Saab 9-5 3.0 V6 TiD Review

The Saab 9-5 3.0 V6 TiD has more power than the 2.2 TiD. Good fuel economy relative to engine size. Service parts -except for the engine- are quite sensibly priced & widely available due to being shared with other GM products. World class... when running properly. Devastatingly costly when engine problems arise. Demands best quality (NOT supermarket) diesel or can run poorly. The V6 TiD demands an intensive regime of regular maintenance. Dealers don't always understand them!

Better known as the 'mad 9000 enthusiast', I have owned a huge number of SAABs over the last decade including V6 petrol variants of the 9000, NG900 and 9-5. Great times and vast mileages have been had (on the whole) and I remain a keen SAAB supporter.



The V6 diesel 6DE1 Isuzu unit in the 9-5 is a different kettle of fish and I have had mixed experiences with them. When the engine is running properly, performance is strong and economy is good but I couldn't help wonder why SAAB never offered an automatic option as Renault and Vauxhall did offer this when the engine was fitted in the Vel Satis Diesel and the Vectra respectively.

On the 6DE1 engine (tagged D308L by SAAB), Cylinder liners can be a problem but it was discovered that in nearly all cases, the root cause of the failures was engine oil level dropping too low between services. The fix was ludicrously simple - increase the oil level and change the dipstick!



Although this sounds 'Heath Robinson' - a word of caution! Over filling a diesel engine is courting disaster because diesel is heavy oil and the engine can run on the contents of the sump IF it is overfilled. If this happens, the engine will rev out of control even if the key is turned off because the fuel supply from the sump is bypassing the key. The only way to stop an engine in this nightmare scenario is to stall it in gear.



Head gasket failures on the 3.0 TiD are more common and a huge and expensive job. A SAAB gasket set is quite reasonably priced but the bolts need renewing and are not cheap but cost pales into insignificance compared to the time involved to carry out the repair.



In a four month period, I had a head gasket fail, a turbocharger let go (the Garrett GT24 is about double the cost of the GT17 fitted to 4-cyl non Aero petrol cars) before the engine seized less than 500 miles after an oil change. The replacement engine fared little better - the dual mass flywheel failed leaving a distinct vibration through the clutch pedal, so I dropped the subframe, removed the box and changed the clutch and flywheel (the parts cost just short of £800)only to find that the car drove little better, although the clutch was lovely and light. Upon investigation, it became apparent that the dual mass flywheel failure had caused the engine to run out of balance -due to the high compression and the V configuration- and the main bearings had spun in their housings (the block is alloy, remember ). NOT good! I cannot help feeling that GM dumped the engine on an unsuspecting SAAB who then let their customers do all the development work. Ironically, I'm told that engines from 2004 were stronger but note that the V6 TiD was dropped from the SAAB range just after the bulk of the problems were sorted out.



My advice when considering a V6 TiD is buy with extreme care. A good warranty is essential, as with any complex machine. Before buying check the service history and especially the modifications plate on the front n-side inner wing - there should be a healthy number of what looks like figure eights scribed in the boxes. These show that the maintenance will have covered software updates to the management system and other essential modifications (like the dipstick). Most important of all, if a clutch needs changing, the flywheel should be renewed as well.



Although the other 9-5 TiD V6 I ran was brilliant, for most people, I cannot help feeling that the 2.2TiD represents a better diesel choice (or the later 1.9TiD, £££s notwithstanding!).