Gas Recirculation Valve (egr Valve) problems of the 2008 SAAB 9-3

Vehicle exhibits all signs of premature intake valve wear causing loss of compression and/or hard start/no start when ambient air temp is below 40 degrees. See all previous complaints of the same issue!.

Car struggled to start when the temperature was below 40 degrees. After a number of trips to the shop that maintains my car they researched online that this was a common problem for SAAB with this engine and gm isn't willing to do anything about it. Please do something!.

We own a 2008 9-3 SAAB that has approximately 120,000 miles on it. When it is cold outside (50 degrees and below), our car starts very roughly after 2-3+ minutes of continuous cranking. Once the car starts and has warmed up, it runs quite smoothly. However, it currently isn't starting at all now and is in the shop. We have been doing research online to see if this is a common problem among other 2008 SAAB owners. So far we have seen a large amount of other owners of 2008 Saabs expressing the same concerns/problems and have experienced a $2,00-$3,000 expense to fix it. Our diagnosis is that there isn't any compression and it is assumed that the lower intake valves are faulty and will need to be replaced for an estimated cost of $2,000-$3,000. I have contacted gm and am awaiting their response as to whether there are enough other complaints to warrant a recall or receive any financial assistance to complete the repairs. It appears that the original gm parts are faulty and become worn, which results in difficulty in colder temperatures. We previously owned a 2003 SAAB, which was built by SAAB, and we never experienced any of these said problems.

Intake valve issue is a known issue with gm supplied intave valves on 2007-20011 Saabs with the b207 motor. Car struggled to start when the temperature was below 40 degrees. When it finally started, the car idled roughly. In addition car stalled a couple of times while being driven on the highway. Took it to the service center and they performed a cold block compression test. Values were well below 100 on 2 of the valves. The other two tested about 20% below normal. 66k miles, serviced regularly, and premium fuel was used exclusively. Also, southern care from day 1.

I didn't have a problem with the car in southern California, but I moved to new york at about 75k miles - and I noticed a problem right away. Rough idling started, and would even turn on, then right back off. The problem was not an issue again during the summer months, so I was able to drive it to 83k miles. Now that it is winter time, even though it is garaged it will not start if it is under 45 degrees. I had it checked out with a certified SAAB mechanic and he confirmed by way of compression test that it is indeed the dreaded intake valve problem. The estimate for repair is $2,230!.

My car was exhibiting a hard start and misfires from 90,000 and up. It was more present in cold weather. It finally failed to turn over in -15 degree weather (-40 wind chill), had I been in a remote area there would have been a very real danger of hypothermia and frostbite. After some online investigation I found that numerous people are experiencing the same problem with any SAAB 9-3 2. 0t (b207 engine) over 75,000 miles. The problem is related to bad intake valves that become razor sharp and cannot hold compression especially in colder climates.