Saab 9-7x 5.3i 32" Iceland

[hertittys]

Decided to share some pictures of my moderately lifted, spaced out and on bigger tires Saab 9-7x was bought brand new here in iceland 2006 and has been here all its life, only 5 or 6 of them ever came here. driven around 215k kms

I bought the car fully standard, little to no rust (except the hood was rusted through), ran and did things good only some minor problems as it had been sitting for a while.


Fixed the hood temporarily, bought some R/T 32" tires, 1.5" spacers, 2" leveling kit and made the air suspension lift the rear a bit, fixed brakes, bearings and some other minor issues like HID ballast, alternator, v-belt.



Removed part of the rear bench so it was possible to sleep in the back of it and went for a little travel around the country




I'm trying to find a snorkel for it so I can cross some serious rivers, thinking of doing complete DOD delete as well as find new hood on it.

 

[Mooseman]

Welcome! Those are some nice pics, Nat Geo worthy (or Car and Driver )

Have you tuned out the DOD yet? If not, do it now! Will prevent its eventual failure. In the meanwhile, you can temporarily disable it:
How to disable AFM/DOD at no cost

I have a tuned PCM and TCM from my now scrapped '06 if that would interest you. Plug and play after the security relearn.

It's funny that this particular Saab has been sold everywhere except Sweden.

 

[6716]

Welcome.

 

[flyboy2610]

Nice truck!

 

[hertittys]

Welcome! Those are some nice pics, Nat Geo worthy (or Car and Driver )

Have you tuned out the DOD yet? If not, do it now! Will prevent its eventual failure. In the meanwhile, you can temporarily disable it:
How to disable AFM/DOD at no cost

I have a tuned PCM and TCM from my now scrapped '06 if that would interest you. Plug and play after the security relearn.

It's funny that this particular Saab has been sold everywhere except Sweden.

Thanks!
I have a hp-tuners so I've already deactivated the DOD in the tune, but I haven't fiddled anything more with it yet, what kind of increases did you see with that tuned pcm and tcm?

quite surprising indeed, but some were imported to sweden (used) and I heard there are even two 9-7x in Japan.

 

[Mooseman]

I don't have any numbers however immediately saw an increase in power and responsiveness. Also the tune turned off the fan codes, tuned the transmission for better shifts and 0 slip torque converter clutch.

 

[TollKeeper]

Once you deactivate the DOD, I don't think you should worry about it. Failures after PCM disable are rare.. like extremely rare. Not saying it doesn't happen, but when it does happen, it happens from lifter tray failure.

Welcome from another Saab owner!

 

[hertittys]

I don't have any numbers however immediately saw an increase in power and responsiveness. Also the tune turned off the fan codes, tuned the transmission for better shifts and 0 slip torque converter clutch.

That is quite tempting, currently I'm trying to keep myself from running wild on the saab atleast until my other LS project car is finished, but I do think it needs a bit more oumph.

Once you deactivate the DOD, I don't think you should worry about it. Failures after PCM disable are rare.. like extremely rare. Not saying it doesn't happen, but when it does happen, it happens from lifter tray failure.

Welcome from another Saab owner!

thats reassuring to know, atleast I can run it longer now with less worries till I get to the point where I physically delete it.

 

[hertittys]

Clear coated the front lights, painted the shrouding in them black
also made some mudflaps for it.
Bought an trailblazer transfercase, just need to get the rest of the bits and bobs for the 4wd mod.
also waiting for my hood to arrive.
shame about the wheel bolt pattern otherwise I'd already would've bought some nicer wheels.

 

[mrrsm]

Check out THIS Link...

Snorkel Air Intakes - Trucks, Jeeps & SUVs | ARB 4x4 USA

Breathe easy and roll through rivers; Safari 4x4 off-road snorkels deliver cold, clean air to the engine of your Jeep, Truck, SUV or other offroad vehicle.

arbusa.com

 

[hertittys]

Check out THIS Link...

Snorkel Air Intakes - Trucks, Jeeps & SUVs | ARB 4x4 USA

Breathe easy and roll through rivers; Safari 4x4 off-road snorkels deliver cold, clean air to the engine of your Jeep, Truck, SUV or other offroad vehicle.

arbusa.com

I've been eyeing snorkels for some time now, since river crossings are quite common here.

 

[hertittys]

So I've installed a proper transfercase which works beautifully no more bang-slipt situations when I need the 4wd.

 

[Mooseman]

Noice! Did you use the info from here to do it?

Looks badass with those tires!

 

[hertittys]

Noice! Did you use the info from here to do it?

Looks badass with those tires!

Yeah I did use the info from that thread helped a lot especially the wiring diagrams.

Thanks! I really want some 17" wheels and get the same size tires, to have more rubber.
also the offset is quite whack at front after flipping the upper joint and adjusting the camber.

I think next is to do some updates on the transmission since its still good and healthy.

 

[hertittys]

Did the Sonnax performance pack upgrade on the valve body, will leave the rest for when I take the transmission out on a happy day, did also change the cooling lines what an absolute horror story that is on the v8, so tight and so miserable work.
Main thing was to disable the PWM converter lockup as that is considered a ticking time bomb.
also added a huge extra cooler for the return. but overall the transmission seems very healthy.





Has anyone changed their fuel lines from the tank to the engine both of them, how did you and where did you get them, quite worried as they are quite rusty.

And I have annoying issue of refueling, changed the filler piper and hose, cannister both the valves but no avail.

 

[Mooseman]

Has anyone changed their fuel lines from the tank to the engine both of them, how did you and where did you get them, quite worried as they are quite rusty.

Dorman has line kits that replace the original steel lines with flexible braided ones. You would use the old rusty lines to zip-tie the new line to. Did it on mine and wasn't that bad except that the fuel pump's steel line developed a leak on top of the tank and had to be replaced.

And I have annoying issue of refueling, changed the filler piper and hose, cannister both the valves but no avail.

So does it constantly click off early while refuelling or does it puke when it's full?

 

[hertittys]

Dorman has line kits that replace the original steel lines with flexible braided ones. You would use the old rusty lines to zip-tie the new line to. Did it on mine and wasn't that bad except that the fuel pump's steel line developed a leak on top of the tank and had to be replaced.

Been trying to find something like that for the 5.3 engine, only seen the trailblazer 4.2
I did change the fuel pump 1 or 2 years ago it had a hole in it. the lines on top of the tank looked good.

So does it constantly click off early while refuelling or does it puke when it's full?

Constantly clicks off, no matter how low or full the tank is, I can only pump very slowly.
I did fiddle with the roll over valve, it moves with my finger and the filler pipe is only 1 year old or so as well as the rubber hose on the bottom.
Might try to disconnect the breathe line and blow into it, just quite scared blowing some valves out.

 

[Mooseman]

For constant clicking off, it's one of these:

- Plugged/fuel filled charcoal canister
- Defective/non-operating Vent valve
- Plugged vent line and/or filter at the end of it

If you have an advanced scan tool or Tech 2, manually operate the vent valve and see if it's working/clicking. If not, check that the power is getting to it. Search on YouTube for a video for this same problem by South Main Auto. He shows in detail how to diagnose a non-working vent valve.

Been trying to find something like that for the 5.3 engine, only seen the trailblazer 4.2

You're right. I wonder if the one from the 4.2 would work on the 5.3. The connectors are the same as well as the fuel tanks and pumps. On the 4.2, it goes to the front of the engine to connect to the fuel rail. IIRC, on the 5.3, it connects at the mid-rear on the left side of the engine with a straight connector. Maybe some rerouting because of the new line's 90deg angled connector but it should be long enough or maybe a bit too long.

More Information for DORMAN 819814

 

[hertittys]

For constant clicking off, it's one of these:

- Plugged/fuel filled charcoal canister
- Defective/non-operating Vent valve
- Plugged vent line and/or filter at the end of it

If you have an advanced scan tool or Tech 2, manually operate the vent valve and see if it's working/clicking. If not, check that the power is getting to it. Search on YouTube for a video for this same problem by South Main Auto. He shows in detail how to diagnose a non-working vent valve.


You're right. I wonder if the one from the 4.2 would work on the 5.3. The connectors are the same as well as the fuel tanks and pumps. On the 4.2, it goes to the front of the engine to connect to the fuel rail. IIRC, on the 5.3, it connects at the mid-rear on the left side of the engine with a straight connector. Maybe some rerouting because of the new line's 90deg angled connector but it should be long enough or maybe a bit too long.

More Information for DORMAN 819814

Thanks for that, I did change charcoal canister, no problem with old but its driven 250k kms, I did check the power to both purge valve and vent valve, both got 14.5v when engine on and both are new, so I unhooked all of the lines and blew gently through them.
Seems like that did work, but I will drive some more till the tank is almost empty and try it out.

Interesting, if its longer then its no problem just rerouting it a bit differently, are you sure its exactly the same fittings on both ends? since 100usd for ptfe braided is a steal.


Today I just removed my shock absorbers on the front, the rubber from the 2" liftkit on top the shock had disingrated into atoms, so I got polyurathane ones from superpro and plugged them in.

 

[Mooseman]

I'm pretty sure the fittings are the same except the I6's is bent 90deg and the V8's is maybe straight. I took my Saab's off once to do the DOD delete but I can't remember what the flexible part looked like (bent or straight). GM was pretty monogamous for the fittings themselves and used the same type everywhere so I'm fairly confident that it would connect. Looking at pictures of the V8 and I6 fuel rails, it leads me to believe that the V8's flexible line would be straight to be able to go along side the rail itself to the fitting. At least with the extra length of the I6's line, you should be able to reroute it to get to the V8's fuel rail inlet.

I guess there wasn't enough demand for the V8 variant. Another possibility is to look at other full size trucks like the Sierra and Tahoe. If it's really too long, you could reroute or loop it under the truck.