Saab 9-5 fuel tank sloshing/thunking
This topic has been created to provide a forum for
the many individuals who have posted over 200
comments in the Sedan-Saab 9-5 section on a saab
design defect which is not represented to new car
buyers. The thunk occurs when the fuel tank is 1/2
to 3/4 full and can be loud. Sometimes it feels
as if the vehicle was hit from behind.
I hope this forum serves to remove the fuel tank
issue from the Sedan topic list, and it also serves
to inform new customers of a prospective purchase
problem (they can then ask questions to the dealer
before they purchase the vehicle).
the many individuals who have posted over 200
comments in the Sedan-Saab 9-5 section on a saab
design defect which is not represented to new car
buyers. The thunk occurs when the fuel tank is 1/2
to 3/4 full and can be loud. Sometimes it feels
as if the vehicle was hit from behind.
I hope this forum serves to remove the fuel tank
issue from the Sedan topic list, and it also serves
to inform new customers of a prospective purchase
problem (they can then ask questions to the dealer
before they purchase the vehicle).
Tagged:
0
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
information about the fuel tank problem:
1) Try to get saab to fix this so-called
"laughable" fuel tank problem for its existing
customers who care. That probabably means
redesigning the fuel tank and offering a
replacement tank to those that want one, or finding
a less costly fix. (If certain customers do not
care, that's fine--less worry for saab). Saab
should be doing this anyway for the 2001 models.
2) Make sure that new customers do not purchase a
new 9-5 without the knowledge of the fuel tank
problem. If they like the car and do not care
about the fuel tank problem, then there is not a
problem for these customers, so why should saab
care if they know about it. Unfortunately, if new
customers find out after the fact, and they happen
to be very bothered by it, subjectively speaking,
that is a problem that saab has to
address. I would guess that about 100 prospective
owners of a 9-5 visit this site every day for
information. That's about 36,500 a year.
As I stated above, if you object to wanting to
allow new customers to make a more informed choice
and a "fair" choice, I would certainly like to hear your opinion. I personally think that addressing my second point will force saab to address my first point. In the end, all of us are hopefully better off, and maybe we can sit around and talk about the nice features in the 9-5, compared to the competition, in the future.
I agree that my approach is not always fun to hear
for many, just as the fuel tank thunking noise is
not fun to me and others, but I think that saab is
already getting the point in many ways. The 9-5
leases are being more subsidized than any other
competitor's leases right now for a reason, and its
not to create a "new" market for a car that has
already been on the market for two and a half
years.
If I don't get a good explanation this topic will be frozen and I will ask you to start this discussion over in Sedans where I think it belongs.
Thanks. Your host, Bruce
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
FWIW, there is an easy fix to this, just put some sponges made from a gasoline resistant material in the tank. Not too many....maybe 5-10% of the total volume.
Regards,
Ertadc/Saabber
It can stay here.....
Your host, Bruce
It definitely worked
How long did your car have to sit with saab? A week, two weeks? What did they do?
I am suspicious that no one has ever mentioned that they had the fix on the other site that had 200 posts, but now someone "anonymously" comes forth to claim that they had this procedure done.
Actually (in remembering), someone on the other site (who was not anonymous) stated that they had the fuel tank reduction/fix done, and it did not work, but they still lost the 3 gallons of fuel capacity. To be honest, I dont know whether they too were just making up the story to make saab look bad.
Please feel free to add more information on your "fix" of the problem, and your willingness to let saab take a total of 4 gallons (with the initial change in the fuel tank) from your fuel capacity to make the fix. That's 100 miles of driving range, compared to the 1999 models.
Maybe the poster will come back and answer your questions, but please understand that he or she did not make the post "anonymous" on purpose.
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
In the end, each new customer should ask questions to their dealer before making a purchase decision. If the dealer waives off your problem, or gives you an uninformed answer to try to make you drop the issue, pry further.
Saab does not want everyone to know about this problem, because, at the very least, it will affect the resale value of the vehicle to a customer several years from now that doesn't want to buy a "thunker."
Be careful in making your purchase decisions, and good luck to all.
Does the 9-3 experience the same issue?
Thnaks in advance
I have heard Saab stating that they were going to try to fix the fuel tank problem for the 2001 9-5 models, but don't count on it. Right now, they can't even figure out what to do with the current models, and they blame the changes on the U.S. government which made them address emissions issues. All the other manufacturer got it right, except saab.
I am glad one more shopper was not deceived into buying the car and then getting the "thunk" noise upon braking every time when the gas tank is between 1/2 and 3/4 full. I now use the thunking noise to keep track of how full my gas tank is.
As stated before, ask questions to your dealer, and don't settle for evasive answers. Ask to test drive the vehicle with the gas tank a little less than 3/4 full so you can see the problem yourself. Once you drive the car home, its too late if the Thunking annoys you all of the time. It should be noted that this problem does not affect cars manufactured in early 1999 before the fuel tank changes were made.
Hope the information is helpful, and I hope Saab "volunteers" to fix the problem before it sees its 9-5 sales plummet further (which explains why it is so aggressive in leasing the 9-5 just to get the cars on the road).
Regards to all.
Second, the problem only arises when the tank is 1/2 to 3/4 full. Some have reported on the "sedan" site (other than me) that it feels as if someone has hit you from behind. My tank feels that way sometimes in certain braking situations, and in other situations, the thunk is less distinct. Sometimes, I cannot hear the thunk at all if the radio is blasting. Depending upon your driving and braking style, you may improve or worsen the situation.
Third, the design change already took out a gallon of capacity. Saab merely changed the sales brochures to reflect the one gallon loss, so yes, you did get the published fuel capacity which is one gallon less than some 99 models. If you try saab's so-called fix to the problem, which means putting foam in the tank, you will lose another 2-3 gallons capacity (you will lose your car for up to a week), and there is no guarantee that the fix will work.
Saab has openly acknowledged the problem, and has published the technical bulletin with the inadequate fix to the saab service technicians, so you are lucky if you don't notice the issue.
For any new buyers, test drive the vehicle with the fuel tank in the "affected" zone. As a side, ask your saab dealer to put the tires at the normal 33-35 psi instead of covering up the rough suspension by deflating the tires to 28psi for test drives.
Good luck to all.
The thunking is very noticeable without the radio on in certain braking situations. It literally feels like someone hit you from behind. The first few times I was stunned. Now that I am more use to the thunking, it is just a mild annoyance. Some have stated that they have never felt the thunking, others have stated that it really annoys them. If I had another chance to lease another car, the thunking would have gone into the leasing equation, and I might have leased another car which is more quiet. I certainly would not buy a 9-5 (as opposed to a lease) under any circumstances--this is for other reliability concerns as well such as reports of the car stalling while traveling at 40 mph for no apparent reason. With the subsidized leases from saab howeever, leasing is a viable option if the thunking/sloshing does not bother you. This all of course is just my opinion.
I thought the foam in the tank was a fuel-permeable foam, so did not reduce fuel tank capacity by even close to three gallons.
dave
I hope new customers are aware that there are several here with personal and possibly corporate agendas who may not want new customers to have free information about a $35-40k purchase. This site is here to improve discussion and debate. Customers should take this information and make their own decisions after asking educated questions to their dealer. We have aleady heard on the Sedan site that some dealers lie about this issue even though there is a Saab technical bulletin on point. Those are hopefully the dealers you want to stay away from. Hope this helpful for all.
Airplanes do this, so maybe they could bum some of the foam off of their airplane division.
dave
You might find this page very useful.
http://www.defect.com/biblio.htm
dave
fuel tank is 1/2 to 3/4 full. The Thunk feels as
if somebody hit you from behind. The sloshing is a
constant nagging issue. Saab blames the problem
on changes it had to make to comply with U.S.
emissions issues, and it refused to fix the problem
in a satisfactory way. Instead, it has offered a
fix which puts foam into the gas tank and removes
2-3 gallons of capacity (they already took out a
gallon capacity in making the original change). It
is clear that Saab does not want new customers to
find out about the problem, because they will not
purchase the vehicle. At the same time, saab will
not fix the problem because they are already losing
a lot of money as a company, and cannot afford to
deal with customer support issues.
As stated before, ask questions to your dealer,
and don't settle for evasive answers. Ask to test
drive the vehicle with the gas tank a little less
than 3/4 full so you can see the problem yourself.
Once you drive the car home, its too late if the
Thunking annoys you all of the time. It should be
noted that this problem does not affect cars
manufactured in early 1999 before the fuel tank
changes were made.
Hope the information is helpful, and I hope Saab
"volunteers" to fix the problem before it sees its
9-5 sales plummet further (which explains why it is
so aggressive in leasing the 9-5 just to get the
cars on the road).
Regards to all.
To those that do not have the noise, that's great. To those that may work for saab and may post here to cover up the issue (as it appears that we seem to have 80% of all service technicians denying the problem, even though their own confidential saab service bulletin confirms the problem and describes it as something rolling around in the trunk), that is deceitful. I have to assume that out of all of these posts, there are many saab salesman and technicians hopping on to the internet during a slow day.
For those that have reported the problem, I commend you for standing up to saab to make them fix the problem with a new tank design.
For prospective customers, ask questions, test drive the car, and if the dealer denies what is in a confidential bulletin, go to another dealer, and tell the first dealer why. By the way, ask the dealer to inflate the tires to 35psi in the test drive (instead of the 28psi to hide suspension issues) so you can really feel the car's handling.
As for ECU issues, I can state that I have personally felt bucking several times. Others have reported random stalling. On saabnet, someone posted a message called "is there anyone out there who does not have an ECU issue?" There were a few that said yes to be fair.
Hope this is helpful. Take the information for what it's worth and compare it to those stating other things to make up your own mind.
The rest is just a personal decision. I would test drive the vehicle with 35 psi and try to have the vehicle with almost 3/4 tank full to see the thunking noise for yourself. As you have probably seen from the Sedan site, many of us (especially those that actually own/lease these cars) have had a lot of other issues, and as long as you go into your decision having free and accurate information and are able to weigh this information for yourself against the price, I think you will be able to make a sound and informed decision either way.
Good luck in your decision.
Town Hall is for DISCUSSIONS, not repeated public declarations of the same information over and over. If you really feel it is your public duty, take out an ad in the New York Times.....
Your host, Bruce