Cars

2001 Saab 9-3 The List

Posted by Henry McHenry on 03/29/2020
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I’m gonna try to document all the things Ive done, bought, or had someone else do to the car since I got it back in March 2018. In no particular order:

  • 4 tires
  • Front lower control arms
  • Passenger side adjustment screw
  • Autolite copper sparkplugs
  • 5 qurts 5w 40 oil
  • Bosch oil filter
  • Mann air filter
  • Ecoguard fuel filter
  • Denso platinum sparkplugs
  • Bosch double platinum sparkplugs
  • Mann air filter
  • Manhle air filter
  • Upper radiator hose
  • Multiple generic coolant hoses
  • Gallons and gallons of coolant and distilled water
  • A couple bottles of seafom
  • Marvel mistery oil
  • Bottles of Lucas octane booster
  • Driver side headlight assembly
  • 6×9 Kicker spaeakers
  • Kenwood bass amplifier
  • JVS Head unit
  • Tech 2 Scanner
  • K&N Oil Filter
  • Quarts and quarts of motor oil of different specs
  • Royal Purple 5 quart jug
  • Head was resurfaced
  • Replaced head gasket
  • Valve cover gasket kit (pending to be installed)
  • Water pump U hose
  • Thermostat
  • Thermostat (spare)
  • Water pump U hose (spare)
  • The 4 rotors were resurfaced
  • The 8 brake pads were replaced
  • Ecoguard fuel filter
  • Climate control (vents are in a fixed position, facing towards the cabin)
  • Upper radiator hose
  • Lower radiator hose (pending to replace)

That’s what I can recall. I’ll update this entry when I remember something else.

01′ OG 9-3 Headlight replacement

Posted by Henry McHenry on 03/25/2020
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As promised, pictures of before and after. One issue (or advantage) with these cars is headlights are made of glass. Issue because they’re easier to break (accident or vandalism), advantage because they’re are resistant to deformation and yellowing (I’m looking at you Nissan).

Before:

During:

Quite easy to remove, just remove three T25 screws and unclip the grill. Unplug the harness. Be careful with the wipers.

After:

Now I have proper lighting and no more dealing with tape. The new housing even came with bulbs and the electrical plug. Awesome job from the Wisconsin junkyard!

Next would be to check why the left turn signal socket is not making proper contact.

OG 9-3

Posted by Henry McHenry on 03/24/2020
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Got a few presents for the love of my life. So far I replaced the DIC and the plugs. The old DIC had melted tips and who knows if it was ever replaced before. I tried a chinese knockoff before with horrendous results, so this time I pulled the trigger and got the Saab original part from esaabparts.

As per sparkplugs I got what Saab offered back then as an option for “hard driving”, the NGK PFR7H-10. So far this morning going to work it ran great đŸ™‚ Thanks to the Saabnet member who documented the sparkplugs on this post

Couple weeks ago I changed the oil and filter using Royal Purple 5w-30 and a K&N filter. I’m pending to swap the air filter.

I intend to replace the headlight tonight, I’ll make sure to post before / after pictures.

2013 Versa Maintenance 90000 km

Posted by Henry McHenry on 07/18/2018
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Archive photo

Archive photo

 

Last night I performed the maintenance on my 2013 Versa. I didn’t take it to the dealer for the first time in its 5+ years. According to the schedule I was supposed to take it for an oil change next month. Also since I don’t drive it that much the scheduled work corresponds to 90000 km though it only has less than 80000 km.

Oil pan bolt was a pain to remove but nothing some penetrating oil and a little force couldn’t fix. The Oil filter was the real pain to remove, even with the screwdriver trick, it wasn’t until I found a better leverage point from the top of the engine that it budged.

Items used for this work:

  • Valvoline Synpower 5w-30 full synthetic oil
  • Bosch 3300 Premium oil filter

And that’s the thing I like the most about doing it myself, I know for sure what’s going in there.

2001 Saab 9-3 Part 3

Posted by Henry McHenry on 06/28/2018
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The parts arrived, this is how the left turn signal looks now

Compared to before:

Also got a new engine oil dipstick, and as I suspected the new one is a bit longer:

Also, finally got around replacing the fuel filter, it was easier than I thought, this is the right part in case you’re interested https://amzn.to/2tIuuvt

The 17 mm banjo bolt came out with some effort, but for the 19 mm I had to use penetrating oil and let it sit for a few minutes, then still had to fight it a little bit. The clamp is held in place by a T25 screw and the plastic cover by two 10 mm nuts.

 

2001 Saab 9-3

Posted by Henry McHenry on 06/07/2018
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Recently (April 4th) I did something I wanted to do for a long time, and that was buy another car. I saw her at the company parking lot and I guess it was love at first sight. I looked for the owner,  inquired about the car, did a test drive and placed an offer. Well, that’s not how the story ended. After that I decided to explore the Facebook marketplace and looked at other cars. I test drove a 79 Malibu and a 79 Fairmont, they din’t convinced me or I was convinced of how much of a death trap (for others) that kind of cars could be. At the time the Saab owner sent a message telling me he was willing to go a bit lower on the price, so I went with the Saab.

Here’s a picture of her:

I’m really enjoying working on her, so far this is what I’ve done:

  • Oil and filter change
  • Sparkplugs change
  • Hood strut
  • Trunk lifts
  • Coolant hose (URO Part # 9178849)
  • Air Filter (Mann C31122)
  • Airbox, MAF, intake hose cleaning
  • Fixed parasitic current draw by removing the stock HU
  • Head unit and speakers replacement (used this VW harness Metra 70-1784)

Work performed at the local shop

Pending work to do:

  • Fuel filter
  • Brake pads
  • PCV valve

Kenwood KSC-SW11

Posted by Henry McHenry on 01/16/2018
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Since what I listen to most is alternative rock and speed metal I don’t require a huge sub woofer, what I require is to isolate the low frequency signal. The JVC KWAV61BT allows precisely for that. Just hook up this baby into the dedicated sub woofer output then Bob’s your uncle.  Polks will now only deal with mids and highs.

I installed it on my 2013 Versa, it is placed on the passenger side below the glove box area. It doesn’t draw much current so I tapped from a spare 20 amp acc fuse.

 

Sounds great for alternative rock and speed metal. Here’s a sample:

 

Product Link: http://amzn.to/2D9gtuh

Some car enhancements

Posted by Henry McHenry on 09/01/2017
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I finally removed the center console from my 2013 Versa sedan in order to do some work.

The service manual instructions are misleading, you should first remove the piece below the AC controls then you can remove the center console.

I couldn’t find the shifter bulb, and I didn’t remove the ipod harness (too much trouble untangling everything).

Using screws I properly fitted a center console compartment. Previously I was using a piece of cloth to keep it in place.

I fitted a usb port in a similar fashion as the newer models. I added an inverter with extra USB port. I’m thinking of adding a videogame console later on.

It may not look like a lot but it was a good learning experience. Now I don’t have to reach all the way to the back to remove a usb drive and the center box is now securely attached and folks can use it as armrest.

Here are some pics in no particular order:

 

New car battery

Posted by Henry McHenry on 08/09/2017
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So after my last battery began dying on me I decided to pull the trigger and get an (expensive) Optima battery.

According to the maker website the SKU compatible with my car (2013 Nissan Versa) is the D51R. Went to my local Autozone and that’s what I asked for.

Everything seems premium about this battery’s construction. My only gripe is the battery is smaller than a regular battery so either you have to order the spacer or get creative to secure it in place. This is what I’m talking about:

For now I just got a bit creative (forgot to take a picture of it), not satisfied but will have to do until either I get the spacer or make my own definitive solution. I used a curtain bracket, the factory screw fits on the bracket hole, I just had to bend it a bit to secure the battery in place.

Removing the old battery was easy. Placing the new one and hooking it up was also easy. Securing it with the materials I had on hand, not so much.

With the battery in place I went for a test drive. I don’t know if its because of the smaller battery but the car feels lighter. The AC feels colder, the stereo sounds more powerful and cleaner, the cellphone charger keeps up better with my cellphone (I use it for dvr and obdii functions), the lights are brighter and the horn (aftermarket Wolo) is louder and doesn’t sound distorted anymore.

Update 08/12/17

I came up with something a bit better, though still not satisfied.

Wood is pretty good absorbing vibration.

On another note, battery gets pretty hot on this 100+ weather (38+ C). We’ll see if it’s true it can be used on the Baja.

 

The old LTH battery was a good battery, I think it only lasted two years because of the intense driving conditions experienced this very spring/summer. I use slightly more crap than the typical driver: OBDII dongle, cellphone charger and non stock head unit (haven’t installed the amplifier yet) and bi xenon head lamps. Temperatures surpassing 100 F even at night (and off course I also have to crank up the AC). In addition to that roads in the town of Apodaca are not that friendly to say the least and local government makes things more difficult every day. Things can get a bit bumpy: