Help Me Oppo: Your'e My Only Hope. Part Deux.

"Ian Duer (320b)" (320b)
12/17/2013 at 22:24 • Filed to: Saab Story, Saab

Picked up an 85000mi Saab 900 on monday. Nice price, but I fear crackpipe on the horizon. It has a weird !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! to the interior. Yesterday, I was advised by multiple posters to try to find the source. Here is my best guess so far.

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I noticed this crack in the center reflector section between the tails. Although I have not had it apart yet, in precious hatchbacks I've owned the tails attach in such a way that there is an opening into the interior behind them. Wondering if this lovely colony has leeched smell inside.

I also noticed this discoloration on underside of the "inner hatch flap thing" which I still don't know the name of. Looks like it could be some sort of mold. Damn. Any suggestions for slaying this foul beast of a smell Oppo?

Also any Saab fanatics out there who can direct me to some good parts or info sites? Best message boards you've found. It's been 7.5 years since I purchased my last car, need to build up a new bookmarks folder for this one.

DISCUSSION (32)

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Ian Duer (320b)
12/17/2013 at 22:25

Mold it is.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Ian Duer (320b)
12/17/2013 at 22:26

http://www.pelicanparts.com/Saab/index-SC.…

E30Joe drives a Subaru > Ian Duer (320b)
12/17/2013 at 22:27

As for the smell, buy like 15 of your favorite air fresheners, I like black ice, and stick them under all the carpets, in the air vents, hang them from the mirror, and for good measure throw a few in the cabin air filter.

All you will ever smell again is black ice.

getchapopcorn > Ian Duer (320b)
12/17/2013 at 22:27

If this is a consular ship, where is the ambassador?

Ian Duer (320b) > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
12/17/2013 at 22:28

Very nice. Helped me locate HVAC control knob.

Ian Duer (320b) > E30Joe drives a Subaru
12/17/2013 at 22:29

I suppose I could alternately go get some of that bottled fox piss hunters use, I'm sure the current odor would become a distant memory.

Philbert/Phartnagle > Ian Duer (320b)
12/17/2013 at 22:30

Find the cause, cure it, clean and disinfect.

An ozone generator will probably get the smell out if cleaning and disinfecting does not.

Ian Duer (320b) > getchapopcorn
12/17/2013 at 22:30

I suppose the resemblance is there.

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > Ian Duer (320b)
12/17/2013 at 22:30

Get one of those grocery store carpet cleaners and do the entire interior. Not really the best option but it would likely nuke the smell for good. Ozone machines can be put in and run to remove mold. Watch some of the /Drive Clean videos, it could help. This one in particular!

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Nibbles > Ian Duer (320b)
12/17/2013 at 22:30

Http://www.eeuroparts.com . Excellent selection, hard to find parts, reasonable prices, fast shipping that is usually free if your order is over $50.00

E30Joe drives a Subaru > Ian Duer (320b)
12/17/2013 at 22:33

Bleach. Bleach everywhere.

PRBot II > Ian Duer (320b)
12/17/2013 at 22:34

I drove a '94 900S and a '96 900S for many years, currently driving a '99 9-3. It's been 12 years total at this point.

saabnet.com, saabcentral.com, and saabsunited.com are good forums. I'm partial to saabcentral myself, but my infatuation with Oppo has stolen me away from that place.

The inner flap hatch thing is easily removable as you may know, just scrub it with carpet shampoo or something similar and dry it out. As for finding the leak, it may be as simple as reinforcing the weather strip at the hatch seal, or you may just need to take it to a pro Saab tech. Good luck man!

Ian Duer (320b) > E30Joe drives a Subaru
12/17/2013 at 22:34

I always wanted a "custom" interior. Mmmm tiedye.

Ian Duer (320b) > PRBot II
12/17/2013 at 22:34

Thanks. I'll lurk a bit and decide.

Straightsix9904 > Ian Duer (320b)
12/17/2013 at 22:44

I know this isn't terribly helpful. But watch some of Larry's stuff on YouTube on the AmmoNYC channel. He has a video on how to get smoke out of a car and I wouldn't think this would be entirely different.

Straightsix9904 > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
12/17/2013 at 22:48

Ha, I recommended almost the exact same thing. Larry has another channel called AmmoNYC, he does one on getting smoke smell out. I don't know what it is, but I love that channel.

thereisnospork > Nibbles
12/17/2013 at 22:48

www.thesaabsite.com is another good one. Also has a decent instructions for a lot of common jobs.

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > Straightsix9904
12/17/2013 at 22:50

Tons of awesome tips, that barn find Porsche was great.

Lets Just Drive > Ian Duer (320b)
12/17/2013 at 22:53

Hey Ian,

Glad you could provide moar info and pics. Here's what I suggest:

Step 1.) Throw that inner liner away and replace it if you can. Alternatively, clean it. I can't say what that splotchy stuff is because I can't tell but unless it comes up easy, don't bother. Why?

Because Step 2.) Mold, buddy. Even if you clean the fuck out your flap you won't be sure to have fixed the issue because, if I'm not mistaken, it's basically been your stink filter up to this point. Get that fixture off and clean it to hell. Bleach should work, even with aggressive mold, but if you need to you can step up to something harder, like an enzyme killer. Only thing to watch out for is you don't fuck up the piece unless, since it's cracked, you're planning on replacing it asap anyway. If there's nothing more, you're okay to move on... but here's what I fear; removing the unit you may find a whole condominium of mold behind. If so, stop and seek advice! Sadly, advice will really depend on the damage done and I'm not a Saab dude so I'd point you at someone who is.

Step 3.) If you're all good to move on will be the bigger job and that's cleaning your interior like a bitch. We're talking full soap and dry man. You want to get deep down and flush the living shit out of the living shit that's living in your shit. There are a ton of great instructional resources online when you get to this point - use 'em.

Step 4.) Pray. Why? Because some things are incurable. You ever see that episode of Seinfeld with the BO valet guy who stinks up Jerry's life? That. But probably not. Still, can't hurt to have a little God on your side.

Good luck?

PS - We now want pictures of your car.

Ian Duer (320b) > Lets Just Drive
12/17/2013 at 23:09

1) As far as the flap goes, I suppose I have little to lose by cleaning it in increasingly aggressive ways, since it will either work or need replaced.

2)I don't even know what that center reflector section is called, but the idea is to replace is as soon as I can locate one. Tried a few parts diagrams but the do crap like going 40, 41, 43, 44 in the reference table. Reminds me of the crap I went through to find out the "nose panel" was called that on my 325i.

3) I've been watching a few vids online, looks labor intensive and OCD inducing, but it is what it is. I'd love to bring this thing back to the 9/10 it could be if the smell thing and a few minor interior/exterior aesthetic issues were fixed. Except for that reflector and some "pillar tape" it's pretty decent on the outside.

4) I'll sacrifice a few Hondas to the car-gods I hear they like virgin-mobiles. (just kidding Honda fans)

Tried to get a pic of it in its natural environment (snow) but my potato refused to focus, perhaps mañana.

commander warsstar is smitten with subaru legacy outbacks (and redheads) > Ian Duer (320b)
12/17/2013 at 23:16

That rear reflector might be called a "rear garnish" That's what it's called on my Subie at least.

Lets Just Drive > Ian Duer (320b)
12/17/2013 at 23:17

I liked he natural environment; snow, bit.

Good luck and more good luck!

Ian Duer (320b) > commander warsstar is smitten with subaru legacy outbacks (and redheads)
12/17/2013 at 23:17

Can't hurt to try searching that.

orcim > Ian Duer (320b)
12/18/2013 at 04:53

Living the sub-tropics here, and had an older car closed up for a year. Definitely had the mold smell going on.

In the end, I just cleaned it (detailer level would be best) with shampoo or whatever for the fabrics. And then I dried it out. Mold can stand heat and cold, it just seems to go dormant, but it doesn't like dry.

I dunno if this is why mine doesn't smell anymore or not, but I used to park the thing, A/C on, sometimes cool, sometimes with the heater turned way up, and let it dry out. Seemed to knock that mold smell back after a month or two of regular air and drying.

Ian Duer (320b) > orcim
12/18/2013 at 09:55

One way or another I shall conquer this beast.

Slave2anMG > Ian Duer (320b)
12/19/2013 at 11:59

I had a sunroof drain tube leak in my ’02 Beetle. Satan’s Own Mildew set up shop in the car and it positively REEKED…uninhabitable and stank to the point that the mechanics at the VW dealer wouldn't open the windows when the car was in the shop as it stank up the whole place. Fortunately this was a warranty issue and over an 8 week time, VW replaced the headliner, carpet, padding, rear luggage compartment carpet, padding there, rear seat pads, door pads, back seat side padding, front seat cushions (but not backs). Car still reeked. They pulled the dash and went after the firewall padding – that was it. The water had wicked up the floor padding into the firewall padding.

The miracles of this is again it was ALL under warranty and that it all went back together, and 9 years later is still together, without rattles or busted clips. My dealer amazed me…evidently I have the one good VW dealer in the country…

So GET THE MILDEW NOW. Don't give it a chance to go all reeky.

David Hume > Ian Duer (320b)
12/19/2013 at 12:02

I'll second EEuroparts for everything not super obscure. Thesaabsite.com has TONS of parts, including the obscure such as (for example) 102-56-98-334: metric plastic retaining doodad snappy clip.

When I first got into wrenching, it was on (and remains to be on) Saabs, and I found Saabnet.com to be an incredibly informative place. Just an enormously knowledgeable community of serious DIY Saab folks. A few pros (ANDERS) for example hang out and give legit pro advice. There are some very smart and technically savvy tuning /chip hacking folks there too, in the event you get a turbo model some day.

Best of luck.

Ian Duer (320b) > David Hume
12/19/2013 at 12:22

Thanks for the info. Need to build up a new bookmarks folder. I'm actually sort of impressed with the NA model even, the factory exhaust has a 4-2-1 manifold. Though its not big on power it matched revs easily which is extremely important to me, it's one of the things that drew me to BMWs and turned me off to VWs, if the rev matching is laggy or funky on downshifts it takes some of the fun out of a manual.

I've been reading up on swapping in the 2.3t from the 9000 and that may happen a while down the road, but for now I'm focused on getting this back to the 9/10 it could be as a stock example. Then comes stuff like better shift linkage bushings for precision, braided stainless lines for pedal feel, body bracing to help the suspension do its job better etc. Once I feel that the driver interface and driving feel is up to snuff I'll worry about power. I have pants-shittingly terrifying memories of a 3rd gen f-body with a built engine and stock suspension to keep me focused on the correct order of operations.

Ian Duer (320b) > Slave2anMG
12/19/2013 at 12:26

Get rid of now is seems to be the overwhelming opinion, doing what I can with local weather. Injured myself while looking for more areas to spot treat while I source the rear reflector and wait for warm enough weather to power clean the interior. New personal record.

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David Hume > Ian Duer (320b)
12/19/2013 at 12:34

That car, a plain-Jane base NG 900 with a 2.3T would be a sleeper of all sleepers. Have you driven a 2.3T powered car? Even a stock one is impressive, even to this day.
Wish you all the best on getting this car back to where it should be. I've driven a 99 9-3 SE for a decade now and it's been a great, great car, up until Tuesday night when the head gasket went. Considering the miles and that I use it to pull a trailer and as a work truck at this point, I'm OK with (but not thrilled about) this happening.

Sort of at a crossroads now, though. I'm going to fix the HG, get the car back on the road, but at some point sooner rather than later, I'd like to upgrade. To what, I have no idea. I've been spoiled by this car - huge hatch that can carry everything , manual gearbox, turbo, good in snow, good mileage, pulls a 4x8 trailer like nothing. What else is out there that fits this? Everything I look at is a compromise from this current rig.

Ian Duer (320b) > David Hume
12/19/2013 at 12:44

Never have but I hear good things. My last "serious car" was an e36 325i sedan, would have had the wagon had it sold here. Very basic engine mods, CAI, high output coils, chiptune, mild exhaust; just to make the engine more responsive rather than looking for significant power. 235s on 17s over the factory 205s on 15s, coil overs, camber plates and front wheel spacers for increased track width in hopes of counteracting the much-lamented understeer of the factory car with some extra grip as a bonus. I prefer the tasteful sleeper thing. More fun for me with others none the wiser.

Ian Duer (320b) > commander warsstar is smitten with subaru legacy outbacks (and redheads)
12/20/2013 at 00:51

This was about as odd, finally found a site that listed it as "hatch decor panel."