Engine Swap

1991 Saab 900 Classic Non-Turbo 2.1 L Engine

 Completed on 12/16/09

Here is my story:

"Mine is a 1991 c900 16V, non-turbo that I picked up for free from a guy who gave up working on it when he could not get oil pressure from his motor- he could not get any oil to pump out of the oil housing or pressure relief valve. He thought it was oil pump that had gone wrong. I just thought the pump needed to be primed. So I did just that and got oil to spew out of the oil housing and the check oil light to disappear after installation. But the valve noise (severe knocking and tapping) under the cam over persisted. I just thought it was just bad lifters and gave the engine oil treatments (with Seafoam, various detergent, etc.) and happily drove the car for a month.

Then it occur to me last night that I ought to check to see if there was any oil going to the camshaft at all. Not surprisingly, the whole area under the camshaft was dry. No sign of oil. I cranked the engine with the cover off to see if there was any oil spewing out - none. I tried to see if bleeding the oil passage by unscrewing the 5 the black bolt, but there was absolutely no oil.  I have been driving like this for a month! I could see metal power around several tappets from grounding due to no lubrication."

Naturally, the only thing left to do was to swap out the engine. I found a good used engine at a local dismantler for $350. It came with a 100-day warranty. They were a good source for replacing all the parts that I broke while I was taking the engine out. I will not mention what they were. It's embarrasing. Anyhoo, the swap is complete and I finally know how Saab engine sounds like.