Maintenance
schedule
Notes: This is my
maintenance schedule; in several cases it is more aggressive than Saab's
recommendations. I have simplified it and tailored everything to
5000 mile intervals for simplicity. This schedule assumes the use
of synthetic oil and premium oil filters, and that fits nicely into the
5000/10000 mile schedule. I wouldn't run natural oil on this schedule.
But
then, I wouldn't run natural oil at all. If you run synthetic, you decide
whether to change it every 5000 miles or every 10000 miles. I seem to
vacillate between the two ... I think 10000 is fine with synthetic oil, but I
feel better if I change it every 5000. Changing synthetic more often than
every 5000 miles is waste of time, money, effort, and good oil, in my
opinion. I drive about 15000 miles a year, so
15000 miles roughly corresponds to my yearly inspection and maintenance target.
I usually try to hit that in the fall, as winter generally brings out the worst
in machinery.
Remember the keys to
success:
 | Protect the engine and
turbocharger by keeping the oil and oil filter changed, and use premium
products if at all possible |
| Protect motor mounts and harmonic
balancer by keeping the engine from leaking oil. |
| Protect the DI
cassette religiously by immediately correcting any engine miss problems
|
| Protect the cooling
system religiously - Bar's Leaks is cheap, and it works; also, flush
the system and replace the thermostat regularly. |
| Change the hydraulic
fluid more often than necessary - fluid is cheap |
| Change the power
steering fluid more often than necessary - I repeat, fluid is cheap |
| Don't let the CV
joint boots split. Keep an eye on them and replace any boot that
develops cracks |
| Don't let the
serpentine belts or pulleys get weak -inspect at least yearly, replace at
least tri-yearly (I replace all every 30 K
miles) |
Consider the cost of
the maintenance items outlined
here versus
letting it ride.
| Engine melt
down $cost of good
oil vs
let's
not even go there! |
| A bit
wrenching (tighten things/replace bad seals & gaskets) vs. ruined motor
mount or harmonic balancer ($300
or so each) |
| Head
gasket $10/year
(renew
coolant)
vs
$1000 or so |
| Heater
core $10/year
(renew coolant) vs $300 to $500 |
| Hydraulic cylinders
$10/year
(renew hydraulic fluid) vs up to $300 |
| Power steering
pump/rack $10/year
(renew steering fluid) vs up to $500 |
| CV joint
replacement, occasional $30
to $100 (replace
cracked boots) vs $300 or more |
| Belt and
pulley failures $40/year (renew belt and
pulleys) vs up
to $300
AND major inconvenience AND maybe being
stranded AND maybe a head gasket replacement if you decide to drive to
safety/civilization with a non-operational water pump |
There's no comparison.
You make the call.
Here's a guideline for reasonable maintenance.
|
General
 |
Check all the fluid levels whenever the hood is open. |
|
It helps to
keep the wiper blades clean (alcohol and a scrub with a scrap of wire screen
material will do it) and the windshield Rain-X'ed |
|
Lube
the door hinges and locks now and then |
|
Try
to keep the engine clean and free of oil leaks |
|
Every 5000 Miles
| Change oil filter (premium filter) |
| Change oil
| It certainly wouldn't hurt to change non-synthetic more often |
| I change synthetic every 5000, although it can go 10000 |
|
| Rotate tires if you believe in it
| I often prefer not to. When the fronts
wear out, I only have to replace those two. The rears will last
forever (at some point, it's a good idea to move the rears to the front and
start over) |
|
| Quick-check CV joints (cursory
look for cracks/splits while under the car for oil change) |
Every 10000 Miles
| Change oil (synthetic)
| I change it every 5000 miles, but you can go 10000 on synthetic if you
insist on cheaping out |
|
| Add Bar's Leaks to cooling system
| This is a compromise between the
recommended every 6 months or
15000 miles |
| 5 ounces of the liquid, in the silver
bottle
 | Shake it up thoroughly first |
| Pour it into the coolant reservoir
when the coolant is cool
| Drive car for 30 minutes after
adding |
|
|
|
Every 15000 Miles (yearly), add
| Check accessory drive (serpentine) belt – remove and inspect,
inspect pulleys & seals
| Replace the belt if any wear
or damage is evident |
| Replace any idler pulleys that
are rough, noisy or that don't spin smoothly
| Remember, the bolt that holds the
tensioner pulley in place has left
hand threads! |
|
| Inspect the crankshaft pulley rubber joint
| Do
this every time the fender liner is removed for any reason |
| See the section on checking
the crank pulley/harmonic balancer on the Repairs page |
|
|
| Inspect the lower front motor mount
|
| Re-gap the spark plugs to 1
mm (.039")
| IMPORTANT!
- Apply dielectric grease to the spark plug boots
| This protects the DI
cassette by preventing external arcing |
| Permatex makes a
"Dielectric Tune-Up Grease", available at auto parts
stores |
|
|
| Check antifreeze protection |
| Change automatic transmission filter |
| Quadruple-change automatic transmission fluid |
| Check all coolant hoses
| Replace any soft, weak or damaged
ones |
| Pay particular attention to the heater
hose that connects to the end of the cylinder head
| It's particularly weak where it
flares out at the cylinder head connection |
|
|
| Check CV joint boots – detailed
inspection (how to) |
| Check brakes
| pads thickness |
| rotors condition |
| hoses condition |
| hand brake adjustment and operation |
|
| Check and lube suspension bushings (spray
with silicone lubricant) |
| Check wiper blades |
| Wash the engine down
| If it leaks a lot of fluids, you'll need
to use an engine degreaser
| Do yourself a favor and fix the damn
leaks! |
| Common leak points (easy to fix)
| O-ring at the distributor or
distributor hole plug (end of cam cover) |
| O-ring at oil level warning
sender (front of oil pan) |
| Cam cover gasket (just snug the
bolts up) |
|
|
| If not, a simple high pressure wash at a
car wash will do the trick |
|
| Every 30000 Miles (every two years), add
| Replace the spark plugs
| IMPORTANT!
- For DI cars, use the stock plugs
| The dealer has them,
and they're cheap |
|
| IMPORTANT!
- Apply dielectric grease to the spark plug boots
| This protects the DI
cassette by preventing external arcing |
| Permatex makes a
"Dielectric Tune-Up Grease", available at auto parts
stores |
|
|
| Change brake fluid (DOT 4), bleed brakes |
| Pressure bleed clutch |
| Change P.S. fluid (G.M), purge air
(how to) |
| Change coolant (back flush the system)
| Mercedes or other premium brand |
|
| Replace thermostat (Genuine Saab) |
| Replace accessory drive (serpentine) belt |
| Inspect belt tensioner
| Should be difficult to push the pulley
back
| No "free" travel or
difference in effort throughout its range |
| Rattle/vibration at clutch engagement
is a symptom of a bad tensioner |
|
|
| Spin the idler pulleys and listen carefully
- listen
for noise/roughness
| Replace if obviously rough or noisy
| NOTE: I replace both pulleys every two years/30 K miles, when I
replace the serpentine belt. I had a pulley fail once, and I
consider this very worthwhile insurance. |
|
|
| Carefully inspect the
harmonic pulley joint for signs of damage/slippage
| The joint should be
marked with reference marks to make any slippage obvious |
|
| Replace air filter |
|
Every 60000 Miles, add
Every 90000 Miles, add
| Did you replace those damned coolant hoses and thermostat
at 60 thou?
| If not, then do it now |
| Yeah, I know it's a
hundred bucks or so, but think of how bad it would be to be stranded
somewhere (or in the middle of nowhere) if one failed.
| Have you heard this before?
| Then maybe you oughtta
listen!
| Yeah, I know, I'm worse than your mom ... |
|
|
|
|
|
Every 120000 Miles
| Take a hard look at the crankshaft pulley/harmonic
balancer
| I used to say "replace it"
at this point, but if you keep your engine from leaking oil, it may
go forever
| Bare minimum, keep an eye on it
from now on |
| If it fails, it probably will leave
you stranded, but it should give some warning if you do keep an
eye (and an ear) on it. The warning sign is a loud
squealing noise on start-up. |
|
| If the front seal is leaking, replace
it while the pulley is removed |
|
| I used to recommend maybe replacing the DI cassette
here, but if you've done good spark maintenance, it may well go forever
| If you can afford it, it's a good
preemptive strike |
|
| Keep an ear out for bad wheel bearings
| Telltale sign is noise when the wheel
is turned
| I think this might be caused by
aftermarket wheels with improper offset, more than anything else |
|
|
| Has the clutch been replaced yet?
| No? Good, you're not abusing
it. But watch for slipping and listen for noise. Put
some money away for a clutch job; they don't last forever. |
| By this time, the operation is
probably getting somewhat rough
| Depends on the type of driving,
of course |
| As I said, put some money away,
they don't last forever. If it's noisy or rough or
chattery or irritating in any way, and you have the bucks, do a
clutch job. You'll appreciate the smoothness of a new one. |
|
| If you do it at all, try to do it all
| Disc |
| Pressure plate |
| Release bearing |
| Slave cylinder |
| Grind the flywheel smooth
(replace if ring gear teeth are damaged) |
| Master cylinder |
| I recommend against DIY rear main
seal replacement, unless it's leaking
| If you're having a pro do it,
by all means have them replace the rear main seal |
|
|
|
| Let's not even talk about auto
transmissions ... they have a way of being insistent, so no need to do
anything special. Just take care of them as best you can |
|
|
Every 150000 Miles
| Do a little dance, make a little love |
| Keep on maintaining |
| Repeat as necessary for the next 150000
miles |
|
|