I’ve been to plenty classic car shows that had sections devoted to my favorite marques, but I have never before seen so many ancient variations on a single brand until The Vintage visited my...
One of the simplest of things to keep up on your Volvo is its maintenance. Your Volvo requires regular routine maintenance to keep it in tip top shape, running efficiently, and to maintain its peak performance. It’s often realized that bringing your car to the dealership every 7500 miles can be...
Like it or not, there will come a time that you just won’t be able to drive your car. Maybe it's because you need to put it away for the season, or that you need to take care of other projects before getting back to your toy. Nonetheless, if you need to park your car for long periods of time, you...
In the winter I’d get this endless, annoying noise from the dash whenever I drove the 2004 Saab 9-3 Arc. It didn’t come back as much when the spring season warmed it up but it would still return at times. I figured out that it was coming from the trim right about the heating controls below the...
If you car begins to exhibit strange throttle behavior, lacks throttle response, or has surging power, the likely culprit is the fuel pressure sensor. It's very common for this sensor to get gunked up around 100k miles while some of the early sensors from 2004-2007 may fail prematurely due to a...
A few weeks ago I had a rear passenger unexpectedly break off the rear roof handle as he was leaving the vehicle. We all had fun with it saying he was trying to do a chin-up on the way out but we also were all surprised it broke off to begin with. None of us have ever seen something like this...
I recently found 2 of the 3 engine cover bolts to have stripped out threads on a 2004 Saab 9-3 Arc. The bolts no longer would bite and just kept spinning indefinitely. The bolts were fine but the threads inside the holes were damaged. One popular option to repair stripped threads is to use...
This is one of those car topics that gets debated like politics or religion. This article isn’t meant to fan those flames but instead it’s to share what I’ve observed so you can make your own decisions. Most modern factory-produced cars including European cars like BMW have a knock sensor which...
Worn balljoints may introduce vibration at highway speeds, vagueness in the steering and in extreme cases clunking noises in the suspension. At the first indication of wear, or if the boots are broken, these balljoints should be replaced. Most E/C/CLK and SLK models from the mid-90’s through...
Normally this job would require the use of a special (Klann type) spring compressor, as access to the spring is limited by the design of the upper spring perch. The perch is attached to the car and not the shock. This is not a coil over design and the bracing of the spring perch prevents the use...