I would make sure its another 99 Vig tranny. What are the miles and condition of this other tranny? if its another 80-100K plus tranny, it might need work too soon down the road and you will be back at square one. 1600 for trans and install is fine, as long as the trans is legit and less then 80k miles.

 

umm, why not try the simple things first? You say he can get into it at a dead stop...is it possible the shift linkage is misaligned? Hows the tranny fluid in the trans?

also 1600 sounds a bit steep. I can swap a tranny in a garage with just a jack and and jack stands in about 4-5 hours. With a lift in a shop it should take even less time.
so even if this place is charging 100 bucks an hour, I dont see why labor should be over 500. A used tranny from the right place can be had for as little as 300.

You should really just do it yourselves.

Order a trans, wait for it to come and then put the car up for a day while you do a swap.

You probably also want to change the clutch and slave cylinder while you are in there.

 

thats what happened to my transmission after i swapped my new one in.

problem #1 is that the shop accidently gave me a drilled out shifter linkage and the pin was not held tight.

#2 was the rubber bushing on the linkage was cracked and allowing tiny adjustments.

Even the smallest movement of a linkage can make it so a gear cannot be selected. My issue was that i couldnt put it into 1st if my wheels were rolling at all. Also couldnt downshift from 4th to 3rd.

Im not sure how a 9-3's linkage goes together but if its not the transmission itself i would really inspect that.

If 2nd gear is there when stopped then it doesnt sound like the tranny. I could be wrong though. Have you tried to go from a stop in second gear and see if its funcioning properly?

 

well thanks for the insight guys. i cant really speak about how it drove before 2nd didnt work, but it does sound strange to me too that it stopped working all of a sudden. he brought it into the shop and i can only assume they checked for simple things like the linkage. im gonna suggest to him changing out the fluid too, even if the 2nd syncho is a little old i think the fluid might be a cheap fix for a while. if it were me i would definitely want to save on labor and do this DIY but if hes got the money for it, then more power to him, though id love to help him fix this for cheap.

the tranny they want to put in is out of a 99 something with 33k, can any 9-3 trans be used? when i priced some transmissions for my car i saw them well under $500 so im sure we can find a better price especially because of the people selling this to him, they tried to sell me an exhaust manifold for $500, i promptly told them to go to hell. anyway, now my question is does the viggen have any specialties besides the driveshafts(i believe) or can we just look for any low mileage trans?

thanks for your help, i'll be sure to pass all of this along to him.

 

well thanks for the insight guys. i cant really speak about how it drove before 2nd didnt work, but it does sound strange to me too that it stopped working all of a sudden. he brought it into the shop and i can only assume they checked for simple things like the linkage. im gonna suggest to him changing out the fluid too, even if the 2nd syncho is a little old i think the fluid might be a cheap fix for a while. if it were me i would definitely want to save on labor and do this DIY but if hes got the money for it, then more power to him, though id love to help him fix this for cheap.

the tranny they want to put in is out of a 99 something with 33k, can any 9-3 trans be used? when i priced some transmissions for my car i saw them well under $500 so im sure we can find a better price especially because of the people selling this to him, they tried to sell me an exhaust manifold for $500, i promptly told them to go to hell. anyway, now my question is does the viggen have any specialties besides the driveshafts(i believe) or can we just look for any low mileage trans?

thanks for your help, i'll be sure to pass all of this along to him.

No, the Viggen trans is specific to the Vig. Aero trans wont bolt up and 9-3's have different gearing etc. IF its a 99 Vig trans with 33k, thats pretty rare.

 

really? my other friends 2001 SE has identical revs as my dads 2001 viggen, i know they could have internal differences but they drive the same and seem to have the same revs, what else could be different.

 

really? my other friends 2001 SE has identical revs as my dads 2001 viggen, i know they could have internal differences but they drive the same and seem to have the same revs, what else could be different.

The gearing is diff.....2nd goes to 60 or 62 at redline in the Vig. I am 99% sure 9-3's and Viggs differ, someone else can confirm.

 

i can get 60ish out of my normal 9-3 in 2nd...keep in mind tire size plays a bit of difference as well

 

The gearing is diff.....2nd goes to 60 or 62 at redline in the Vig

So does mine, and I'm running the 15" wheels.

 

yeah the gearing in the SE seemed identical to the viggen to me. the friend with the SE also has a 99 9-3 which has shorter gears than the '01 SE. not knowing any technical differences and only judging by the revs on the highway it would seem like they are the same between the SE and the viggen. would most 9-3 transmissions bolt up?

 

ALL 9-3 transmissions will bolt up, the gearing may or may not differ, but they will certainly all bolt up and be drivable.

 

I'm fairly confident that all 1999 9-3s with manuals had the exact same tranny, including the Viggen. I know this both from driving both (mom's 9-3, my Viggen), and all the published material from Saab puts them both with:

First...........3.38:1
Second.......1.76:1
Third..........1.18:1
Fourth........0.89:1
Fifth...........0.66:1
Final Drive...4.05:1

 

I reread my press release and they refer to the Vig as having a upgraded clutch and axels, making it sound as the tranny itself is unchanged....oops sorry about that.