I got for the front main seal comes with the main seal, oil pump gasket, and two gaskets for passages on the whole cover piece.

Here's a link to the kit I needed for my car, but I'm not sure if this applies to yours (I have a 91 turbo, and going by the cps kit you have, yours is NA) and I don't have my Haynes handy. I specifically bought the fel-pro because I did not see the same gaskets visually included with other kits, and opinion of importance of changing the gaskets varied from person to person.

So here is the one I bought for my wife's Saturn, and this is for an iPod input. I'm sure they make other models that support 3.5mm input as well.

iSimple IS77 Universal iPod and iPhone Audio Input Cable for FM Radios
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002IY598O/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_ukyEwb2JGMQJV

I just use a little of this stuff on a shop towel every month or so, keeps my headlights looking as crystal clear as possible. I definitely have some damage on the inside of the lens, but its a very noticeable improvement.

This is what I have. A lower end model would probably achieve the same effect but I can't say for certain. However using thay with a micro usb on the go cable works great!

Only real way is to respray them, cleaners/restorers will only mask the issue in my experiance. I would personally take off both rear trims with trim removal tools then spray with something like https://www.amazon.co.uk/Autotek-AT00BTB500-500ml-Bumper-Spray/dp/B004ZJILY4 if you only do one it will look weird compared to the other, then you'll look at all the rest and end up doing them all... ask me how I know ;)

https://www.amazon.com/03-07-stock-Headlight-Light-Diamond/dp/B004AYA2PA

I'm probably gonna buy 2 pairs of these ones