Hi!

I just bought a 1990 744 turbo, and I had a question regarding the throttle, and a possibly related one for the cruise control.

Coming from 26 years (and counting...) of Saab ownership, the throttle in my 740 turbo seems very stiff. Pressing on the gas is kind of like mashing on a football for the first bit of travel, then it seems to move with less pressure. I have no trouble maintaining pressure on the throttle on long stretches, so it's not a constant resistance.

I was wondering if this is typical of a 740 turbo, or if there may be something I should inspect/lube/change?

Oh - it's probably important to note that is is an Automatic trans. (and yes, I leave the OD on) COuld the kick-down linkage need an adjustment?

On a related note, the cruise control tends to surge rather dramatically from almost full throttle to no throttle to maintain speed, even on the slightest of grades. It appears that the same system is used on the 740 turbo as I've had on many a Saab 900. Same vacuum pump, same throttle servo.

Since the servo acts directly on the throttle "Spool" (or whatever the common name for the round thing that all the cables attach to the throttle is), I was thinking that the stiff throttle and the surging cruise were related. Is this possible?

Next question is regarding the heater blower. Is it possible to wire it backwards? It makes a lot of noise, but I get nothing out the vents. Before tearing the dash down to check the vacuum servos, I'd like to get some advice on this one.

Rear Window Defogger: Just a quick question: Does the 740 sedan use a very, very fine wire defogger in the glass? I'm used to the larger, red-brown colored stuff that's on the glass... It appears to be the factory window, and there is a switch for it, but it doesn't seem to be heating up. I'll have to check all the wires.

Oil leaks: Seems I have an oil leak (picture attacked/linked). It appears to be from the front, lower side of the valve (cam) cover gasket area. The top of the water pump has oil on it. Any place else to look? Will probably do the gasket & seal with 518 next month.

I think that's about it for now!