Multiple Saab woes, its been awhile

[Scott]

Wow, i had no idea on the DI Cassette, but this is the first car i've had one on. Makes you wonder what shipping does to them...

Soooooooo, i had my son push the convertible clutch for me while i moved the flywheel, and it appears that a certain someone didn't fully tighten the pressure plate bolts. I probably thought i did, but didn't. Some cursing and 12 mil sockets later and lo and behold, i have a clutch again. At least its fixed and can now be off my mind.

The 9-3 has been starting up and running fine, though i don't really trust it. I think it just needed a rollback ride and now is all better. The mechanic didn't even charge me, cause there was nothing to do, which was very nice of him. Now i just have to hope it either doesn't ever die, or that it dies with it being very obvious what is wrong.

Thanks all for the troubleshooting, i'll add more here if the 9-3 decides to be jealous of the convertible and quits.

Scott

[beckmannag]

...it appears that a certain someone didn't fully tighten the pressure plate bolts.
Scott

Did not see that coming. One more for the wrench chronicles.

[99Super]

On the 9-3, not sure if it applies here as this was a 9K, but last year I chased down what I thought at first was DI, then CPS, then fuel pump...
Very intermittent, but always seemed to happen at home. Very frustrating but handy I didn't need towed.

Ended up being the electrical portion of the ignition switch. $80 and 15 minutes later, the car was perfect again.

Good Luck!

John

[Scott]

I'm kind of embarrassed about the pressure plate. I thought i'd seen everything too...

The 9-3 keeps on trucking. Its just a matter of time before it strands me, but for now i've stopped worrying about it. I'll update when it dies.

Scott

[Crazyswede]

my 98 900 ran well right to the end but I started to have rust issues on shock mounts and I kept shattering front mounts. I ended up getting 9-5 and then when I didn't drive the 900 any more and it sat for a while it no longer started. In the end I stripped it of parts and got rid of it.

[99Super]

It's sad to see solid, rust free 900 in the yards around here. I think they just end up traded in, then the auction, and when no one buys, the scrapper. I'm seeing really nice 9000s coming in now, too.

John

[Geoff]

John, are you a time traveler? Watch out for Y2K!

[99Super]

That's Idaho for you. 20 years behind and falling fast!
Time is just slower here, and so is the rust...

[Scott]

So i drove the 9-3 without issue until last week, when as i expected it let me down. This time it had the burning plastic smell under the hood that seems to be a clue to the DIC being bad. One EEuroparts DIC and spark plugs (with dielectric grease) and it started up and ran around the block without issue. Still not trusting it, i was to take it into town, when it fired and immediately stalled, fired and stalled just like it did when it took a rollback ride.

I am now thinking it had a going bad DIC, but it is masking something else. All i can now think of is the fuel pump, or the CPS. In general i could never hear the pump run when it was fine, though i did confirm last round that i could hear it running.

No check engine lights, no nothing. Since it has cold startup issues, does that lean away from the CPS? Is there a way to definitively test for the fuel pump?

Oh, John mentioned part of the ignition switch? further info on that would be fun!

Any thoughts appreciated. Scott

[99Super]

As my issues were with 9000's (I've had to replace 2 switches over the years), I don't know if it translates to 9-3s. Is the 9-3 ignition switch SAAB or GM?

[Scott]

Hmmmm, good question. Per eeuroparts site, it looks like below.

[Scott]

I swear this gets weirder and weirder, but i may be on to something.

Went out to start the car and find the fuel pump relay, and for the life of me i can't find it. The relay. None of the relays under the hood are marked fuel pump. I did start the car, and it did the usual roar to life, stall, roar, stall. I can definitely hear the pump, and it sounds healthy, so i don't think its bad. Where the heck is the fuel pump relay on this 99?

I started to look at fuses, and pulled and replaced for fun the fuel pump fuse, and anything ignition related i could find. I started the car, and it idled and rev'ved but its done that before. While thinking, i thumped the fuse panel, and the car died. I really shouldn't be able to stall the car by thumping the fuse panel, so i decided to re-seat everything and replace some. The car started up again, and ran, and no more thumping of the fuses caused a stall. I have to think MAYBE something didn't have a good connection, or some oxidation on a fuse caused bad connection, something there was causing me issues.

After patting myself on the back, i started the car again, and NOW got a check engine light, Camshaft position sensor, P0340. That's new. Some googling and this car doesn't have one, but can indicate the DIC having issues? This is a new aftermarket Eeuro part. I threw the old one back in for fun, cleared the code, and it ran without issue.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, I don't trust the car, but i'll drive it around a bit and see what is what. Is the aftermarket DIC a problem? Lots of clamoring on the net that it is a problem. Any of you have experience to share on this? I'm going to run it with the old one first, and then put the new one back on. If it throws a code again, i'll return it as defective.

Thanks for any thoughts, and have a good holiday.

[Scott]

I'm officially in the twilight zone here. I've driven the car off and on to town and no issues. I drive all over the place today, multiple store runs just to get it out and about, no issues. Drove son to a friends, on the way home the familiar dying. Got to a parking lot, and confirmed i hear the fuel pump, and it runs and then dies. Found every time i leaned out of the car to listen to the pump, it dies. Realize i am pulling the wheel when i lean, and discover it dies if i turn left, but stays on if i turn right.

It sounds crazy, but i more or less got home on that principle, was kind of nerve wracking. So i've got an electrical short or gremlin somewhere, ugh. Makes me want to just shoot the car and put it out of my misery. I'm going to see if i can determine whether the power to the fuel pump cuts off when it stops the car. I can just hot wire it and move on... :)

I still don't know where the fuel pump relay is located, maybe it grounds out when i turn left, i don't know. I would like to solve this, but its getting so strange, maybe its time to let go... Dumb thing only has 160 something on it...

S

[99Super]

Sure sounds like the switch to me...
Somehow, when you pull on the column, is causing a connection to not.
Real similar to our 9K.

Now, waywaywayway back, I had a 99 (the model, not the year) that burned a pin in the 20-pin connector under the column. Took me days to find that one.

[Scott]

Out of curiosity, does the 9k have a steering wheel key or is it between the seats like 9-3 and 900?