… and it's my brother's '98 Saab 9-3.

He did a big drive through Finland and Sweden (where he now lives, the lucky git) but he kept noticing a knocking noise somewhere at the front and vibration through the steering wheel, but only when he accelerates. He said it's doesn't knock or shake if he lifts off, and it seems to disappear if he gets over 70 mph.

Does anyone have any ideas? I thought wheel bearings or cv joints but he thinks crankcase, or something. If it was wheel bearings it would grind or knock when turning and it doesn't. :S

driveshafts possibly? gotta be something drive-train related really if it only happens whilst accelerating

Don't want to worry you unnecessarily, but the Saab 900/93 range did suffer from a problem with bulkheads cracking near to the steering rack mounting on the drivers side. I'm an MOT tester and have had to fail several of these cars because of this common problem.

Other than that check all the usual suspension joints/bushes/tyres as you would any other car. As Lew_VRS says the problem is likely to be driveshaft related if it happens under acceleration.

Cheers fellas. When he first bought the car I did a bit of research on the old 9-3 and the bulkhead did come up but I thought it was more of a problem on the older 900s and then the newer 9-3s? Anyway, I'll give him the info and I'm guessing Sweden is the best place to get a Saab fixed