Messages

31

Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Securing your Saab!!

« on: 31 May 2018, 07:56:47 PM »

I know the earlier SAABs seemed to have a huge reputation for high security and I seem to recall that it was to do with the ignition key position over the gearbox. Did this actually lock the gearbox?

Irrelevant to you of course, but nevertheless interesting. Perthaps that reputation clung on?

32

Classic Saab 9-5 (MY 1998-2010) / Re: Two days in...

« on: 29 May 2018, 11:31:01 PM »

Good luck - I hope all runs smoothely from now on

33

Classic Saab 9-5 (MY 1998-2010) / Re: WATER IN INDICATOR LAMP

« on: 28 May 2018, 09:55:13 PM »

I've been working in various forms of aviation since I was a teenager. Fast jets, transport aircraft, and helicopters. I'm still bending spanners on Airbus A330s.

I can't imagine how many miles I have covered around the world as a paying passenger on holiday travels, not to mention the accumulation of miles spent travelling on Her Majesty's own flying machines. So this isn't very scary at all - its just routine stuff.
If anything is slightly scary its helicopters - many moving parts = more that can go wrong. It seldom does but you can still end up with 'concrete poisoning' if it happens.

As a side note, the last flight I did, I was on the same jet for 24 hours (obviously not flying all that time!) - that was from the Falkland Islands to Cape Verde, refuel in Cape Verde then landing in Edinburgh. Another refuel there before landing back at my base in Oxfordshire.
Needless to say I was glad to get off that jet as I had only flown down to the Falklands three days earlier! (20 hours) 

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Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: UV standard protection in 2005 vector sport windows

« on: 28 May 2018, 09:38:55 PM »

I found a few references about this - one stating that glass in general blocks UV....

UK SAABS

SAABNET

35

eBay links / SAAB Jacking tools

« on: 27 May 2018, 03:45:53 PM »

Sorry - I thought I had this in the forums before putting it on eBay, but it itsn't


I'm selling a Jack suitable for a 2006 onwards 93. The part number on this one is identical to the one that was in the car when I sold it, however the polystyrene stowage bit is different to that of the convertible (The tools and jack remain identical)

Part number of the jack = 12765778

£15 to existing members of the forums including postage.


eBay LINK

36

Classic Saab 9-5 (MY 1998-2010) / Re: 9-5 Aero Handling issues

« on: 24 May 2018, 09:54:41 PM »

A bit of Oil spillage from a top-up perhaps?

Just been making new brake pipes for my modern MG Midget these last few days - in order to change the front flexible lines (poor access) I had to remove the shocks (Armstrong Lever Arm type) and found one of the shocks was absolutely useless.
I had noticed the car was 'floaty' at the front last season and duly topped the shocks up with oil. It didnt really help a lot though.
No wonder it was 'floaty' - this one shock absorber was  just acting as a top wishbone with no damping whatsoever!

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Classic Saab 9-5 (MY 1998-2010) / Re: Warped brake disk

« on: 24 May 2018, 09:48:05 PM »

Kev if it is warped,  always replace any brake or major suspension component in pairs.

I had an instance of fitting new brake discs (to a Peugeot - the car I owned before my SAAB) and they were warped on fit! They were cheapish ones. but not regarded as real cheap and nasty.
Then I had an issue with the same car pulling after fitting new pads. In the end I just could not see what was wrong or why it was pulling so, exasperated, I switched the pads  from left to right and it pulled in the other direction - cheap and dodgy brake pads   
 
Dont buy cheap if you can help it; choose Brembo or my own preference - Pagid.
Check Halfrauds - I just bought a set of Pagid discs for my Jimny far cheaper at Halfords than anywhere else, and that was without using my trade card.

Like Sgould says there could be dirt trapped OR...  I've had it where corrosion under the disc has caused it to shake.

38

Classic Saab 9-5 (MY 1998-2010) / Re: WATER IN INDICATOR LAMP

« on: 24 May 2018, 09:35:14 PM »

Waaaay off topic now! heheh

Yes of course systems can be isolated and locked out - it's usually only a case of pulling the right circuit breakers, but that can generate more time reading up on the system finding which circuit breakers to pull. This in turn generates more paperwork because everything that is touched on the aircraft must be written into the record of maintenance - this is so that come a shift change etc those circuit breakers are reset when the final check through the paperwork is carried out.

The other issue is that quite often the circuit breakers can be miles away at the other end of a big jet and often behind more panels - more time spent finding which panels to take off; more tools needed; more paperwork needed; another set of steps needed..etc etc. Not something you want to be doing for a five minute job.
So placarding the cockpit is easier.
A placard also tells aircrew that someone is working on the aircraft.
When the crew get out to the aircraft if they find nobody is there (because the engineer has gone for a tea-break or more tools), the aircrew see no placard, so assume the aircraft is not being worked on, they could possibly reset the system themselves and start doing their stuff, then fail to put the aircraft back into the same condition they found it in (circuit breakers) - and when the techie gets back, something unexpected happens and an accident takes place.

Dropping a tool or nut/bolt/washer is a different matter, all instances must be investigated (paperwork raised) to recover the FOD.
Many times when looking for a lost washer or similar item, Ive found all manner of other items that we didnt know were there, from paint brushes to tools, sunglasses, pens, a teaspoon, and even an ancient Mars Bar.
They didnt like doing it much but on fast jets, if a lost article wasnt found, the crews were sometimes asked to do inverted flights and 'jink' around while inverted. They'd be given a little bag to put all the 'bits' into. Hopefully the lost bit would drop into the canopy, but there were many times when it never did.

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Classic Saab 9-5 (MY 1998-2010) / Re: WATER IN INDICATOR LAMP

« on: 23 May 2018, 06:40:08 AM »

If you can't get any small quantities, I can send you a bag of desiccant if you PM me, but it's unlikely to be the colour changing stuff unfortunately.
Although you can find/use those sachets of crystals found in various items they will probably be worn out or low quality. Im fairly certain there is only a finite amount of times that you can dry them out (you can do that by baking them in an oven at the lowest possible heat setting for say 30 mins. or if colour changing. they go from pink back to blue)

(The taped placard in the cockpit is normal practice and required by CAA standards particulary while engineers are working on the aircraft.
Sometimes crews come out to the 'live' aircraft to either familiarise themselves with systems or procedures without actually wanting to go flying; the last thing you need is your arms or fingers in the flying controls or flaps when some clot turns hydraulic power on. Aicraft also run very lethal voltages - so you wouldnt even want power to be turned on. Its usual to print off a 'placard' and place one in the cockpit and another at the entrance to the cockpit where you would duck to pass by it)

40

Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: Boot lid warning

« on: 23 May 2018, 06:24:40 AM »

Not had a problem since..... 

Ain't that always the way! 

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Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: Windscreen washer - no go

« on: 23 May 2018, 06:23:48 AM »

I cycle as well as drive too; I used to cycle in road competitions. But I'm never an advocate of riding in anything other than single file otherwise its asking to get knocked off.
A good blast on the air-horns usually clears the path (and gets an occasional finger but I couldnt care less about that). Anything other than single file in my books is sheer stupidity.

I also get those that think firing the windscreen wash will get the guy behind with his roof down. Clearly, their understanding of aerodynamics was learned off the back of a postage stamp 

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Classic Saab 9-5 (MY 1998-2010) / Re: WATER IN INDICATOR LAMP

« on: 22 May 2018, 12:00:56 AM »

That rubber tube  - this might sound extreme but if you had the space, you could put silica gel crystals (sometimes referred to as desiccant) into a small filter such as a small in-line fuel filter. The air expanding and contracting with temperature changes will 'breathe'  through the silica gel crystals and will eventually dry out the air inside the misted lamp provided the crystals are replaced regularly.

This was the method of keeping dual skinned cockpit glass 'DV' window panels on the Hawker Siddley 125s from misting up.
I've attached a picture - its not all that clear but (marked it with a yellow circle) it shows a short plastic tube running forward/aft with a bolt head mid-way attaching it to the top of the DV window. 
The bolt is actually hollow and acts as the tube from the glass cavity to the plastic tube containing the crystals.
At each end of the plastic tube is a gauze held on by black rubber end-caps (visible in the picture) that have holes punched in them allowing air to pass through the gauze and rubber caps, (the crystals turned pink when saturated and could either be dried out or replaced)

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Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: Boot lid warning

« on: 21 May 2018, 11:31:36 PM »

I've had microswitches wear at the point where they make contact - they're often just plastic things.
The one on my lawnmower bail-bar was a prime example. I located the microswitch and put shimming material under it. It worked for a couple more years, but eventually the switch completely failed and I had to replace it.

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Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: Windscreen washer - no go

« on: 21 May 2018, 11:25:58 PM »

The washer pumps are not great quality, very high likelihood that it has failed.

Unless mine had been changed already, I was always impressed with the power the pump kicked out - far better than the half-hearted squirt that the Suzi Jimny seems to produce 

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Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: Windscreen washer - no go

« on: 21 May 2018, 01:18:08 PM »

I'm no electrickery injuneer, but I would try to see if power is actually getting to the pump by using a small and inexpensive multimeter - I picked one up in Maplins for peanuts years ago and its been really good.
Disconnect the pump and with the multimeter see if you are getting power to the plug when the switch is operated. If you have power there then the pump has bought it.
Worth considering; we've not long ago experienced some very cold weather and a freeze inside te pump may have bu99ered it.

If you do have the pump apartand pipe assemblies apart, buy yourself some new (metric I think) o-ring seals - unbelievably the joints are complex and not simple push-on pipes as you would expect. When you assemble the o-rings smear a little silicone grease on them before assembly