if the car is moded at all, GS sell and upgraded one for not much not than eeuro sells the stock.

 

I would even reccomend the poly GS upgrade if the car was stock.

I blew out two of the stock ones in 60K miles, and the one that went out at like 20K was before the car was even modded.

 

Tell him to look under the car, and see if the motor is sitting low on one side. If it is, it's the mount.

I was surprised at how flimsy the stock mounts are. The GS ones are very nice.

 

Talked to him again this morning. No vibration on the way home. Strange....

 

Erica pretty much crystallized my impressions eloquently. I was rolling along on a 40ish mile jaunt, in sport mode, at a good clip. I was probably keeping it up around 80mph most of the way. Out of nowhere, when I was finishing up my little trip, in a city-style area at lower speeds, I heard "clunk" or sorts then there was constant vibration, as if driving on a completely destroyed road. This continued even while stopped. So, motor mount/tranny mount was the first thing that came to mind.

In my own particular idiom... that is, if you ever read my little Continuing Adventures rant, and recall some nonsense with a Plymouth Champ (thanks Erica)... yeah, I went to the movie anyway, rather than deal with the problem then and there. So, movie's over, and I start her up and... normal. Well, other than my own mental paranoia about the car. Thinking it might... I dunno... asplode. I tested it, driving ever so gingerly... no, not with red-hair... just decidedly unlike the 80mph I spoke of before. So, white-knuckled the whole way, I made it home, and I'm pretty sure all was fine. I think, at least. I mean, you hear any noise after such a thing, and the brain goes wild. Here I am now, at home, having survived the drive. Confused, but none the worse for wear.

It's not like the 9-3 is some sort of low to the ground sports car, though my melon must be above average in scope, cuz I can't really get it under there very well. I spied the driver's side mount, the one that's towards the front of the car, directly under the battery... it looks to be in good shape. Seeing as it's Sunday, and I'm probably due anyway, I was pondering swinging by a Jiffy Lube for an oil change, and taking a gander while they have it up on a lift.

Now I'm pretty sure I'm not prone to hallucinations, though, if I am, I'd probably hallucinate that I don't hallucinate. Anyway, I can't conceive of a motor mount fixing itself, so I'm pretty confused what would cause such a rough feeling in the chassis in such a sporadic fashion. Ideas?

 

Mysterious vibes

I would wish that some certain noises should not come and go as they please, but you have a saab.
However, if you want to check the motormounts and attempt to duplicate maybe the transfer of vibes from a running powerplant to say a frame member, open the hood and look at the engine(while standing to the side of the car depending on your level of trust of your assistant). Have said trusty assistant engage the shifter to drive and give it a bit of fuel while holding firm pressure on the brake pedal. Then knock it back to reverse and try the same.
Sometines that trans mount still looks good but is bad. You should see the engine rock, or jump, or transfer inordinate shaking to the whole car if you have a mount failure.

This does not explain any mystery, but it is a common failure and worth a gander.

 

Now I'm pretty sure I'm not prone to hallucinations, though, if I am, I'd probably hallucinate that I don't hallucinate.

We miss you.

Odd about the car.

Maybe some of the cladding under the car came off, and was rubbing on the road.

 

Maybe some of the cladding under the car came off, and was rubbing on the road.

eh... er... been there done that. and it seems my missing cladding was the cause of a second belt replacement in a year, not too long ago. sigh. that and I can't shake this kooky parked vibration nonsense. now, mind you, I didn't do a ton of experimentation while this was going on, public roads and all, but there didn't seem to be any loss in power either, so I feel like I can write off any fuel quality issues. I dunno... maybe a squirrel got sucked up into the belt or fan. or a moose. (I don't think a squirrel would've made that much of a racket.) ok, a very short moose. whatever the case, I think tomorrow's commute will still be a little white-knuckled from paranoia. I picked the wrong month to quit smoking cigarettes. no... really.

 

not the motor mount... radiator fan. who'd a thunk it?

started a new thread here - http://saablink.net/forum/showthread.php?p=399270#post399270