Great little fix. Also, when trying to get the dropped bolts out of back of cavites like that I'd recommend a small magnet placed inside finger of rubber glove, put the glove on or dangle it in and go fishing.
Great tip, thanks for sharing. Unfortunately I don't have a small magnet for such a task, so I'm going to order one of these flexible magnetic pick-ups amzn.to/43noI1J
Did this recently, passenger rear came off OK, drivers rear one bolt seized, just like your video. Luckily we had access to some oxy propane, Warmed it up and eventually it came free..... But.... If I'd seen you working magic again cyd, I'd have gone down the rivnut avenue. Well done for a nice engineering solution, to rust, time, and lack of a sealing rubber cover. 👍
I did consider removing the panel by drilling the welds, getting new nuts fitted and welding back on. I could have cleaned up the whole area with a wire brush too. But I decided to work smarter not harder, did this instead and treated the area with Lanoguard to arrest the corrosion.
Another amazing and informative video, love the Saab dedicated content sadly once again you've made a video just a little too late to help me as both my rear mounts were replaced about 6 weeks ago due to Essex pot holes?? but great all the same... you serpentine belt video was just a week after my belt snapped... just a heads up as it appears our Saab 9-3's have been heading down a similar path - mines had ongoing issues with oil in the coolant and also dumping coolant?? I had the oil cooler replaced and the coolant tank cap replaced a week later as it was not sealing?? But today its gone back to dumping coolant?? It appears to happen when select reverse (FA57204 5 speed auto box), just wondering whether you've ever encountered this or have any advice?? Ps. For the past 2 years gearbox has had an issue when hot, it kind of clunk's if you go from reverse to drive (when stationary) but I was quoted over £1,000 to re-con the gearbox so told them where to go.. Keep up the good work cheers for all the help in the past
Hello Cyd, thanks for your tutorials, could you answer a question please? i have a 2007 93 Aero convertible , i think its the anniversary edition, Is the front suspension the same in a convertible Aero compared to the Aero sedan please.. i ask as i have a front suspension knocking noise going over small bumps but i'm at a loss as to where to get parts and what parts i actually need.. i'm gutted as i only got the car yesterday from friends who told me everything was ok.. turns out its far from ok..i've googled a front suspension diagram but i don't know if the images are for a regular 93 or a aero,, any info you could provide would be most helpful..thanks..
What did you spray the top mounts with? I noticed something black. Also do you know if that cavity could bend out of shape. When I last changed mine the 3 bolt didn't really matched the new top mont but eventually I managed to do it. I used neo brothers for the replacement.
I sprayed this: amzn.to/3QsamJz I wouldn't have thought the panelcould bend out of shape. It's quite thick. You didn't cross thread the bolts perchance?
Hey this just happened to me yesterday. Trying to determine if the stock bolts are m10 size? Happen to know the thread pitch or stock bolts? I’m assuming 1.50. Id like to reuse them for appearances. Thanks!
The clever design of the pivot for the rear steering is let down by thoses spot welded hidden nuts coming loose and the steel bolts getting stuck solid from the galvanic corrosion caused by the 'monkey' metal of the mount. I soaked mine with penetrating fluid for two days and still had issues! Why on earth they didnt think to 1) put a rubber grommet type seal to blank that oval whole 2) choose to use that monkey metal for the mount 3) only have two full holes leaving that weak ear that normally brakes off the casting 🙄
The stock mounts are made from zamak (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamak) which is passivate coated for corrosion protection (note that many aftermarket versions are NOT passivate coated, so will corrode very quickly). From the OEs pov, it's the perfect material: it's cheap and if you consider my car as a 'typical' use case, it more than met it's design life of 12 years / 120,000 miles. Yeah, an oval grommet is a good idea. I'll search the market place for one. The slots are clearly for ease of assembly (DFA = design for assembly, again a good design)
Top tip, the only mechanical part on the body that is different to a vectra (as far as I'm aware) is the rear strut mount. so don't go out to buy vectra strut mount mount for your saab, it won't fit
I have a 2006 Audi a4 quattro and its riding on Bilstein coilovers. Its been making horrible squeaks from the rear when going over speed bumps. 2 garages have told me they cant find anything wrong. I have ordered 2 rear top mounts and will be getting them fitted very soon. The garage told me that they have never replaced the rear top mounts as they never seem to go bad. But my car has done 172000 miles and its tuned and lower than standard. The squeaking noise sounds like its fairly high up, just behind your head if you were sat in the back and coming from both sides. Does that sound like a rear top mount? They were never changed when I had the coilovers fitted so they have done 172k. I cant think it could be anything else, my springs are all intact and everything is tight. Im just annoyed that I have to buy parts to try and fix a noise that a professional garage cannot find.
