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Greetings! while on holidays from college i recently decided I wanted to get a car, so i did, a saab 900 low pressure turbo, I've always wanted one of these, and i currently have a 9-5 estate as my daily and done a fair bit to that to get it running right, so i wanted to get something to keep me busy over the summer Picked the 900 up for 270 off adverts so not too shabby, so anyways I'm just copying and pasting in here what I've done recently, Never even heard of this place until mark on here told me about it, also offered to help me out so I'm very grateful for it Anyways! Here ye go! So I've went and bought another saab 8/6/14 A 1991 saab 900 low pressure turbo, doesn't have much to show off about but it seems to be a very "all business end" kind of car, it gives my 9-5 a run for it's money to say the least, being the same age as myself (23) and having been layed up for the last two years it's gathered a bit of rust in places, the previous owner has tried to repair it, but it still needs work, 90% looks to be surface rust, and the other 10% I'm going to have to get it cut out and replaced, other than that, it needs a good service, new coolant piping, a headlining, electrics sorted out, and a respray/ alloy refurb, the rest is just small little things, near gearknob, dashlights and so on. Just by going on a quick inspection this is what I've found, I'm sure the next two years will throw up plenty, the end result is to have it ready for my 25th birthday, so it's a long term birthday present of sorts So my first mission is to find a manual for this car, after a bit of searching I found this www.amazon.com/Saab-900-Valve.../dp/0837603137 from what i seen it looks pretty in depth, so I'm going to invest in it when i have the money, along with a haynes one for it and bodywork, then strip and rust proof the car, after that, who knows Pictures! Probably the first and last time it'l look that way for a while Needs headlining Surprisingly enough this is the only lacquer peel on the whole car And now for my favourite bit Made me giggle like a kid when i seen this first And the bidness end of things
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So, day 1, today began with me hunting for rust, and it didn't take long for me to find it, lets see how deep the rabbit hole goes I'm going to throw just about everything in on this build as there's feck all in depth guides on how to do things with this car, today i done what i could without the use of books or manuals, so until i get one, I'll just do what i can Also drown every nut in wd40/plusgas, or whatever you have First order of business was removing the battery, so get a 10 mm spanner or socket and take off the negative and then the positive And rust! So i'm debating weather to cut it out or leave it in place and douse it in kurust Next on the list to take off, the washer tank, they're known to rot at the bottom of the tanks so just to be safe Here is said water tank To get the tank out first you need to remove a bracket, there's a 10mm nut inside the engine bay And then the bracket comes out Then disconnect the horn, again 10mm And then pull out the tank, and disconnect the pump, this can be a bit of a pain, but if you turn the pump sideways you can get at it easy enough So i decided to have a looksee inside, I shouldn't have So i decided while i was it to check the coolant, again, I shouldn't have Rust...in the coolant So that's being drained and binning the pipes and replace them with silicone hoses After all this i decided to start tackling the rust, which there is quiet a lot, I have a dremel so I used that to grind off the surface rust on where i could get to so I'll carry on with that tomorrow After removing the water tank my suspicions were confirmed, it was rather rotted so I'll have to cut it out or something Along with this at the back of the engine So I went to have a look at the suspension set up, again, very different to modern set ups, and rather rusty More rust, I'm thinking of just replacing the whole hub/driveshaft assembly (turns out i don't ) Here's a section I was working on, I've a feeling the car will begin to look more like this over the next few weeks After this, I looked at the doors, and was greeted by, yep, more rust So off with the door cards to investigate further
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9/6/14 You'l need a T20 hex bit for this Start by removing the screw in the door latch cover Then remove the covering behind it to show the rest of the bolts And then undo the rest of the screws and take off the door card, but before you get it off, there is one obstacle in the way, the lock, simply unscrew this and take the door card off And result And the verdict? Well a new door might be in order if I can't sort this Some rust spots are in hard to reach places, like this one There's still some rust spots here and there but a good dollop of kurust should sort that The left door wasn't too bad bar the bottom And to top it all off a dodgy filler job Something fell into the back, put my hand on the floor, wet floor, not looking forward to pulling out the interior And more rust under the body Went to remove the fuse box and some corroded wiring greeted me, so I called it a day
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Today i decided to buy a wire bit for a drill, for a euro, courtesy of the local motor factors And got to tackling this The drill i have isn't great if I'm honest, but it got through most of it, Halfway through And this is as good as i can get it, gona run a layer of kurust over it tomorrow Ended up going through a few sander bits for my dremel, and a wire bit, so I'm in need of a new "proper" drill So I intended on removing the bumper and so on to get access to the radiator to drain the coolant Blasted these with wd40 and tried to take them off, with a 7mm socket the first one had other ideas The rest decided they didn't want to come out due to rust, so I moved onto taking the front off, and the air intake Take off the main grille with a t20 bit Then move onto the lights, this is what you have to disconnect Then begin disconnecting the plugs, some can be a bit of a pain to get but its doable Lable everything for later on Sadly some connectors are a bit worse for wear After this undo two 8mmm bolts on the headlight and pull the whole unit out, put it to one side for safe keeping, next the issue of the wipers, sadly these wipers have seen much better days, perished blades and rusted holders, I'll try do something with them but i don't have much hope Do the same with the other light, disconnecting any wires or anything in the way the car should look similar to this now! After the headlights were taken out i had a looksee for rust, and I wasn't disappointed, well I was, but you get me This part will need replacing, when it comes to it, I might just use solid steel instead of sheet metal or whatever, strength and all After this the air intake system was coming out, Also I found this beside it, Turned out to be an alarm Anyways the air system, there's a piece on the side that comes out with a t20 hex bit, then undo the jubilee clip and jiggle it off, next the maf and hosework for it, undo more jubilee clips and wiggle that off Looks like this Then onto the air filter, this was a bit of a pig, but then most things are rusted on the car, this is secured in with a bracket, so get a 10mm socket and away you go, loosen it enough till you can pull the whole filter and housing out, there's a good deal of space there so I might look at getting a different airbox made up Then take off the bracket and that's your airbox out, the bracket appears to be zinc plated so I might get that redone, or attempt to do it myself, No idea how to plate metal so that's a learning curve in itself
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Jun 12, 2014 10:17:14 GMT
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So today started off with me swearing at the sky for raining, and making my car get new rust on where I had grinded away rust and forgot to coat it, lesson learned there I also started taking out the aftermarket alarm and took out the radiator After much giving out thanks to my gran, I got this That's my biggest problem, I have no dry store for the car, that's as good as my coverage is going to get, got it in halfords and its the best they got so it better work Anyways during the rain falls I was out doing a bit of tidying up/re derusting on the car, i covered areas in kurust and it seems to have done the job nicely Next I drained the "coolant" Take a 24mm deep socket and unscrew the plug This is some of came out So i let that drain out and carried on removing the coolant tank, undo the jubilee clips and then a 13mm bolt holds the tank in place After that I removed the larger pipe and I'll replace it the inside was fake tan colour After this it was the removal of this "alarm" thing, Then I traced the wiring for it back to under the fuse box, this was a rather happy moment, I previously thought the corroded wires were part of the main loom, but nope, part of the alarm system, so I'm gona trace it right back and gut it out I'm not very good or knowledgeable with wiring, but whoever done this job should be shot There's two fuses in that white thing Goes in under the fuse box There was one blue wire that went somewhere else, so i traced it back to the slam panel to this thing So i removed it and cut the wire While I was there I tried removing this as well Didn't get the whole thing off as it broke my hex bit Push in the metal clip and pull it out After this I started at the radiator, first the fan has to come out, there's a good bit of stuff to get out of the way First i took off the coolant hose and moved that aside, then onto the starter motor, at least I think that's it, it lead to the distributor so it must be And disconnect it from the distributor and place it to one side Then take off the fan with a t20 bit, there's three bits, two on top and one on the bottom, when i got it out the fan seems to be knackered so I'll invest in a new one Next on the list was this cnut of a thing it was rusted together and broke two of my bits So, out with the dremel and I cut it off The pipe itself seems to be connected to another pipe so I'll find out what it joins up to, tuns out this pipe is connected to the turbo, a te04 Mitsubishi, it's partly water cooled apparently The radiator's held in by two 10mm bolts, but to get the clearance you need to take the turbo pipe out Same on the other side, and with it gone, you have miles of room And then just pull the rad out, and clean up any spillage from it and call it a day!
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Mark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,097
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Jun 12, 2014 11:18:57 GMT
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Welcome to the site dude! Looking forward to seeing how this comes together.
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Jun 12, 2014 11:28:13 GMT
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12/06/14 So thanks to a very helpful individual on another forum to get the engine out this is the general procedure - take off bonnet ( 2 10mm bolts ) - Drain coolant/remove rad ( done ) - disconnect gear linkage - disconnect exhaust - disconnect oil cooler - disconnect power steering - disconnect/remove air intake ( done ) - Remove driveshafts from gearbox Today I didn't really do a whole lot, more rust proofing and more "yay!" moments I began by finding what wires from the aftermarket alarm went where to the fuse board, turns out they're soldered in with other wires, not sure what they do, but I'll look tomorrow, me thinks an auto electrician will be needed for this After deciding to leave this for another day/person, I decided to take a look at the rear wheel arches, by this time it was getting to evening time so i only got a look at one side, a lot of surface rust, and a lot of kurust was used, seemed to do the trick though! So onto wire brushing and this decided to fall off from up around the suspension mount so i put it aside for later And here is said location, the flat washer piece After i checked the rear axle, hoped that it wasn't rusted through, and it wasn't Out with the wire brush and cleaned it up as best i could on that side, stuck on some more kurust on it to see if it done anything and it did! So plans are in place to buy a drum of waxoyl and more of this kurust stuff and use them as a combination treatment A few more bits i got with it Cleaned up the wheel arch due to a bit of rust i seen and began removing it, it turned out to be a bit bigger than i thought Two holes in the boot need to be addressed too And now we're up to speed!
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Jun 12, 2014 14:35:20 GMT
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Hey there, and greets from Finland. Land of original Uusikaupunki Saab OG900 models. Screw Trollhattan
You have exact same spots, where I have had rust, when I had my six or so Saab´s.
Be sure to check the drive shaft holes. And under those you have the mounts for the lower A-frames. These are the most known places where the rust can start build unnoticed. The road dirt is thrown from wheel to the shaft holes and under that dirt the rust can do its nasty work unbidding.
The doors are also very common with OG900 model. I´ve welded several doors successfully and it seems that you might want to do the same.
Front spoiler attachment bolts are always seized. Just dremel them out and replace.
About the hand brake, which is also a issue with this model. Be sure to adjust the free play with allen key, under that planking bolt. If the brake caliper piston does not move easily, dismantle and clean thoroughly, or replace with new one. It is a MOT issue, as you know.
The rear inner arch, where the rear shock upper end is bolted, is also real bad spot for the dirt to build. Be sure to check seam there with a flat head screw driver. Rust can eat that seam real bad.
Cheers
-Hessu-
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Last Edit: Jun 12, 2014 14:42:11 GMT by hessu75
Ford Capri Mk3 -79 2.9EFI turbo, summer ride Ford Sierra 4x4 STW aka "GABy", winter ride Kawasaki ZX14 Project 2.9 EFI engine for the Sierra 4x4.
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Earth Rocker
Part of things
Among the living.....Just!!!
Posts: 215
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Jun 12, 2014 17:56:46 GMT
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If your stuck for stuff and information try UKSAABS, great bunch of people...
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So away from the yays, and into the "ahhhh curse word" moments Didn't get a whole lot done today as thursdays are generally busy anyways Heres what I did get done, tackled the right hand brake setup and general rust hunting Start off by loosening the wheel nuts on both front wheels, and then bit by bit lift the car into the air, I never thought I'd see another saab in this position in my yard The predecessor, pretty much in the same spot? Anyways, bidness time Started tackling a rust patch that grew a bit, so I may cut that out and get some metal welded in there when i feel confident enough After this i cleaned the wheel arch with a wire brush and a pot scrubber, seems to have been layered with something but most of the dirt and so on pulled it away Pull this off just to get the whole arch, 2 10mm nuts, drown them in wd40 After this it was onto the caliper and disc, I had intended on getting the hub off but someone else had other ideas, took off the wheel and went to take the locking pin out and this greeted me Yokes more rounded than a circle So I'll attack that tomorrow with all the cutting power i have Anyways, onto the rest of things, Took the calliper off, 16mm nuts if i remember correctly, and just keep at them until they come out, halfway though the brother came out and attempted so brother pickles about to be in action Calliper nearly off And the calliper off, I rested it on the A bracket behind the disc, next the shoe for the pads, both 19mm And the disc as it stands now After this I loosened up the remaining nuts around, ball joints and steering and called it at that, Then I went under the car to figure out how to start disconnecting the exhaust/gear linkage/box etc, and found this, any idea anyone? More questions, when disconnecting the exhaust, should i disconnect it from the turbo or on the joins at the bottom? Anyways, after this I got sick of getting nowhere, most of the nuts were torqued on to an inch of their life, air tools would've been great but we got there in the end, tomorrow I'll attack that rounded bit and see from there
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Mark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,097
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That looks like an oil cooler or intercooler? No idea on the scale of it - it could even be a heat exchanger for heater.
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Oil cooler, looks of it. Please be more specific to the spot, where it sits in the car. Does the lines run where? My OG900 Aero had an aftermarket oil cooler in front of the car, under the front bumper. Don´t remember, where the original sits atm.
Remove the exhaust from the second join. If you bolt off the first join from the turbo itself, the turbos metal gasket MIGHT damage, if it has never been opened. Those are cheap to buy, but where you can get one is different story.
The hex bit for the brake disk is best to use with an impact tool. Either air impact or that hammer type impact. Those screws sit tight. Normal wrench type tool will just strip the hex.
The rust spot just there where the lower A-frame is, looks nasty, and you might have rust drive shaft holes. Please check them soon as possible.
Cheers from Finland
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Ford Capri Mk3 -79 2.9EFI turbo, summer ride Ford Sierra 4x4 STW aka "GABy", winter ride Kawasaki ZX14 Project 2.9 EFI engine for the Sierra 4x4.
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Jun 13, 2014 14:26:43 GMT
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That looks like an oil cooler or intercooler? No idea on the scale of it - it could even be a heat exchanger for heater. Seems to be the oil cooler, i followed the line from it and it goes back into the engine
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Jun 13, 2014 14:32:07 GMT
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Oil cooler, looks of it. Please be more specific to the spot, where it sits in the car. Does the lines run where? My OG900 Aero had an aftermarket oil cooler in front of the car, under the front bumper. Don´t remember, where the original sits atm. Remove the exhaust from the second join. If you bolt off the first join from the turbo itself, the turbos metal gasket MIGHT damage, if it has never been opened. Those are cheap to buy, but where you can get one is different story. The hex bit for the brake disk is best to use with an impact tool. Either air impact or that hammer type impact. Those screws sit tight. Normal wrench type tool will just strip the hex. The rust spot just there where the lower A-frame is, looks nasty, and you might have rust drive shaft holes. Please check them soon as possible. Cheers from Finland Thanks for the advice with the discs and the exhaust, the cooler sits under the car on the left just behind the bumper, sadly i don't have any impact tools, so i may try get a loan of them off someone I'll check the driveshafts this evening although they seem to be ok from just feeling around the area
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Jun 13, 2014 23:25:32 GMT
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Small update today A special mention goes out to this set up And my dremel tool, best 50 euro I ever spent, it's really starting to prove its worth I finally got the pin out And away came the disc After this i took a 13mm bit and disconnected the exhaust And after this I checked the driveshaft holes for rot, solid as a brick, happy days Gona start a price list while I'm at it too when the time comes, just to see how much I'll be spending
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omega
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,060
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when you undo water hose clamps you are better off using a small socket.
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Hi Toastedpickles, great to see another classic Saab owner/fan on here. A majority of those rust areas seem to be the same as on 99's. As was said by Hessu75, have a REALLY good look around those lower suspension/A frame mounts. My old 99 Turbo went on the chassis by there and was allowing the lower arm to move back and forth when accelerating or braking. It may look like it's only on the panel of the inner arch, but as it's rusted through there, it may be rusting from the inside out by the bottom arm mounting points. On 99 Turbo's, the heat from the turbo near to the battery, causes the battery to boil and leak off acid, that in turn runs down the inside of the inner wing and starts the corrosion process around that area. Also, brake fluid running down the inner wings when replacing flexi brake pipes doesn't help this matter either. I'm sure Hessu75 will confirm these details as well. Anyway, keep up the good work and don't get disheartened by what lays ahead. Just think of the enjoyment you'll have when it's sat there gleaming and ready to drive.
Will
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1964 Saab 96 two Stroke 1971 Hillman Avenger 1500 GL (Tuned 1600 fitted) 1976 Saab 99 2dr EMS (Project of very slow progress) 1978 Saab 99 2dr EMS (Awaiting reshell) 1981 Saab 99 2dr Turbo (Awaiting reshell)
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Jun 14, 2014 11:36:57 GMT
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Hi Toastedpickles, great to see another classic Saab owner/fan on here. A majority of those rust areas seem to be the same as on 99's. As was said by Hessu75, have a REALLY good look around those lower suspension/A frame mounts. My old 99 Turbo went on the chassis by there and was allowing the lower arm to move back and forth when accelerating or braking. It may look like it's only on the panel of the inner arch, but as it's rusted through there, it may be rusting from the inside out by the bottom arm mounting points. On 99 Turbo's, the heat from the turbo near to the battery, causes the battery to boil and leak off acid, that in turn runs down the inside of the inner wing and starts the corrosion process around that area. Also, brake fluid running down the inner wings when replacing flexi brake pipes doesn't help this matter either. I'm sure Hessu75 will confirm these details as well. Anyway, keep up the good work and don't get disheartened by what lays ahead. Just think of the enjoyment you'll have when it's sat there gleaming and ready to drive. Will Hey will thanks for the advice, in regards to the a frame I've rattled, rocked, poked everything around it, if it comes to it I'll either get the bit replaced as theres a guy i came across who repairs this very problem, or when i learn how to weld, attempt it myself The front end and around that area seems to have been coated in a thick rubbery substance I don't know if this is a factory rust proofing or someone done it but it seems to have helped somewhat, to be honest the rust doesn't faze me, it's all the mechanical work that has to be done, I want to get that right, I've never gone this far with something, the biggest job I've done is a sump drop on my 9-5 so this is very new and uncharted territory to me, I've a 2 year timeframe to get all of it up and ready, but the sooner the better y'know? I'm looking forward to the day I can actually drive it, it'l be all worth it in the end
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Jun 14, 2014 21:34:02 GMT
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So I've began following this guide to removing the engine www.saabcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64956I spent the majority of today trying to get this cursed thing out, it ended up breaking Here's what I'm dealing with Literally at my wits end with it, what I'm thinking of doing is disconnecting the rectangular bracket piece to see if that does anything, after that I'm out of ideas Someone posted this over on a saab forum so maybe this, or drilling it out will do it "I also typically remove that linkage coupler WITH the transmission. As suggested, I typically put the car in 4th, loosen the clamp, then put it in third rapidly and the shaft pops right out". Anyone got any ideas of their own?
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So! After yesterdays fun and games I ended up just disconnecting the couplings 2 10mm bolts and a bit of gentle persuasion and it comes out After this I went after the power steering tensioner, which is located above the gearlinkage you just undone, looking from above it's below the wiring loom, you need to get the belt off instead of draining the power steering fluid apparently, again going by the guide i posted up Cut the cable ties away so you have more room to get to the tensioner And here's what you're after Disconnect the lowest nut with a 13mm socket and take the whole thing out, I didn't go near the other nut on the longer thread So what the lovely man in the guide I'm following didn't mention was that there is another bolt holding the cog in place, therefore you can't remove the belt, its located just above the tensioner you just took out, again with a 13mm take it out, the belt wheel becomes slack and you can remove the belt, hurrah! [ Just move the wheel with your hand towards the left of the engine and undo the belt Belt looks a bit used so I'm gona replace it After this it said to bleed the clutch, don't have a kit so i may get one but you do it here After this i went to disconnect the main ground wire off the front of the gearbox, but there something in the way, so i may get it out of the way I need to somehow get that bracket with the pipe out and see from there, it connects up to the turbo and to one of the radiator hoses After this I went after the throttle cable, 13mm will do the job for this, undo it at the spring and disconnect the oil filler pipe bracket, 10mm spanner does the job for this one The spring Put the cable to one side and get back under the car to undo the speedo cable bracket, 12mm socket for this And the bracket out After this yank the speedo cable out, or in my case it needed some persuasion with a vice grips, don't use a load of pressure though, just enough to get it loose Located here This is what you're after After this, going along with the guide I was following it said to disconnect the connectors for the fuel injectors, leave the injectors alone just disconnect the loom form them, number them so you know which goes into which Theres two bits I've yet to disconnect, partly because I don't know what they are, so I can't label them, one's just behind the fuel rail, and the other is buried under a heap of pipes The first one And the buried one So if anyone has any idea what they could be I'd appreciate it After this, disconnect the wires from the alternator, again label everything 8mm for the small ones and 13mm for the big one, Where I can I put the nuts back on so I wont loose them While you're here disconnect the oil pressure sender, mine looks a bit corroded so I'll get a new one After this go over to the distributor and disconnect the central pin, I'd already done this but its the one from the centre I keep intending on making a list of stuff i have to do so i figured I'd keep it handy where i usually am :pac: Not much left to do! After this i went to loosen the nuts on the oil cooler. to get to it properly I took off the side trim, it just slides off i found It varying sizes, with one head rounded, so i might disconnect it somewhere else if it can be Also this vacuum line was hanging loose, I think it goes here but I'm not too sure Anyways, some questions, Where is the knock sensor located and do i have to remove it? Going by the guide the guy says disconnect the knock sensor, also, he only removes the right hand driveshaft, disconnects the right mount and got the engine out? that makes no sense I'm guessing the other driveshaft is disconnected too? And lastly is there any connections for an engine hoist to slot into or is it a guesstimate job? Not too far off getting the engine out now
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