I need a little diagnosis advice before I start pulling pieces off.

I left my sweet little '77 99 for about 10 months overwintering in the
high desert. When I got back to it, the engine was siezed solid and it
took a lot of PB Blaster, time, ATF, and more time to free up the
pistons. Once broken free, she fired right up and has run well ever
since except -

a few days after getting her running, a new ticking noise developed in
the engine. At speed, it's a whirring chatter but at idle, a distinct
tock-tink!-tock-tink!-tock-tink!. *Sometimes* it seems to go away or
get less loud for a bit but it's pretty consistent. It really sounds
like it's coming from the head, not the lower half (hope hope hope).

I would swear it was a bent pushrod if there were such a beast in my
baby. I'm not familiar enough with this engine to know what exactly to
look for, and I'd love some advice and maybe any ideas of how to
further diagnose the sound. A lifter, maybe?

thanks, everyone, in advance for any advice you can contribute!

Elijah

Sticking valve and or valve lifter. I recommend you change your oil to
Valvoline single weight 30. I have had this problem also with my 85
900S and Valvoline will solve the problem. Other oils will not do it.

In article <1158294763.297526.220950 (AT) b28g2000cwb (DOT) googlegroups.com>,
elijahs (AT) gmail (DOT) com says...

You have to at least remove the top cover and have a look.
Turn the engine over slowly and inspect the full length of the timing
chain - I've seen them break on those models, and they start making
"loose change" noises before they do. The adjustment mechanism on the
same chain can also make noises.



What's "ATF" ? "All transferrable Funds?"
That was a characteristic of these otherwise very addictive models as
well.

GF

in article 1158294763.297526.220950 (AT) b28g20...oglegroups.com,
elijahs (AT) gmail (DOT) com at elijahs (AT) gmail (DOT) com wrote on 15/09/2006 05:32:

99Ts and C900s develop a ticking noise over time when the exhaust manifold
cracks. Often between cylinders 2 & 3, a short but noticeable crack will
emerge which produces a ticking/spitting noise. It should be visible from
underneath the car. It is often not noticeable when cold, but starts up as
the car warms up.

If yours is not a turbo then it might not be that, but I have heard badly
fitted exhaust manifolds, incorrectly torqued bolts or an ill-fitting gasket
can lead to the same noise.

HTH,

Paul

1989 900 Turbo S
http://saab.go.dyndns.org/

On Sat, 16 Sep 2006 17:08:00 +0200, Greg Farris <farris (AT) nasa (DOT) org>
wrote:

[snip]
I'm guessing at "Automatic Transmission Fluid".

The one that's got me foxed is "PB Blaster"...

Cheers,

Colin.

"darthpup" <amchitka (AT) mailexcite (DOT) com> writes:

That sounds really similar to the problem with the engine on my 83 900
non-APC turbo car. I've already done an oil change on it to replace the old
oil with brand new Shell Helix Ultra.

Posted about it in the saablink.net and classicsaab.net forums.

However I'm suspecting a stretched timing chain might be the culprit and am
contemplating swapping the cylinder head off my 83 Gli (non-turbo) donor car
with the one in the turbo car but I've heard the specs are different between
turbo and non-turbo heads on the 'H' engines. There's a broken exhaust
manifold stud on the turbo car's cylinder head, so that's what's got me
thinking about a swap. Don't have tools to remove and replace broken studs
at present.

The tick-tick sound definitely only seems to be coming from one end of the
engine, but doesn't appear to occur at anything above ideal so perhaps it
may mean an oil pump problem resulting in, at idle at least, a low oil flow
to the front-facing end of the engine. What's other people's view about that
theory? The engine hasn't given problems when I have actually test-driven
the car on the road near my house previously, but it does have a small oil
leak which gives plenty of smoke from under the engine after it heats up.

Seems like a combination of lots of little things.

Craig.

--
Craig's Saab C900 Page at | Craig's Classic Saab Workshop - Sydney .au
http://lios.apana.org.au/~c900 | http://www.classicsaab.net and other URL's
Email: c900 (AT) lios (DOT) apana.org.au | For Saab 99/C900/9000 Enthusiasts World-Wide!
Alternate: saabonaut (AT) gmail (DOT) com | Web-forums, galleries, library, links, etc.

Greg Farris <farris (AT) nasa (DOT) org> writes:



He he - Automatic transmission fluid. 8-)

Craig.

--
Craig's Saab C900 Page at | Craig's Classic Saab Workshop - Sydney .au
http://lios.apana.org.au/~c900 | http://www.classicsaab.net and other URL's
Email: c900 (AT) lios (DOT) apana.org.au | For Saab 99/C900/9000 Enthusiasts World-Wide!
Alternate: saabonaut (AT) gmail (DOT) com | Web-forums, galleries, library, links, etc.

thanks, everyone, for all the ideas. After my #3 cylinder stopped
firing (and the noise stopped) I opened the valve cover to find that
the camshaft bearing housing has exploded upwards right around the #3
tappets. The intake tappet was in little pieces. I had to drive it 13
miles home like that! That little engine is indestructable.

So, now I'm in the market for either 1) the camshaft bearing housing or
2) a whole new head. Can anyone advise on where to find the first?

Or, does anyone know what other saab years / models have interchangable
heads with this one ('77 99 non-turbo)? I'm out in the middle of
Nevada with minimal options right now...

thanks!
Elijah

On 19 Sep 2006 18:05:12 -0700, elijahs (AT) gmail (DOT) com <elijahs (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:
You mean the tappet carrier, long 2" wide thing that the tappets go in
that the camshaft journals are part of? If you're in the US, let's
talk, I've got one.

I can't see this being a big deal. If you want to come up with a token
payment that covers shipping and hassle, I'll send you one. It's not
perfect but it's servicable.

Hi folks; I've been working with Dave on this problem and I've got some
pics up at

http://guests.duck-creek.net/elijah/

you can see the #3 cylinder's intake tappet doesn't exist. The
question is - what happened here? This engine was siezed and made to
run again with various penetrants and detergents. Did that strain the
camshaft until the tappet blew out the side?

all thories welcome!

Elijah

Dave Hinz wrote: