Gas Recirculation Valve (egr Valve) Problems of 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!.

See all problems of the 2008 SAAB 9-3 🔎.

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.

My SAAB has fallen victim to the, now well known, well documented ,soft valve issue. While gm owned SAAB they somehow allowed non-hardened valves to be placed into SAAB engines that are now failing at astronomical rates. There is no excuse for engines to fail at 50-60m miles. The cost of repair to consumers is $2,500 and there is no choice otherwise the engine does not start unless it's 70-80 degrees outside. The government needs to take action and hold gm accountable for this as they rightfully did for the seat belt recall. Human safety is important but so is knowingly producing an engine that fails not allowing customers to be a productive member of society.

See all problems of the 2009 SAAB 9-3 🔎.

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.

In cold weather (slightly below freezing at the time) vehicle started but idled very roughly. Drove down street and while coasting engine was idling and sputtered and stalled within 1 minute of initial start. Loss of brake assist, power steering, power to accelerate with traffic. Pulled off to side and restarted engine. Again rough idle. Applied gas pedal and held rpms slightly above idle to warm engine. After ~5 minutes, car was idling normally. No further issues once engine reached operating temperature. Upon research SAAB/gm (spna technical assistance) has issued a notice to certified service centers that intake valves are prematurely wearing causing severe issues in cold start situations. Notice is dated 12/17/2013 and was re-issued to expand scope of model years known to be effected. This warrants an investigation for potential recall, as no vehicle should result in such significant degradation of a major engine component with such limited miles. Repair requires major engine work to replace all intake valves.

See all problems of the 2007 SAAB 9-3 🔎.

The vehicle will become almost immobile in first and second gear (manual transmission). Once in third gear, performance is back to normal. If driver is not aware of situation (cruise light off is only indication if cruise control system is turned on), driver can easily get into bad situation as car will not perform as usual (very significant degradation of performance). All that is needed to reset problem is to turn the key off and restart the engine and the condition will go away for as little as 10 minutes or up to as much as 2 hours of driving. It is suspected that this problem could be associated with the air mass sensor as replacing air mass sensor with used part, problem disappeared for several months. This condition could cause a serious safety issue if driver is not aware and tries to make a quick maneuver involving tight traffic (left turn when performance is paramount). Whatever this condition is that the electronics/engine controls is/are entering is unacceptable and this problem needs to be corrected by the manufacturer in a recall.

See all problems of the 2003 SAAB 9-3 🔎.

While driving on expressway, motor failed due to lack of oil circulation brought on by plugging of oil pump intake screen from degradation of oil, due to design of SAAB 9/3 that cooks oil in turbocharger and catalytic converter directly beneath oil pan. Contributing factors long oil change interval, (10,000 SAAB recommendation), vehicle had less than 7,000 miles since last oil change. Complete engine failure resulted. Vehicle disabled. I had it towed to a pep boys location and was informed that the engine lost 2 cylinders and needs to be completely replaced.

See all problems of the 2001 SAAB 9-3 🔎.

After the outside temperature drops below 40f, the vehicle displays a malfunction light on the dashboard. Upon investigation, the diagnosis is a failure on the secondary air pump and check valve. This is an emissions system. The pump was added to improve performance under emissions testing. The vehicle warranty has expired and SAAB is not covering this item under emissions warranty. This is an extremely common issue, many SAAB owners are complaining about the issue.

While driving on expressway, motor failed due to lack of oil circulation brought on by plugging of oil pump intake screen from degradation of oil, due to design of SAAB 9/3 that cooks oil in turbocharger and catalytic converter directly beneath oil pan. Contributing factors long oil change interval, (10,000 SAAB recommendation), vehicle had 8,000 miles since last oil change. Also -3*f temperature further impeded oil circulation. Complete engine failure resulted. Vehicle disabled. Engine shortblock was replaced at dealership.