Maintenance schedule                   

Notes: This is my maintenance schedule; in several cases it is more aggressive than Saab's recommendations.   I have simplified it and tailored everything to 5000 mile intervals for simplicity.  This schedule assumes the use of synthetic oil and premium oil filters, and that fits nicely into the 5000/10000 mile schedule.  I wouldn't run natural oil on this schedule.  But then, I wouldn't run natural oil at all.  If you run synthetic, you decide whether to change it every 5000 miles or every 10000 miles.  I seem to vacillate between the two ... I think 10000 is fine with synthetic oil, but I feel better if I change it every 5000.  Changing synthetic more often than every 5000 miles is waste of time, money, effort, and good oil, in my opinion.  I drive about 15000 miles a year, so 15000 miles roughly corresponds to my yearly inspection and maintenance target.  I usually try to hit that in the fall, as winter generally brings out the worst in machinery.

Remember the keys to success: 

• Protect the engine and turbocharger by keeping the oil and oil filter changed, and use premium products if at all possible
• Protect motor mounts and harmonic balancer by keeping the engine from leaking oil.  
• Protect the DI cassette religiously by immediately correcting any engine miss problems
• Protect the cooling system religiously - Bar's Leaks is cheap, and it works; also, flush the system and replace the thermostat regularly.  
• Change the hydraulic fluid more often than necessary - fluid is cheap
• Change the power steering fluid more often than necessary - I repeat, fluid is cheap
• Don't let the CV joint boots split.  Keep an eye on them and replace any boot that develops cracks
• Don't let the serpentine belts or pulleys get weak -inspect at least yearly, replace at least tri-yearly (I replace all every 30 K miles)

Consider the cost of the maintenance items outlined here versus letting it ride.

• Engine melt down $cost of good oil vs let's not even go there!
• A bit  wrenching (tighten things/replace bad seals & gaskets) vs. ruined motor mount or harmonic balancer ($300 or so each)
• Head gasket $10/year (renew coolant) vs $1000 or so 
• Heater core $10/year (renew coolant) vs $300 to $500
• Hydraulic cylinders $10/year (renew hydraulic fluid) vs up to $300
• Power steering pump/rack $10/year (renew steering fluid) vs up to $500
• CV joint replacement, occasional $30 to $100 (replace cracked boots) vs $300 or more
• Belt and pulley failures $40/year (renew belt and pulleys) vs  up to $300 AND major inconvenience AND maybe being stranded AND maybe a head gasket replacement if you decide to drive to safety/civilization with a non-operational water pump

There's no comparison.  

• Maintenance: Relatively easy and inexpensive.  
• Waiting for it to break: Ruinous.

   

• Maintenance is cheap
• Component failure is inconvenient, and usually a real drag
• Component failure is possibly dangerous
• Component failure is always much, much, MUCH more expensive

You make the call.  

Here's a guideline for reasonable maintenance.

• General

  • Check all the fluid levels whenever the hood is open.  

  • It helps to keep the wiper blades clean (alcohol and a scrub with a scrap of wire screen material will do it) and the windshield Rain-X'ed

  • Lube the door hinges and locks now and then

  • Try to keep the engine clean and free of oil leaks

• Spring/pre-summer checks

• Fall/pre-winter checks

Every 5000 Miles

• Change oil filter (premium filter)
• Change oil
  • It certainly wouldn't hurt to change non-synthetic more often
  • I change synthetic every 5000, although it can go 10000
• Rotate tires if you believe in it
  • I often prefer not to.  When the fronts wear out, I only have to replace those two.  The rears will last forever (at some point, it's a good idea to move the rears to the front and start over)
• Quick-check CV joints (cursory look for cracks/splits while under the car for oil change)

• Change oil (synthetic)
  • I change it every 5000 miles, but you can go 10000 on synthetic if you insist on cheaping out
• Add Bar's Leaks to cooling system
  • This is a compromise between the recommended every 6 months or 15000 miles
  • 5 ounces of the liquid, in the silver bottle
    • Shake it up thoroughly first
    • Pour it into the coolant reservoir when the coolant is cool
      • Drive car for 30 minutes after adding

• Check accessory drive (serpentine) belt – remove and inspect, inspect pulleys & seals
  • Replace the belt if any wear or damage is evident
  • Replace any idler pulleys that are rough, noisy or that don't spin smoothly
    • Remember, the bolt that holds the tensioner pulley in place has left hand threads!
  • Inspect the crankshaft pulley rubber joint 
    • Do this every time the fender liner is removed for any reason
    • See the section on checking the crank pulley/harmonic balancer on the Repairs page
• Inspect the lower front motor mount
• Re-gap the spark plugs to 1 mm (.039")
  • IMPORTANT! - Apply dielectric grease to the spark plug boots
    • This protects the DI cassette by preventing external arcing
    • Permatex makes a "Dielectric Tune-Up Grease", available at auto parts stores
• Check antifreeze protection
• Change automatic transmission filter
• Quadruple-change automatic transmission fluid
• Check all coolant hoses
  • Replace any  soft, weak or damaged ones
  • Pay particular attention to the heater hose that connects to the end of the cylinder head
    • It's particularly weak where it flares out at the cylinder head connection
• Check CV joint boots – detailed inspection    (how to)
• Check brakes
  • pads thickness
  • rotors condition
  • hoses condition
  • hand brake adjustment and operation
• Check and lube suspension bushings (spray with silicone lubricant)
• Check wiper blades
• Wash the engine down
  • If it leaks a lot of fluids, you'll need to use an engine degreaser
    • Do yourself a favor and fix the damn leaks!
    • Common leak points (easy to fix)
      • O-ring at the distributor or distributor hole plug (end of cam cover)
      • O-ring at oil level warning sender (front of oil pan)
      • Cam cover gasket (just snug the bolts up)
  • If not, a simple high pressure wash at a car wash will do the trick

• Every 30000 Miles (every two years), add
  • Replace the spark plugs
    • IMPORTANT! - For DI cars, use the stock plugs
      • The dealer has them, and they're cheap
    • IMPORTANT! - Apply dielectric grease to the spark plug boots
      • This protects the DI cassette by preventing external arcing
      • Permatex makes a "Dielectric Tune-Up Grease", available at auto parts stores
  • Change brake fluid (DOT 4), bleed brakes
  • Pressure bleed clutch
  • Change P.S. fluid (G.M), purge air    (how to)
  • Change coolant (back flush the system)
    • Mercedes or other premium brand
  • Replace thermostat (Genuine Saab)
  • Replace accessory drive (serpentine) belt
  • Inspect belt tensioner
    • Should be difficult to push the pulley back
      • No "free" travel or difference in effort throughout its range
      • Rattle/vibration at clutch engagement is a symptom of a bad tensioner
  • Spin the idler pulleys and listen carefully - listen for noise/roughness
    • Replace if obviously rough or noisy
      • NOTE: I replace both pulleys every two years/30 K miles, when I replace the serpentine belt.  I had a pulley fail once, and I consider this very worthwhile insurance.
  • Carefully inspect the harmonic pulley joint for signs of damage/slippage
    • The joint should be marked with reference marks to make any slippage obvious
  • Replace air filter

• Replace fuel filter
  • Wet the filter element with gasoline before installation
    • Keeps the element from tearing on initial high-velocity, high-pressure gasoline contact
• The tensioner and idler pulleys are almost certainly due for replacement by now if they haven't been done routinely
• The same can be said of coolant hoses and thermostat
  • You're living on borrowed time if you don't replace them
  • Yeah, I know it's a hundred bucks or so, but think of how bad it would be to be stranded somewhere (or in the middle of nowhere) if one failed.  Skip the hose replacement if they're in good shape, but check the one at the end of the head - it tends to go soft right where it joins the head.  Don't skip the thermostat - failure will almost certainly result in a head gasket replacement.

   

Every 90000 Miles, add

• Did you replace those damned coolant hoses and thermostat at 60 thou?
  • If not, then do it now
  • Yeah, I know it's a hundred bucks or so, but think of how bad it would be to be stranded somewhere (or in the middle of nowhere) if one failed.  
    • Have you heard this before? 
      • Then maybe you oughtta listen!
        • Yeah, I know, I'm worse than your mom ...

• Every 120000 Miles
  • Take a hard look at  the crankshaft pulley/harmonic balancer
    • I used to say "replace it" at this point, but if you keep your engine from leaking oil, it may go forever
      • Bare minimum, keep an eye on it from now on
      • If it fails, it probably will leave you stranded, but it should give some warning if you do keep an eye (and an ear) on it.  The warning sign is a loud squealing noise on start-up.
    • If the front seal is leaking, replace it while the pulley is removed
  • I used to recommend maybe replacing the DI cassette here, but if you've done good spark maintenance, it may well go forever
    • If you can afford it, it's a good preemptive strike
  • Keep an ear out for bad wheel bearings
    • Telltale sign is noise when the wheel is turned
      • I think this might be caused by aftermarket wheels with improper offset, more than anything else
  • Has the clutch been replaced yet?
    • No?  Good, you're not abusing it.  But watch for slipping and listen for noise.  Put some money away for a clutch job; they don't last forever.
    • By this time, the operation is probably getting somewhat rough
      • Depends on the type of driving, of course
      • As I said, put some money away, they don't last forever.  If it's noisy or rough or chattery or irritating in any way, and you have the bucks, do a clutch job.  You'll appreciate the smoothness of a new one.
    • If you do it at all, try to do it all
      • Disc
      • Pressure plate
      • Release bearing
      • Slave cylinder
      • Grind the flywheel smooth (replace if ring gear teeth are damaged)
      • Master cylinder
      • I recommend against DIY rear main seal replacement, unless it's leaking
        • If you're having a pro do it, by all means have them replace the rear main seal
  • Let's not even talk about auto transmissions ... they have a way of being insistent, so no need to do anything special.  Just take care of them as best you can

• Every 150000 Miles
  • Do a little dance, make a little love
  • Keep on maintaining
  • Repeat as necessary for the next 150000 miles