drglock

Hello everyone. Just bought a 1994 900s as my winter "get around" car. So far I am super impressed with how well everything works considering it has 225,000 miles on it! Anyways, i have had it 2 months now, it has been running great. Last time I drove it was on xmas eve and it ran perfectly. It sat in the parking lot at home since then until this morning. We had a TON of snow melt and rain the last few days, so the car got soaked needless to say.

I fire her up this morning, and it is running rough...sounds like it is missing, or the timing is off or something. Acceleration is greatly reduced and driving around I noticed my fuel milage had taken a drastic plunge from the typical 20-22 mpg to 15-17 mpg in the same driving scenarios.

I looked under the cover for loose plug wires, but everything seems snug. Any ideas? Possibly the MAF? I am not sure where to start, as this is my first Saab.

And while Im at it, it looks like I need to remove the entire intake to get at the back side spark plugs...is that correct?

Thanks!

Roto

That's the non-turbo one? Probably the dizzy is wet than.

drglock

Hi Roto, thanks for the info. Yes, it is a non-turbo V-6. I am not sure what a "dizzy" is lol, although I know my way around the mechanics of cars, that term escapes me. You mean the distributor? If that is the case, I looked at it this morning and it did not "appear" to have gotten any water on it, but then again, who knows. Can you recommend any way to have a closer look? it seems like it is bolted right on the side of the block. Unlike other distributors, there is no wire going into the unit from the coil, just the 6 plug wires coming out. I am assuming the coil wire enters the box somewhere other than the top.

Also, if i wanted to replace the plugs, do I actually need to remove the entire intake? This motor sits in the bay sideways, and the plugs nearest the firewall seem to be in-accesable without first removing the intake plenum.

anyways, i appreciate your taking the time to offer your help. Thanks! I will post my findings tonight.

Roto

yeah, I meant the distributor. I would just replace plugs, wires, cap and rotor as a set. Also check your grounds for corrosion. I can't confirm whether you'll need to remove the IM since I'm on a work computer that doesn't have WIS on it.

drglock

Update:

After I had some time to diagnose this weekend i learned a few things. First, this car is a distributor-less ignition. It only has a coil, which is mounted on the head. The coil has the 6 plug wires coming off of it, and then a plug where the crank position sensor plugs in.

One of the 6 leads off of the coil was making almost no spark at all. Unfortunately, the dam coil is well over $200, but it looks like what I have to replace. Normally I would go ahead and replace the ignition wires and plugs too, but NO WAY on this car!! To get to the spark plugs closest to the firewall you literally need to remove the entire intake manifold, fuel injector rails, fuel injectors along with countless vacuum hose connections, throttle cables, wiring harnesses, etc etc. not to mention gaskets and who knows what else.

The new coil comes in tomorrow. ill post here after I install to confirm if that fixed the problem.

Roto

ooohh! It's a V6. Yea, that's a "fun" one.

drglock

Hi again. Just thought I would pop in to finish off this thread. I ended up swapping out the Coil (which is basically a combo coil/distributor) and this fixed the problem!! YAY!! I'm glad, because there is no way I was going to disasemble most of the upper motor just to change a plug. Thanks for the input!