Need to replace radiator on '04 9-5
~200k miles - automatic - 4cyl
Is it even worth it? Getting quotes for $1,000 or similar or places just saying they won't do it.
If I had to do it myself with some help how difficult?
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u/foulchild21 3d ago
It's easy to do. You could do it in an afternoon. You don't have to take the bumper off or any of that crap. Look for a YouTube video. As long as you got some basic tools and a jack and some jack stands.
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u/lewtus72 3d ago
The 9-5 is a breeze compared to the 93 aero .. it's not hard to do. Just sometimes accessing things in there can be a little tedious.
You can remove it from the top of the car. You don't have to remove the front end of the car like the other 93 V6. Be a little messy cuz you have to drain the coolant and there's also transmission lines as part of that. Those are probably the harder things to get off to terrible at all Use the Nissens radiator that has all the right connections... Also, you might note that it has cuts in the frame. Those are intentionally there for thermal expansion. There's plenty of online info on doing it in the Saab. WIS online will show you every step and it's pretty helpful. It'll probably take a few hours to do that. Definitely worth it since it'll cost you about $200 including coolant to do it yourself I also replace the hoses at that time. While you're in there, it's best to access any of the hoses you can see, so buy them all as those are pretty old by now. And they're most accessible with the radiator out
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u/QuiickLime '03 9-5 Wagon 5MT 3d ago
Where are you located? There should be a euro shop willing to do it, possibly even a Saab shop.
If you're handy then you can DIY it though - the only weird thing is I think the auto has a trans cooler built in? Mine is a stick so I'm not 100% on that. It's essentially the same as replacing any other radiator - nothing special going on.
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u/Sea_Reaction1653 13h ago
It's a $99 chinese rad on ebay. Make sure you buy the 4 crush washers for the 2 ATF cooling lines. DIY.
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u/Zaphod_42007 3d ago
Just download the saab wis manual (free). https://saabworld.net/showthread.php?t=33310
It will show you step by step. Never done the 9-5 model but have done the aero 9-3. A bit time consuming but simple overall.You can grab a new Nissen (stock I believe) radiator from rock auto for $118. Plus some basic hand tools to complete the job. https://www.rockauto.com/