Customer Reviews

SAAB 900 16 Valve Official Service Manual: 1985-1993

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Anyone who works on their own Saab should know that the Bentley manual is King. There's just not a better manual out there. However, even this book is lacking in a lot of ways. For one, it's not for the beginner or for someone who's afraid of messing up their car. This book assumes you have a fairly well-established knowledge of the car and skips a lot of details it assumes you'd know. A total novice would be lost with this book.

On the other hand, if you do know these cars pretty well, the Bentley manual can help fill in the blanks of a project you'd otherwise not want to do if you didn't have a little guidance. Not for the faint of heart though.

This book managed to teach me a great deal about my car that I was clueless on before. I highly recommend this book to anyone, from the beginner looking to understand how their car works to an intermediate grease monkey like myself.

The book is lacking a couple key areas, though. One is the drawings. The sketch drawings of a certain items/views are not very useful for identifying things (if you're just trying to get the lay of the land under the hood, the Bentley is little help when it comes to smaller components). These desperately need to be upgraded to photos, color, if possible. There's not a whole lot on the vacuum system except a schematic, ditto for a portion of the electrical system and also the A/C/vent system.

Some suggestions to improve the book: a complete breakdown of the car (seems some smaller items are left as an exercise for the reader, as was investigating a broken door latch on my 900), lots more photos, and COLOR!

The pros far outweigh the cons, though, and coupled with a good online help community like the Saab Network bulletin boards, there's very little you can't repair on your own with this book. A must have for anyone who wants to keep their 900's running.

Beyond Haynes, Beyond Chilton's, there is the Bentley Manual. Simply the best automotive repair manuals, the Bentley Bibles are worth their weight in gold. While not as photo-heavy as the Haynes manual, this is the MOST informative book I've found on working on Saab 900s. (The series is entirely fabulous, I own both the Saab and Volvo manuals, and they have saved me both time and money.) The Bentley Manual is simply the most thorough repair manual available.

My saab was running great - then not so much. The idle speed was running very high most of the time, around 2,000 rpm. When I touched the accelerator it dropped down to around 1,200 rpm, still about 300 rpm above normal. It also (just once) alarmingly lost then regained power, quickly, so I was kangaroo-ing down the road looking like a first-time driver not able to handle the clutch.

Upon receiving the book I started to diagnose the problem. Within thirty minutes I was confident it was one of two things, both easy to check using the information in this book. It turned out not to be the air mass meter, but instead was the throttle position sensor. The car was fixed within an hour and is running (touch wood) wonderfully now. Using this book saved me money. A big thanks for Bentley publishers !

This is a great book for working on the 16 valve engine. It covers more of the nitty gritty stuff that you need when working on the more advanced Saab engine. The turbo section is great. The only complaint I have is that the book is not more specific about the differences in the engine configurations from one year to the next. But if you need wiring diagrams or schematics this is the book for you.

I recently bought a 1985 Saab 900S and this service manual was given to me with the car. I new the car had a bad starter when I purchased the car, but I figured that it wouldn't be much of a problem. I have replaced many starters on many different vehicles...so no big deal right?...WRONG! I looked for the starter under the front part of the engine, but I couldn't find it. I then looked in the manual, which did not have even 1 picture or diagram of the starter anywhere! Not only that, there was absolutely no mention of its loacation anywhere in the manual or how to remove and replace it. I had to trace out the positive lead from the battery to find it! It then took me approximately 5 hours, just to figure out how to remove the starter and remove it. I had to remove many hoses and assemblies, just to get into position to remove the starter, and even then it was extremely difficult! Yet, there is NOTHING in the manual to guide you through this, not even a lousy picture or diagram. I guess that they must have assumed that its all routine for the novice mechanic. Either that..., or an oversite on their part!? I called several 'saab mechanics', and the 'saab dealership' as well. They all considered this a major job! One mechanic even declined to take on the job! The dealer wanted $975.00 to do the job and also told me that I would be without my car for several days! Lucky for me, I was able to get it done myself somehow.
The next thing to do was to replace any worn or suspicious looking bushings,hoses and belts. I figured that it would be better to do this now, rather then wait for another problem!? This was reinforced in me one evening while driving home. I was almost home when a worn bushing exploded when I downshifted and hit the gas. The location of this bushing affected not just the carberation, but also the power steering! The car wouldn't idle and was extremely difficult to steer, but I made it home. After this, I decided to replace all suspicious looking bushings,hoses and belts. I did this with little trouble on my own, never referring to the manual until I got to the belts. I referred to the manual for the second time for this repair, after being NO help to me with the starter motor! The manual does did have picture this time, but not so fast. There are 4 belts to be changed. There are 2 alternator/waterpump belts, 1 power steering belt and 1 ac compressor belt. The manual tells you to refer to figure # for the ac compressor belt pulley..which is nowhere to be found! There is no figure or illustration for this particular belt! The manual did have diagrams for the other two belt repairs...but not this one! Even though they refer to a diagram that isn't even there! Another oversite I guess...
I have since been able to replace all 4 shocks, replace all 4 rotors and break pads all around and tune up the car (distributor, rotor and plugs), without referring to the manual! I did call upon it twice and was disappointed both times...especially the first! I have owned the car for about 4 months now and came to Amazon.com to find a more complete and user friendly manual. If there isn't one out there...'do it yourselfer's' like myself with equal or lesser automotive knowledge, will find themselves in a pickle.

Previous books i've bougth had little content. This book is very compleet and clear to the do it yourselfer as i am. Clear explanations, pictures and drawings it's all there! Don't look any further this is the book you need!

The bentley books are by far the best shop manuals available. They are the most comprehensive and even though they are three times as much as other manuals, they are the best value.

Bentley ROCKS!

Retails for $50.00 USD at SAAB dealer- just ask for the SAAB Bible -O-(*)-O- this book includes ALL SPG's and turbocharged 900's. Over 1.5 inches thick! If you don't even work on your car, just keep it in the trunk for when you might need it! don't forget to check the hooter valve, in your turbo!'s and use PREMIUM gas in the turbos as well http://www.secret-secret.com/turbo SAAB owners list/site

If you have one of these cars and need to understand how to fix it you need this manual.

You will also want a parts catalog.