My 2yr old 93 had become incredibly sluggish with major flat spots in acceleration. The garage claimed to have replaced the 'air flow sensor' which did seem to partially correct the problem but the engine management warning light now appears on a regular basis accompanied with the previous loss of power and performance. I think the turbo may the issue but SAAB claim it's ok - any ideas?
p.s. SAAB have just issued a warning to diesel owners that overfilling the oil is causing serious engine damage. They enclose detailed engine oil checking proceedures and warn against adding oil just because the 'check engine oil' warning comes on. The tolerance between marks on the dip stick is only 1.0 litre.
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" any ideas? "
Mike.
A long shot here but, there was some discussion previously regarding engine oil "blow by", on high mileage engines, affecting petrol engined catalysts. It is not unknown, with some bore wear, that diesel's will have their fuel/air mix corrupted by engine oil. In fact, diesels have been known to "run on" by consuming their own sump oil, after the fuel line switch has shut off. Saab's warning, regarding sump oil overfilling, might not be connected to this phenomenon and, as your vehicle is only two years old, bore wear is unlikely but, on a high mileage engine, with, excessive bore wear, lubricating oil, in the combustion chambers, will affect performance.
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Same old problem discussed at great length before. Your GM 16v diesel engine contains a lot of oil in the head. If you dip the sump immediately after stopping, this oil will not have drained back into the sump, so you will get a falsely low reading and may well then overfill the engine with oil. Has been happening to Astra, Zafira and Vectra drivers for years. I think Fast in Fifth has a Vectra TD and will confirm.
HJ
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Thanks for the info.
I don't think engine wear is a problem, possibly the opposite. I've done 46k miles and been fairly gentle. Reading stuff on turbo diesels elsewhere in this section suggests I give it a bit of stick and vary the driving technique.
This morning, it was running well but when I hit about 70mph at 3,200rpm the power disappeared and the engine management light came on, acceleration past 3,000 rpm was then impossible. After standing (swiched off) for a while, it all resets and becomes ok again until warmed up - could the mass air sensor be causing this?
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It is a fact that this engine in this car needs a good blowout every so often. If you don't, it does become sluggish. However, given your engine managemnt light, it might be worth taking it to dealer - often, although the light goes out, it retains the error codes which can be interrogated by the dealer & a specific problem might be indicated.
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Also worth noting that SAAB's instructions neeed to be followed to the letter! Took my 2.2tid on a 5 mile run and went to buy oil; it stood for 5 minutes and when I checked the dipstick it was on MIN, cleaned and dipped again (within 5 secs) and it was on FULL. SAAB's letter says take out dipstick, clean and dip again ie ignore first reading. Easy to see how overfilling can occur although for the life of me I can't see why 2 readings 10 secs apart can be 1 litre different!
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My vectra TDI is just the same shanks.
Check level aout ten minutes after turning hot engine off and not a drop of oil shows on the dipstick.
Immediately dip again and the correct level is there.
Leave standing overnight and check and the level shows about two inches above maximum.
Wipe dipstick and check again several times, then the level becomes correct.
Very strange for a simple task.
alvin
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Chances are you have another faulty MAF sensor. I had a very similar problem with my 2000 Vectra DI, whereby the engine management light would come on only at motorway speeds. A new sensor cured this and all has been fine since. If you have another sensor fitted, insist the air filter is changed and that it is well sealed when installed. If your engine has a wastegate on it's turbo, check the vac lined leading too it for air leaks.
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Thanks for your help folks, problem was finally (3 garage visits) diagnosed as a leaking vac line and sorted in half an hour under warranty. I think it may have had a leak from new as It has never performed so well as does is now.
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Great to hear the saab is back in bizness!
I have heard so many stories of 'leaking vac pipes', I wonder why this isn't the first item that gets checked!
>>It has never performed so well as does is now
Great! Now don't get caught!
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