A friend of mine called to look at her car, it is a 86 Saab 900 (automatic). she was driving it and suddenly it won't catch any gear. its been having a problem slipping into 4th.

so i arrive there and she turns on her car. it idles fine, and as soon as she puts it in drive or in any gear i hear a clunking kinda like how an unbalanced dryer is. then when she puts it back to Park i hear a grinding sound. and it won't lock the trans up (u can still push it)

I told her it sounded like the torque converter got knocked loose, and was spining around in there. so it should be jsut that to replace. what do u guys think it is?

__________________
198? 300D ???K - Future DD
1989 300TE 285K - traded in '12
1984 300SD 186K - Sold in 08
1978 300SD 330K - Died in 05

It has a broken axle. The Saab is front wheel dive.

i didn't know they were front wheel drives. weird.

__________________
198? 300D ???K - Future DD
1989 300TE 285K - traded in '12
1984 300SD 186K - Sold in 08
1978 300SD 330K - Died in 05

SAABs of the 99 and 900 series have only a 3 speed automatic transmission (Borg Warner type 35 or 37), but they are prone to failure of the two prongs on the torque convertor which drive the oil pump when the bushing on the torque convertor gets enough wear to allow it to rock around a bit on the flex plate. There is simply too long a span between the rear main bearing of the motor and the bearings on the transaxle transfer chain to support the things in between properly. It will need a new torque convertor and oil pump and a thorough cleaning of the rest of the transmission, but perhaps it is time to just put in a rebuilt from Eriksson Enterprises (Conn.), the best SAAB trans rebuilder.

Judging from the misinformation in previous posts on this thread, you'd better familiarize yourselves with saabnet.com -- the best marque-based auto information site on the net since 1988!

Actually, I've got the powertrain from #2 daughter's '90 900S scattered all over my garage floor right now for just this reason, but we've more or less decided to watch EBay for a "donor car" to convert hers to a 5-speed manual like her '92 900 turbo convertible. That's the best solution by far, and really very easy with these.

Did I miss something? Does this thread run somewhere else? I sure don't see anymisrepresentation of facts here.

What are you refering to? They sure do have front wheel drive and 900s are known for their axles coming apart so where is the misinformation? My first thought was the drive chain but I like the axle myself.

__________________
Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician

the fact that the first poster thought that it was rear drive and had a four speed transmission and the first response thought it might be a broken axle, which is not likely, I believe, although that clunky noise might suggest that it is something different from the usual torque convertor drive issue.

I did say "misinformation" rather than "misrepresentation," and I only meant to warn the original poster to go to a site with a lot of knowledgeable SAAB people, not to accuse anyone of deception. I'm very sorry that I was misunderstood.

i really didn't know it was an FF. but anyways the clunking noise came from the transmission hump. so that why i originally thought it was thetorque converter. it is now in the shop so she can finally find out. but i was offering her a quick diagnostic and estimate of around what it would be. she bought the car for 3K and IMO it wasn't a very good deal. i coulda picked a MB for her for that money but o well

__________________
198? 300D ???K - Future DD
1989 300TE 285K - traded in '12
1984 300SD 186K - Sold in 08
1978 300SD 330K - Died in 05

Hi Fimum Fit,

Can you please share with me your Expertise with the BW 37 transmissions?

If the two prongs on the torque converter failed would that account for the “clunking noise” and” grinding sound in park” as described by ned2683.

How about “I can hear a grinding sound in park” would that is because when the torque converter failed it lost its fluid coupling effect?

How about he pushes the car in park “it won’t lock the trans up” that is the torque converter also?


Was the torque converter making the “clunking noise came from the transmission hump”


What supports the torque converter on a Saab 900?

Thank you.

It turned out to be a bad U joint and CV joint. so the Axel went. it was around 250 for her

__________________
198? 300D ???K - Future DD
1989 300TE 285K - traded in '12
1984 300SD 186K - Sold in 08
1978 300SD 330K - Died in 05

ned2683,



$ 250 for an axle is a great price.





Fimum Fit,








The lesson here is not to judge a book by its cover, case closed.

Have a safe holiday

First of all, the original poster said that he did hear noises from the torque convertor, so I jumped to the conclusion that it was the typical SAAB 900 torque convertor/oil pump drive probolem because I didn't catch the obvious implication that if he didn't realize that the car was front drive, he probably didn't realize that the torque convertor was at the radiator end of the engine, and therefore I should have seen that as a clue about axle failure rather than the TC problem I proposed, especially in the light of the point about park not engaging (it was, but the broken axle shaft prevented that from holding the car). I have only once seen an axle failure on an automatic transmission 900, and that was a case where a couple of college kids on Spring Break got stuck in the sands at the Outer Banks and tried to rock the car out by the rev it in drive, jam it in reverse, rev, back to drive, rev technique until the car was resting on the lower a arms. I have, of course, seen turbo 5-speeds with broken axles, and pinion bearings, etc. etc., but the automatics just can't transmit enough torque to due catastrophic damage unless the axles are really at high mileage, as seems to be the case here (it must have been making nasty noises for a long time). After all, the 3-speeds in the auto are a bit like 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in the 5-speed, and the torque multiplication in the TC doesn't help enough to really throw a shock into the axle shafts.

The oil pump drive problem, on the other hand, I've seem often on well maintained cars, some even with less than 100,000 miles. The wimpy little bushing on the drive shaft to the chain's upper sprocket wears down quickly and begins to allow enough wobble to that the ears or flanges on the torque convertor which are supposed to drive the oil pump have to take the pressure instead and soon they break off, with a sudden loss of the ATF pressure that makes the trans operate, and thus you have an instant stranding at the side of the road, as our original poster noted, but without any warning.

I do apologize again for the fact that I posted my comment so hastily that it was very badly worded. All I really wanted to say was that the original poster had better get to someone who knows SAAB cars quickly, and I didn't intend it to be taken as a criticism of anyone else's posts but his.