Car Mechanics (UK)

DON’T BRAKE MY HEART

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 This was a close call, and there’s a moral to the story.

I had been searching for a Saab 9-3 (old generation) in decent condition for a few months when suddenly a 2001 Aero model turned up via friends. The cheap price meant that this was something I couldn’t refuse, especially as this model has leather seats and 205bhp to enjoy.

The snag was that it had been resting in a carport 140 miles from me for seven years, with a suspected faulty heater fan.

It seemed that it wasn’t rusty, so I asked my friend who owns the only wrecker and rescue truck in the area if he was planning a trip that would enable him to bring my new possession home. To my luck, he had one booked the next week.

Car delivered home, I changed the engine oil and filter, and after spraying thin oil in the cylinders and fitting a battery, I tried to start the engine. It came alive and after a few minutes it was running very well. That meant I just had to fix the heater and drive it to the test station.

The fault turned out to be a failing resistor, quite common on these models. I had a donor car to take parts from, and I had very good fault-finding help from Saab’s original handbook. The aircon also worked perfectly.

After some short trips to test it I booked it in at my nearest test station (MOT equivalent), 60 miles away.

I drove off, driving at 60-70mph, braking a bit to grind rust off the discs and also avoiding some reindeer on the road. So far so good. The car ran really well so it felt like a bargain.

I drove into the test station and the car tester jumped in to test the brakes on the rollers. Suddenly I heard her scream to her colleague. No resistance – the pedal went to the floor! When she had pressed the brake, one of the front brake hoses sheared off, resulting in total loss of braking power. This fault is not unusual with old Saabs.

Back home, after journeying with a rescue vehicle, I changed both the front hoses – which seemed to be the originals. At the next visit for a re-test, all went well. At least disaster had struck in the best place. What luck it didn’t happen in traffic!

Martin Stenlund

Arjeplog, Lapland, Sweden (near the Arctic Circle)

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