Tank Mounting Problems of SAAB 9-3

I would like to report a very dangerous situation that I experienced with my 2003 9-3. After about a 40 mile drive on the freeway, I , along with my wife and daughter, pulled into my friends driveway and heard a loud scrapping noise from beneath my car. I looked underneath the car to find that the right fuel tank strap was hanging down and was only 3 or 4 inches from the ground. The forward bolt had loosened completely out and the fuel pump wiring harness (which attaches to the strap) is keeping it from being even closer to the ground. Also the tank itself is hanging about 3 inches lower on the right side. Luckily the bracket for the harness had a bolt retaining washer because the bolt was still there, hanging on to the end of the flopping strap. My friend (a mechanic by trade) and I applied loctite to the bolt and refastened it. It appered that there was no visable damage to the tank, line or wiring. Scary part was that it was the forward end hanging down so it could have easily caught on something and ripped out fuel lines and wiring and who knows what else and could have easily started a fire resulting in injury or death.

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

My SAAB 9-3 convertible began pouring fuel at an alarming rate (more than 1/2 a tank poured out from the bottom-rear). No accident, bump, or road debris was involved. When the car was shut off, the fuel spill stopped. This is clearly a fire-hazard. At the rate it was flowing out, a lit cigarette in the road, a spark from road debris, or other flame source would have lit the car up like an explosive torch. I was also informed by SAAB roadside assistance that the fire department would need to certify the car was ok to tow - and was also told by the weary firefighters that because the leak was not active (the car was turned off) they would not provide certification - which was readily accepted by the roadside assistance leading me to believe they have heard this story before. My service team was familiar with the problem - even predicting it has something to do with a clip near the fuel line & tank that, when it breaks, leads to a flood of gasoline. I await their formal diagnosis. If the service dealers know about this problem - and the apparent scope of it - it seems deploying a plan to correct it would be the reasonable, and safe, thing for SAAB to do. It would be a tragedy to loose a person to this known defect.

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