I have created this page to provide a follow through for the rebuild of my B234 engine.  I had originally intended to show a step-by-step engine overhaul, but have decided that anyone who is willing to pull out an engine and give it a complete overhaul will have their own way of doing it.  Keeping this in mind, here is how I went about overhauling my 2.3L non-turbo engine.  This information should also apply to the 2.0 Turbo and 2.1 non-turbo SAAB engines. 

Why am I doing this?:

At 178,000 miles, I began to notice a clackity sound coming from the timing chain of the engine.  I removed the timing chain tensioner and found it worn only to 10 clicks, so I decided that the problem was likely coming from the balance chain, having ruled out any belt driven accessories.  Additionally, although the previous owner had replaced the clutch only about 45,000 miles ago, the clutch required an immense amount of force to engage; not fun in the stop-and-go traffic I encounter on each drive to work! Since the transmission had to be removed anyway, and engine removal was only another few hours time commitment, I decided to pull the engine and do the work it needed.  But why a complete overhaul?  Well, the engine had recently begun to consume oil at an accelerated rate: maybe 1 quart per 3000 miles.  I suspected worn or gummed oil control rings.  And if I'm removing the head to re-ring the engine, I might as well install new bearings and gaskets along the way. 

So knowing all of this now, here is how I went about overhauling the engine.  Below are pictures I took of this process as I moved along; look things over and have fun. 

What I did:

I worked like a crazy man to remove the engine.  By myself, it took me about 8 hours to remove the engine/gearbox and disassemble it.  Keep in mind that this included time to take breaks, hunt down tools, etc.  If I were to do it again, I believe I could do it in half that time, provided I had all the tools on hand. 

The Haynes manual and the SAAB WIS both say to raise the vehicle and drop the engine/gearbox assembly from the engine bay.  Working in a cold, small garage, this was not an option for me.  I decided to raise the car, lower the gearbox from below and then pull the engine out the top.  The general removal procedure is quite simple.  Drop the subframe, unbolt and lower the gearbox, remove all connections to the engine, and pull the engine out through the top of the engine bay.  The details are a bit more gritty!  Platonoff has a wonderful site showing engine removal; I'll refer you to his overview of engine removal for the step-by-step approach. 

The engine bay with the engine and gearbox removed.  The power steering pump and AC compressor stay in the car and are carefully maneuvered around.  When all is said and done, I will thoroughly clean the engine bay and restore it's appearance to as-new condition.

To facilitate removal of the engine, I removed the distributor, all connected hoses (coolant, vacuum, fuel, etc), the intake box, the serpentine belt and any wiring attached to the left side of the engine.  I hung the power steering pump and AC compressor from the front radiator support, using Zip ties.  The followng pictures show the engine as removed.  If it's not shown on the engine, I removed it prior to engine removal.  The wiring harness, I disconnected from the ECU and dash harness, and pulled through the bulkhead.  This is much easier to remove with the engine out of the vehicle and it can be thoroughly inspected when removed.   

Front of the engine, as removed.  The alternator & CV intermediate shaft, starter, and front engine mount were left attached.  The engine has to be rotated, slightly,, during removal, to clear the power steering pump.

The rear of the engine as removed.  The exhaust manifold, flywheel, wiring harness and coolant bypass tubes were left in place.  The heater hoses were left attached to the engine bay and disconnected from the engine.  The distributor was removed for easier access to the bell housing bolts.

With the engine removed from the car, the first concern is getting the engine on the engine stand.  The bell housing bolts are M12X1.75.  To fit to my engine stand, I had to use M12X1.75 bolts, 130mm long, for the upper mounts and 3/8-16, Grade-8, 6" long bolts, with nuts, for the lower mounts.   

Engine on the stand.  Keep a set of M12 X 1.75 bolts on hand to secure the engine to the stand.

With the engine secured to the engine stand, disassembly can begin.  I slowly worked my way around the engine, removing accessories as I came to them.  I began with the exhaust and intake manifolds.  Be sure to soak the manifold studs in rust penetrating lubricant prior to removal, to prevent breaking an exhaust stud.  To access the intake manifold, the idle plumbing, coolant lines, wiring harness, fuel rail and throttle body must be removed.  Finally, the mounting bolts are removed in stages and the manifold is lifted from the engine.  Note that the intake manifold also has a support bracket which must be removed.  With the manifolding removed, the accessories can be removed. 

The engine with all accessories removed.  It is a good practice to place all hardware in individually labeled bags and to label all connectors upon removal.

Once all accessories are removed, the cylinder head can be removed.  To do this, the valve cover and cam sprockets are removed.  The cams have a hex head on each end to help hold them; secure this with a 17mm wrench and remove the cam sprocket bolts.  Wiggle the sprockets free and let the chain fall into the timing cover.  Unbolt the cylinder head, outside in (reverse of the tightening sequence) in two or three stages.  Carefully lift the head from the engine, being sure to lift straight up.  The top of the timing chain guides can be damaged if the head is tilted.

After cylinder head removal, remove the crankshaft pulley.  I used a strap wrench to secure the pulley and backed the bolt out with a 1" impact socket, using my impact gun.  If you don't have air-tools, I'd recommend securing the engine with the flywheel and backing out the bolt with a breaker bar.  With the pulley removed, slide out the oil pump and remove the timing and balance chain components. 

I didn't get a picture of the timing/balance shaft components.  Looking at mine, at 178,000, they all appeared to be in good condition.  The exhaust-side balance shaft sprocket had noticeable tooth wear, but was still in good condition.  The cause of the clackity noise?  The balance shaft guides had worn adequately and the balance shaft chain had stretched enough to max out the tensioner.  The noise was the tensioner rod moving at the end of it's travel. 

The engine with the balance timing and balance shaft components removed.  To remove the balance shafts, remove their securing bolts and carefully pull them from the engine.

With all other components removed, the piston assemblies and crankshaft can be removed.  If there is a noticeable wear at the top of any of the cylinders, this must be removed before the pistons can be extracted.  A ridge reamer can be used to remove this ridge.  On my block, there was no noticeable wear at the top of any of the cylinders.  I removed the rod bolts and carefully tapped the piston out of the cylinder using a wooden hammer handle.  Be careful not to damage the rod journals when the piston assemblies are removed. 

The number 4 cylinder, with piston assembly removed.  Notice the presence of the original hatch marks in the cylinder.  There is no noticeable ridge at either the top or bottom of this cylinder.  If the measurements check out, I may be able to break the glaze on the cylinder walls and reuse the standard size pistons.

To remove the crankshaft, unbolt the main bolts, in stages, and lift the crankshaft free.  Note that the rear cover must be removed to remove the crankshaft and 5th main cap.  To do this, lift the engine with the engine hoist, using two head bolts.  Remove the engine stand bracket and the rear cover.  Place the stand bracket back in place and position the engine back in the stand. 

The crankshaft, showing all of the rod and main journals.  These are in excellent condition for the mileage.  Provided the measurements check out, I will likely only have to brighten these journals.

With the crankshaft removed, unbolt the piston cooling jets and remove the coolant and oil galley plugs.  The block should be ready for a full cleaning and reconditioning. 

The bare engine block, ready for reconditioning.  Note that I have left the freeze plugs in; these are typically knocked out and replaced, however, SAAB used high quality brass plugs.  These are still in good condition, so I will leave them installed.

Continue to the next page for engine component cleaning, reconditioning and reassembly. 

Copyright 2007:  All content on this site, including text and images, may not be reproduced without the written consent of the author.