Engine Running

In my introduction I mentioned the fuel system issues that seem to turn the last owner off on this car. The previous owner did get the engine to idle at one point but when I got the car it really did not want to idle on its own.

Before I went any further into the fuel system I wanted to change the fluids and do some basic checks of the engine.

This is what the engine oil looked like. Pretty dark, slightly thick, not milky.

The oil from the filter had some (its hard to see) coolant in it. I also drained the radiator. The coolant had no signs of oil. I replaced the oil, oil filter and coolant. 

This all went a long way for my peace of mind. With fluids replaced and no obvious signs of fluid mixing going on I felt better cranking the engine. Given the issues with the fuel system and the hibernation period the car had I put some Lucas fuel treatment in with some fresh gas and tried the ignition. The car started idling on its own! 

I turned off the engine because I wanted to add some Leak Bars to the coolant and have it run through the system. Generally I like to avoid this sort of treatment but it was recommended in some old posts on SaabNet. B-engines are sensitive when it comes to those water pump seals and I think the Bars helps lube them up.

I let the car idle for half an hour. The thermostat opened up around when the temperature needle hit "N". The coolant was circulating through the reservoir. Water pump is spinning! The weep hole in the water pump was dry. The fans came on just fine. Everything stayed nice and cool! 

Now for some bad. The car is a light smoker. There is some smoke coming from the exhaust side of the turbo. It is not thick and does not hang in the air. The exhaust is smokey as well. [You will notice in the video there is no muffler. I will have a post on this shortly]

Smoke pulses out of the dipstick tube when the the dipstick is lifted. 

Pushing the throttle goes like this. 

I let the engine cool down and checked the cylinder compression. The results were:

1 [150] 2 [140] 3 [140] 4 [150]. That seems ok to me. The spark plugs were a little carbon-y though.

Good compression, no fluid mixing, I'm thinking the head gasket is ok. Considering the smoke from the dipstick... bad PCV? I just thought of that typing this so I'll have to check the valve later.     

Next post let get those rims off for some new tires and to take a look at the brakes.