You can also pull the seals off the bearings carefully, clean and grease them to put back in service provided there’s no rust. Worth it. and if you buy new pulleys it’s always a good idea doing the same with good grease before put on they last longer.
@@eaglemx45 that’s actually a great idea! This van is 35 years old now though so I’d imagine the bearings were probably worn down in the race after that long. But a good tip to grease the new bearings with good grease, they probably put the cheapest stuff in there from the factory!
A couple of years ago, had just collected my 1999 SAAB 93SE Auto Cabriolet with 72k on the clock, FSH and over £2,500 spent on it during the past 12 months. On a dark country road I decided to check out the kick-down. There was a loud bang under the bonnet, followed by a strange noise. The remains of the new serpentine belt was stuck behind the drive pulley, and the rest was everywhere else, along with the fragments of the plastic idler wheel. The lazy service centre had replaced the serpentine belt (along with the sump - instead of cleaning it), and not even checked the tensioner or the idler. What should have been a straightforward job (as you described here), turned into several hours of unwinding rubber and fabric from between the various rotating wheels and the engine casing! Luckily the belt didn’t cause any damage, and the engine didn’t overheat due to loss of water pump, and ALL the parts are still available online: belt, plastic idler wheel and tensioner - even though the original was actually still good. What would a garage have changed me to sort that lot out? And what fiction would be concocted to justify an even bigger bill? Keep sharing advice on how to fix cars. These are vital skill.
@@G58 that sucks! That’s the thing with cars though it’s a lot easier to address the little issues as soon as they pop up before they snowball into much bigger problems! And trying to trust a shop to do the right thing is a gamble at best, too many predatory shops out there ready to take your money and do poor work! That’s why I like to work on my own cars, at least then I know it’s done properly! I love SAABs! It’s a shame they went under 😔 but at least for now parts are still availible!
@@rangeless_ All true. A great learning opportunity though. Every engine and engine bay is different. My three favourite cars have been my first SAAB 99, my SAAB 900 turbo 5 door, and the Volvo 264 that I drove from the UK all over Scandinavia in all weather conditions. Best seats in any car ever. You can even get a good night’s sleep in the driver’s seat. Did loads of work on the 99 and the 264. I agree with you. GM (a notoriously substandard company) ruined SAAB. Microsoft used a very similar playbook to destroy Nokia. These are not coincidences. Yet I get called a ‘conspiracy theorist’ just for noticing the facts. Peace 🏴
@@angelicdragon9823 that’s a DC DC charger- I have lithium house batteries in the back and an AGM battery for the engine, the charge controller allows both to charge from the alternator while driving without damaging one as the charging requirements are different between AGM and lithium.
@ this is a fully built out camper van so the lithium runs everything except the engine basically! Fridge, furnace, fans, water pump, water heater, all the lights in the back, and an inverter for charging all of our stuff, both batteries charge from solar panels on the roof too so we rarely run out of electricity! ⚡️
My car had this obnoxious annoying noise that would be so loud every time I floored it…
I left that relationship and the noise went away.
@@REAP.0831 root cause analysis right there
You can also pull the seals off the bearings carefully, clean and grease them to put back in service provided there’s no rust. Worth it. and if you buy new pulleys it’s always a good idea doing the same with good grease before put on they last longer.
@@eaglemx45 that’s actually a great idea! This van is 35 years old now though so I’d imagine the bearings were probably worn down in the race after that long. But a good tip to grease the new bearings with good grease, they probably put the cheapest stuff in there from the factory!
A couple of years ago, had just collected my 1999 SAAB 93SE Auto Cabriolet with 72k on the clock, FSH and over £2,500 spent on it during the past 12 months. On a dark country road I decided to check out the kick-down. There was a loud bang under the bonnet, followed by a strange noise. The remains of the new serpentine belt was stuck behind the drive pulley, and the rest was everywhere else, along with the fragments of the plastic idler wheel. The lazy service centre had replaced the serpentine belt (along with the sump - instead of cleaning it), and not even checked the tensioner or the idler.
What should have been a straightforward job (as you described here), turned into several hours of unwinding rubber and fabric from between the various rotating wheels and the engine casing!
Luckily the belt didn’t cause any damage, and the engine didn’t overheat due to loss of water pump, and ALL the parts are still available online: belt, plastic idler wheel and tensioner - even though the original was actually still good.
What would a garage have changed me to sort that lot out? And what fiction would be concocted to justify an even bigger bill?
Keep sharing advice on how to fix cars. These are vital skill.
@@G58 that sucks! That’s the thing with cars though it’s a lot easier to address the little issues as soon as they pop up before they snowball into much bigger problems! And trying to trust a shop to do the right thing is a gamble at best, too many predatory shops out there ready to take your money and do poor work! That’s why I like to work on my own cars, at least then I know it’s done properly! I love SAABs! It’s a shame they went under 😔 but at least for now parts are still availible!
@@rangeless_ All true. A great learning opportunity though. Every engine and engine bay is different. My three favourite cars have been my first SAAB 99, my SAAB 900 turbo 5 door, and the Volvo 264 that I drove from the UK all over Scandinavia in all weather conditions. Best seats in any car ever. You can even get a good night’s sleep in the driver’s seat. Did loads of work on the 99 and the 264.
I agree with you. GM (a notoriously substandard company) ruined SAAB. Microsoft used a very similar playbook to destroy Nokia. These are not coincidences. Yet I get called a ‘conspiracy theorist’ just for noticing the facts.
Peace 🏴
In my case, that annoying squeak was a squirrel caught in the belt tensioner
@@cslloyd1 he chose a bad spot to hide his nuts 🌰
Nice mppt controller. Do more of that. Solar pannels controllers wrires!
Thats actually a DC-DC Charger - The MPPT is in the back under the couch - Will do a solar video though when I get a chance.
@rangeless_ copy that. Do it
Why do you have a vectron charge controller in your engine bay? Do you solar charger your car battery?
@@angelicdragon9823 that’s a DC DC charger- I have lithium house batteries in the back and an AGM battery for the engine, the charge controller allows both to charge from the alternator while driving without damaging one as the charging requirements are different between AGM and lithium.
@rangeless_ ok that's kind of cool what's the lithium one used on?
@ this is a fully built out camper van so the lithium runs everything except the engine basically!
Fridge, furnace, fans, water pump, water heater, all the lights in the back, and an inverter for charging all of our stuff, both batteries charge from solar panels on the roof too so we rarely run out of electricity! ⚡️
@@rangeless_ that's awesome
Screw the soap spray it with belt dressing and forget about it
Belt dressing is a temp fix, causes worse issues down the line, my tensioner was failing needed to be replaced.
Just open the passenger door and let her out. 😂😂😂
but who will feed me snacks when my hands are dirty?