2007 Saab 9-3 Engine Problems

I WAS HAVING AN ISSUE WITH MY ENGINE IDLING ROUGH WHEN STARTING UP AND WHILE DRIVING COLD. AFTER THE CAR WARMS, THE ISSUE GET A BIT BETTER. BUT WHILE COLD, THE CAR RUNS TERRIBLY ROUGH. AFTER SPENDING OVER $3000 TRYING TO DIAGNOSE AND FIX THE ISSUE, INCLUDING REPLACING THE ENTIRE FUEL SYSTEM, SEVERAL ENGINE PARTS, AND HOURS OF LABOR AND WASTED TIME, THE SAAB DEALER NARROWS IT DOWN TO A COMPRESSION ISSUE INVOLVING ONE OF THE INTAKE VALVES, WHICH IT SEEMS IS A COMMON PROBLEM FOR THE 2007 MODEL 9-3S. THEY ESTIMATE AN ADDITIONAL $2,500 OF WORK TO FIX IT! I'VE READ HUNDREDS OF COMPLAINS ON THIS ISSUE. IF THIS IS SUCH A COMMON ISSUE, GM SHOULD RECALL THESE FAULTY PARTS AND REPLACE THEM.

I TOOK MY CAR TO THE SHOP TODAY AND TOLD THEM THAT MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT HAS BEEN COMING ON, PARTICULARLY ON COLD STARTS. I ALSO TOLD THEM THAT IT USUALLY IDLES ROUGHLY ON FIRST STARTING UP, THEN RUNS NORMALLY AFTER A WHILE. THEY RAN TESTS ON IT AND TOLD ME THAT THE CAR HAS WHAT IS COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE 'INTAKE VALVE PROBLEM COMMON ON 07-11 SAAB 9-3'S' THEY HAVE GIVEN ME AN ESTIMATE OF $2400 TO REPLACE THE INTAKE VALVES. FROM RESEARCH, THIS APPEARS TO BE AN ISSUE THAT OWNERS HAVE BEEN HAVING FOR YEARS NOW. THE CAR HAS 93,000 MILES ON IT, AND IS A 2007 9-3 2.0T SEDAN.

UPON ATTEMPTING TO START THE ENGINE, SOMETIMES IT RUNS VERY ROUGH AND THEN STALLS. REPEATED ATTEMPTS TO START THE ENGINE RESULT IN STALLS OR, FINALLY, RESULT IN THE ENGINE RUNNING VERY ROUGH AND THEN GRADUALLY SMOOTHER.

INTERMITTENT CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. COMES ON FOR A WHILE AND THEN GOES OFF. CANNOT LINK IT TO ANY VEHICLE ACTIVITY.

NEEDS VALVE JOB ($3K) DUE TO IMPROPERLY HARDENED VALVES. VERY COMMON PROBLEM ON THIS CAR. ROUGH RUNNING WHEN COLD. COMPRESSION TEST VERIFIES THIS CONDITION: VERY POOR WHEN COLD, BUT FINE WHEN WARM. IF LEFT ON-FIXED, WILL CAUSE PERMANENT MISFIRING.

IT APPEARS I TOO HAVE BEEN STRUCK WITH THE MISFORTUNE OF HAVING WHAT I HAVE TERMED " MORNING SICKNESS" IN COOLER WEATHER. I CURRENTLY HAVE ONE - HUNDRED AND FORTY- EIGHT THOUSAND MILES ON THIS VEHICLE. I JUST HAD IT DIAGNOSED LOW COMPRESSION IN TWO OF THE CYLINDER'S, ONE CYLINDER HAS 150 PSI?, THE OTHER HAS 175. I BELIEVE THEY SHOULD BE 200 PSI? USUALLY IT DOES NOT LAST LONG ( OF ROUGH RUNNING) OF COURSE DEPENDING ON OUTSIDE TEMPERATURE. I HAVE RECORDED A TEMP . OF FIVE ABOVE F., AND THE CAR STARTED FINE, BUT TOOK A WHILE FOR IT TO " CLEAR OUT ", GENERALLY NO MORE THAN A MINUTE OR TWO. I SEE I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE WITH THIS PROBLEM, THOUGHT I'D SHARE WITH OTHERS AND MAYBE SOMETHING COULD BE DONE ABOUT IT. I GUESS I FEEL I AM LUCK, THAT WITH ALL MILES I HAVE ON THE VEHICLE, THAT I HAVE GOTTEN THIS FAR, QUESTION IS HOW MUCH FARTHER CAN I GO BEFORE I NEED TO SOMETHING??

INTAKE VALVE FAILURE ON 2.0 TURBO. CHRONIC PROBLEM WITH THIS MODEL DUE TO DEFECTIVE VALVES. WIDESPREAD PROBLEM ON THE INTERNET LINKED TO IMPROPERLY HARDENED INTAKE VALVES. THE CAR FAILED TO START AND A CYLINDER COMPRESSION CHECK INDICATED THAT COMPRESSION WAS LOST ON ALL FOUR CYLINDERS. $2,600 REPAIR. *TR

HAD CYLINDER COMPRESSION TEST PERFORMED, MAJOR VARIANCE IN CYLINDER PSIS AND ENGINE RUNNING ERRATICALLY. PULLED THE HEAD AND DISCOVERED INTAKE & EXHAUST VALVES BOTH EXCESSIVELY WORN AND A FEW BENT. THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE ON MANY 9-3S DURING THIS TIME PERIOD. MY ISSUES SURFACED SURPRISINGLY LATE, MOST HAVE SHOWN MANY MILES EARLIER. THIS WAS A VERY EXPENSIVE AND TIME CONSUMING REPAIR AT $1900. THIS ISSUE SHOULD BE ADDRESSED AS THERE SEEMS TO BE EVIDENCE THAT BAD PARTS WERE USED AND HAVE DETERIORATED PREMATURELY. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 SAAB 9-3. THE VEHICLE STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 55 MPH, THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE FAILURE OCCURRED ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER, WHO COULD NOT DIAGNOSE THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGES WAS 26,000.

IN COLD WEATHER (SLIGHTLY BELOW FREEZING AT THE TIME) VEHICLE STARTED BUT IDLED VERY ROUGHLY. DROVE DOWN STREET AND WHILE COASTING ENGINE WAS IDLING AND SPUTTERED AND STALLED WITHIN 1 MINUTE OF INITIAL START. LOSS OF BRAKE ASSIST, POWER STEERING, POWER TO ACCELERATE WITH TRAFFIC. PULLED OFF TO SIDE AND RESTARTED ENGINE. AGAIN ROUGH IDLE. APPLIED GAS PEDAL AND HELD RPMS SLIGHTLY ABOVE IDLE TO WARM ENGINE. AFTER ~5 MINUTES, CAR WAS IDLING NORMALLY. NO FURTHER ISSUES ONCE ENGINE REACHED OPERATING TEMPERATURE. UPON RESEARCH SAAB/GM (SPNA TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE) HAS ISSUED A NOTICE TO CERTIFIED SERVICE CENTERS THAT INTAKE VALVES ARE PREMATURELY WEARING CAUSING SEVERE ISSUES IN COLD START SITUATIONS. NOTICE IS DATED 12/17/2013 AND WAS RE-ISSUED TO EXPAND SCOPE OF MODEL YEARS KNOWN TO BE EFFECTED. THIS WARRANTS AN INVESTIGATION FOR POTENTIAL RECALL, AS NO VEHICLE SHOULD RESULT IN SUCH SIGNIFICANT DEGRADATION OF A MAJOR ENGINE COMPONENT WITH SUCH LIMITED MILES. REPAIR REQUIRES MAJOR ENGINE WORK TO REPLACE ALL INTAKE VALVES. *TR

DIFFICULT OR NO START WHEN COLD, ROUGH IDLE, LOW COMPRESSION #4 CYLINDER. *TR

OWNER DROVE SAAB TO MALL AND PARKED IT. APPROXIMATELY 20-30 MINUTES LATER, CAME BACK OUT TO CAR AND OBSERVED THAT FIRE DEPARTMENT HAD EXTINGUISHED A FIRE IN THE SAAB. FIRE ORIGINATED IN RIGHT REAR OF ENGINE COMPARTMENT. CAUSE UNDETERMINED AT THIS TIME. VEHICLE HAS 2.0 LITER TURBOCHARGED 4-CYLINDER ENGINE. *TR

2007 SAAB 9-3 AERO EQUIPPED WITH 2.8L V6 TURBO ENGINE (CONVERTIBLE) - ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRE - (ODOMETER - 23,200 MILES) UPON STARTING, ENGINE RAN A LITTLE ROUGH, PROCEEDED TO SAAB DEALER FOR SERVICE - NO SERVICE LIGHTS ON DASH - EVENTUALLY LOST POWER BRAKES - ENGINE STALLED AND BURST INTO FLAMES - ALL HAPPENED WITHIN A ONE-MILE DISTANCE. *TR

2007 SAAB 9-3 THE VEHICLE STALLS DURING HOT AND COLD WEATHER. SOMETIMES THE VEHICLE RUNS "ROUGH" THE VEHICLE HAS THEN STALLED IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INTERSECTION. THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN TO THE DEALER SIX TIMES FOR THIS PROBLEM. SAAB USA HAS BEEN MADE AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM AND I ADVISED THEM I WANT THEM TO BUY THE VEHICLE BACK. THE VEHICLE IS STILL UNDER IT'S FACTORY WARRANTY. *TR

OWNER PARKED THE VEHICLE AT WORK AND WHEN OWNER GOT OUT, OWNER NOTICED A WEIRD ELECTRICAL TYPE SMELL. OWNER WENT INSIDE TO WORK. APPROXIMATELY 5 MINUTES LATER, SOMEONE CAME IN AND SAID THAT THE SAAB WAS SMOKING. OWNER WENT OUTSIDE AND SAW SMOKE COMING FROM AROUND THE HOOD AND ALSO SAW SOME EMBERS DRIPPING UNDERNEATH THE SAAB. SOMEONE ELSE CALLED THE FIRE DEPARTMENT. BY THE TIME THE FIRE DEPARTMENT ARRIVED, THERE WAS FIRE APPEARING UP THROUGH THE HOOD AND COWL AREA. VEHICLE HAS 2.0 LITER TURBOCHARGED 4-CYLINDER ENGINE. *TR

2007 SAAB 9-3 WENT ON FIRE WITH DRIVER IN IT. CAR WAS SERVICED AT MASSEY SAAB, ORLANDO, FLON JUNE 3RD, 2008 (40,000 MILE SERVICE, ELECTRICAL REPAIRS, DETAIL, WHEEL ALIGNMENT). VEHICLE WAS IN MCDONALD'S DRIVE-THROUGH IN ORLANDO FL ON JUNCTION OF 535 N AND HOTEL PLAZA BLVD. ENGINE CAUGHT ON FIRE. MANGER OF MCDONALD'S (FREDERICO) AND I (DRIVER) PUSHED CAR AWAY FROM BUILDING AND OTHER PEOPLE. FLAMES ENTERED CABIN WHILE I WAS IN THE VEHICLE STEERING IT. I JUMPED OUT JUST IN TIME, AND THE WHOLE CAR WENT UP IN FLAMES. THERE HAVE BEEN RECORDS OF OTHER SAAB'S HAVING SIMILAR FIRE PROBLEMS IN THE PAST. I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE THIS INVESTIGATED SO OTHER'S ARE NOT INJURED IN AN OCCURRENCE LIKE THIS. I AM LUCKY TO BE ALIVE. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT ARRIVED AND EXTINGUISHED THE FLAMES, AND INFORMED ME HOW LUCKY I WAS THAT I JUMPED OUT, AND NOT BROUGHT THE CAR HOME AND PARKED IT IN MY GARAGE. OTHERWISE THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD WOULD HAVE BEEN AFFECTED. I DO NOT HAVE THE FULL VIN B/C THE CAR IS COMPLETELY TOTALED IN FIRE. THE LAST SIX NUMBERS ARE 013430. THE VEHICLE BELONGS TO A FLEET COMPANY WHEELS INC. I WORK FOR A PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY, AND THIS WAS MY COMPANY CAR. WHEELS/ROCHE SHOULD HAVE ALL DETAILS ON THE VEHICLE WHEN YOU ARE INVESTIGATING. INFORMATION FOR ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE 407-836-9000 RUN# 47137; MCDONALD'S PHONE #: 407-827-1030. *TR

2007, 2.0T SAAB 93 ENGINE STALLING START ENGINE, HOT OR COLD, PLACE GEAR SELECTOR IN FORWARD OR REVERSE, THE ENGINE WILL STALL OUT, BUT WILL IMMEDIATELY RE-START. CAR HAS BEEN BACK TO DEALER TWICE FOR RE-PROGRAMMING OF ECM, BUT ENGINE STILL STALLS. *TR