Page 245 of 288

245 Car care
Changing a tire
WARNING
The car jack is designed solely for use
in changing a tire or fitting snow
chains. It must not be used to
support the car during repair work
or servicing.
Never crawl under a car that is
supported only by a jack.
Special care must be taken if the car is
on a slope - use wedge-shaped wheel
chocks!
Position chocks, one ahead and one
behind, the wheel that is diagonally
opposite to the one to be changed.
Switch on the hazard warning lights if
the car is on a road.
Apply the parking brake and leave the
car in gear (1st or reverse). Automatic
transmission: move the selector lever
to the P position.
Ensure that everybody is out of the car
before jacking it up.
Never start the engine while the car is
jacked up.
If possible, make sure the jack is
standing on a firm, level surface.
The jack should be stored correctly
under the carpeting in the trunk. If it
lies loose in the car, it could thrown
forward and cause personal injury in
the event of a crash or if the car rolls
over.
Do not use the jack on a car other than
your Saab 9-3.
Grit, salt and rust can clog the inner
threads of the wheel bolts if the car has
been driven for several years exclu-
sively with alloy wheels.
If steel wheels are being installed, the
bolt hole threads in the brake hubs
should be cleaned before the thinner
steel wheels are fitted. It may other-
wise not be possible to achieve the
correct clamping force, despite tight-
ening the wheel bolts to the correct
torque.
WARNING
Changing a tire can cause an injury. The
vehicle can slip off the jack and roll over
you or other people. You and they could
be badly injured. Find a level place to
change your tire. To help prevent the
vehicle from moving:
1 Set the parking brake firmly.
2 Put the shift lever in PARK (P) (auto-
matic transmission;
engage 1st gear (manual transmis-
sion).
3 Turn off the engine.
To be even more certain the vehicle won’t
move, you can put blocks at the front and
rear of the tire farthest away from the one
being changed. That would be the tire on
the other side of the vehicle, at the oppo-
site end.
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Page 246 of 288

246 Car careWhen the car has to be lifted, the jack must
be positioned at one of the four jacking
points (front or rear) under the sill members.
If a floor jack is used, the lifting plate must
be positioned under the normal jacking
points, see illustration. If the car is equipped
with a towbar, the jack can also be placed
under this.
1 Wind the jack up to a suitable height
before placing it under the jacking point.
Each jacking point is indicated by an
arrow on the sill (see illustration).
Make sure that the jack fully engages
the jacking point in the underside of the
sill member and that the entire foot of the
jack is steady and flat on the ground.
The jack must not stand on snow, ice or
similar.
Wind up the jack until it just begins to lift
the car.2 It is not necessary to remove the wheel
cover.
If, none the less, you wish to remove the
wheel cover, take hold of the outer edge
and pull it straight out.
Loosen the wheel bolts half a turn.
3 Wind the jack to raise the wheel clear of
the ground. Remove the wheel bolts and
lift off the wheel.4 Clean any rust or dirt from the contact
surfaces between the wheel and brake
disc. Do not wipe away the grease in the
wheel hub.
5 Add a thin layer of grease on the bolts
before fitting, see page 248. Fit the
wheel and screw in the bolts in the
sequence shown on page 248 (opposite
pairs).
Tighten the bolts enough for the bolts
and wheel to be seated correctly.
6 Lower the car and tighten the wheel
bolts to torque in sequence as shown on
the following page.
Tightening torque:
Light-alloy wheels: 80 ft.lb. (110 Nm).
Steel wheels: 80 ft.lb. (110 Nm).NOTICEApply the jack only to the jacking points
indicated on the body.
Jacking points
Marking of jacking points
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Page 247 of 288
247 Car care
7 Retighten the wheel bolts after twenty or
so miles.
Tightening torque:
Light-alloy wheels: 80 ft.lb. (110 Nm).
Steel wheels: 80 ft.lb. (110 Nm).
We advise against using wheels with large
ventilation slots in winter, as the brake com-
ponents are then more exposed to slush,
road salt and grit.
If you fit wheels of a different dimension, the
speedometer can be reprogrammed to
ensure it is as accurate as possible. Contact
a Saab dealer.Driving with tire chains, see
page 176 NOTICE
Do not overtighten the bolts using a
impact wrench: not only can this
damage the wheels but it can also
make it impossible to undo the bolts
using the wheel wrench in the car’s
toolkit.
When refitting a wheel cover, make
sure that the valve protrudes through
the marked recess in the wheel cover.
Do not wipe away the grease in the wheel
hub.
Clean any rust or dirt from the contact sur-
faces between the wheel and brake disc.
Jacking points for floor jack
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