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9-5 Turbo or Pistons

10K views 28 replies 13 participants last post by  AMG140.6 
#1 ·
Hi- I have a 2002 9-5 Aero with about 100K on the clock. Recently while driving I got a few hesitations and a puff of smoke out the back. This progressed over a weeks time to an extremely rough Idle and huge plumes of smoke and little power under load. The next thing to happen was oil spilling out of the dipstick and very high crank case pressure even with the PCV line pulled out of the valve cover. As it sits now rough idle (like a tractor) and white/gray smoke out of the valve cover and oil fill tube (high cc pressure). Local indy thinks it's the turbo so I pulled it out. There is no play in the shaft and the turbines are in good shape. There was oil on both sides. Do I stick this turbo back in or buy a used one? Can a turbo pressurize the crank case??:confused: I hate this stupid car.
 
#3 ·
That's what I thought but mechanic insists it's the turbo. I guess I can reinstall and do a compression test. I know I should've done that first but the guy was pretty convincing that it was the turbo. Anyone want a cheep manual cosmic blue aero wagon? New transmission and clutch in the last 1000 miles.
 
#5 ·
I'll drive it into a tree before I put a new motor in it, thanks though. The only thing that is strange is that there is no oil on any of the plugs, they look new. I'm also able to see all 4 pistons moving through the spark holes when the engine is cranked?
 
#6 ·
You can do compression test without the turbo on it. So I would do that. You can also perform a leak down test.

Where are you located? If you are in the North east and you are serious about getting rid of it I may be interested.
 
#8 ·
I'd put oil in it. Some oil may come out of the oil feed to the turbo, but not a significant amount, and nothing should come out of the drain.
 
#9 ·
is there oil in the exhaust inlet of the turbo and oil on the exhuast outlet on turbo?

your crank case vent kit could be glogged right full also, colapsed lines and such...i seen this at my shop on several 9-5s and 9-3s the vent lines get soft and colaps on them selfs and poof, lots of crank case pressure...also this will kill your turbo, to much crank pressure will not allow oil to drain out of turbo and will cook it all in there
 
#10 ·
There is oil on both the inlet and outlet as well as a little on the intake side. If I remove the pcv vent from the valve cover smoke comes out of that outlet as well. Your theory seems similar to the mechanics. Where are all of the crank case connections? I still have the origional PCV not update 6. Is there a schmatic somewhere?
 
#12 · (Edited)
well the fact that there is oil in the inlet of the turbo exhaust side then that would show either oil being burnt in cyl from either
1) broken ring/ piston or just worn rings (not commen)
2)the compressor side of turbo is leaking oil into intake system....pull the lower drivers side intercooler hose off the intercooler and see if a lot of oil comes out...that would be a real indication of if its the turbo or not....

as far as the pcv system,...should be a hose from valve cover down to a black box to the right of the starter (looking at the rear of the block) and then a hose from the top of the intake pipe (has a banjo, then a pipe going around passenger side of head/VC) to the black box and also a short hose to the oil pan....also a vac line to the throttle body with a check valve in it



and also, if the pistons are bad wouldnt it make some sort of
knocking noise? never seen a broken piston or rings that did not make noise, though im sure it happends...

and also your car is going to run like shit if its burning oil that badly..oil dont ignite like fuel does...so it running like a "tractor" is expected with lots of burning oil...

does the engine knock at all?
 
#13 ·
Mike your assessment makes sense however I just discovered a new possible culprit. I put new spark plugs in about 2 hours before the oil spurt all over. I just pulled the plugs out and it turns out they are not even close to the plugs that were supposed to go in. Slightly longer and hotter heat range much hotter. The pistons all have an obvious marks where they met the plugs. Could this have caused damage to the pistons? I did a quick compression test with a malfunctioning gauge but there was obviously less pressure in cyl 4? I bought the plugs at autozone they asked me make model etc.... and gave me the wrong flipping plugs.:shock: Now the plot thickens
 
#15 ·
If a piston is damaged it won't necessarily make noise, but the fact that the crankcase is being pressurized says to me that a piston is cracked.

A turbo will not cause this issue at all, and its very possible that the oil is being fed through the PCV pipe bolted to the intake pipe of the turbo. If there is no play in the turbo i highly doubt that the turbo is bad.

I've seen a few pistons go bad and they always have oil coming out of the dipstick. I'm sorry but that is what is wrong with this motor.
 
#16 ·
yeah you must have missed his last post that clears it up

wrong plugs= smashed pistons lol

well that sucks that happend... good luck getting it fixed or selling it...you near maine i'll get her going good as new for you for cheap
 
#19 ·
Anyone truly interested in this car send me a PM.

Cosmic Blue AERO Wagon, 5 speed, needs some kind of engine work? Recent tranny, clutch and rear brakes. Never a CEL until now. Dark gray leather interior in good condition. Exterior 7 of 10. Everything works. Spare 16'' wheels with studded snows good for 1 more season. I owe about $6500 on it so make a fair offer and It can be yours.
 
#22 ·
if you owe 6500 on it i would just source a b234 short block and pop it in.

.with a blown motor... you would be doing good if you got half of that money back....

swap a b234 in and you should have a car that will run far past the payment schedule;)
 
#23 ·
hey 88mmm,

I've got a set of pistons from my Viggen, if your cylinder walls are fine you can have my pistons. You'll need a new set of rings, but you're welcome to have the pistons for free (just pay shipping or if you're ever in Westfield, MA I can meet you there). I upgraded to JE pistons, and these have only 80k miles on them. Let me know if you decide to have the car repaired.

Best of luck,

D
 
#25 ·
BlackViggen Thank you for the offer, I may be taking you up on those pistons. Turns out that I have two cylinders down, Compression test from 1 to 4 200,115, 200, 0. I should have the head off tomorrow and hopefully I'll have the pistons out later this week. Anyone have a link to instructions for pulling the head? I want to make sure I have everything disconnected before I go yanking on the head.

Closer examination of the plugs reveled that the ones supplied by Autozone were the right heat range, and same length on the piston side. However they are shorter on the DIC side. The shop helping me diagnose the car (Saab only shop) suggested that there was a massive knock in the cylinders caused by the lack of contact with the DIC and the plugs in the two cylinders. The CEL was blinking furiously at me when this happened.

So I'm going to file small claims court case against them. Autozone says it's not their fault that I put the wrong plugs in and that it's my responsibility to verify I have the right plug. I think that is crap because I wouldn't be able to know that the part# on the plug they gave me is not for my car.
 
#28 · (Edited)
The shop helping me diagnose the car (Saab only shop) suggested that there was a massive knock in the cylinders caused by the lack of contact with the DIC and the plugs in the two cylinders. The CEL was blinking furiously at me when this happened.
I put new spark plugs in about 2 hours before the oil spurt all over. ...
You know this would have been extremely helpful infromatiuon to diagnose your issue, and blinking CEL = VERY BAD that's why it blinks to get you attnetion
 
#27 ·
So the head was pulled at and there is a hole melted right through piston 4. I think it's pretty obvious that the plug was the culprit and the Saab mechanic agrees. Autozone has been pretty good so far, they paid for the head to be pulled. So hopefully I'll be getting a new factory lower end care of Autozone. If not the good news is that cylinder walls were not damaged so It'll be a relatively easy fix to replace the pistons since Autozone has already paid for the head removal. Now I just want it fixed, it's been too long without my Saab.
 
#29 ·
@88mm

I too am near Albany.

Sorry to hear of your troubles. Who's your Saab mechanic ?.

Mike

PS- I have seen your e30 M3 around. I miss my e34 m5 sometimes.
 
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