Recent Posts

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Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Non Saab jobs - satisfaction

« Last post by sgould on 16 May 2024, 10:18:08 PM »

I seem to have generated a non-Saab job today.  While using my 50 year old Black & Decker Workmate today, it started to fall apart.  The wooden top pieces are attached with bolts that are just screwed into the wood.  The threads no longer grip, so when you try to use the top as a clamp they just ride up.   It will also allow me to put one of the boards on the right way around.  I must have got it back to front when I serviced it some years ago :roll:

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Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Qashqai battery woes?

« Last post by carrera on 16 May 2024, 12:22:33 PM »

I'm intrigued to know how anyone could know it had been as low as 5.5v, unless that is what it read when the AA man arrived

A fully charged battery should be 12.7 volts (disconnected, as especially on modern cars, without a proper ignition switch, circuits can become live from just opening the doors)

A "flat" battery is ~ 12.1 volts, but as I have found, the NG starts fine when the battery shows an indicated 12.15v. It's those live circuits

I have replaced the battery on the TTiD. Voltage seemed fine, but the cold cranking amp test showed it was on the weak side. The car now starts better & I have another emergency battery that is too good to weigh in, but not really reliable enough for going away on long journeys with

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Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Qashqai battery woes?

« Last post by sgould on 16 May 2024, 09:32:43 AM »

The first thing I would do is disconnect the battery and leave it for a few minutes.  This should reset the car electronics and hopefully remove any glitches.

Also read the manual/check online to find the exact meaning of the warning light.  It might be something to do with a low battery in the remote, but could be anything.

If you have a multimeter check the battery voltage.  You should see something approaching 14v on charge and a bit over 12v when standing.  I have had two batteries due recently and they were around 10v which is a clue to one cell failing.

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Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Non Saab jobs - satisfaction

« Last post by Steve McF on 16 May 2024, 12:33:02 AM »

Yeah the mechanic collected the car, and brought it back at the end of the day.

Went out with my son in the car this evening for a blast down tbe M40 to Banbury and back. This car never ceases to amaze me. Considering it has 154k on the clock, and we have had the interior in pieces, and the tyres flatspotting in the garage since January, it has emerged triumphant, and feels surprisingly spritely, solid and comfortable..

It also seems to have less rust than my Aero. Only that horrendous lacquer peel on the front bumper lets it down. And I'm going to sort that anyway

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Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Qashqai battery woes?

« Last post by Steve McF on 16 May 2024, 12:23:13 AM »

The Missus inadvertantly left the key in the ignition at work at lunchtime with the radio on (and maybe the aircon fans) on our 2012 1.6 petrol Qashqai +2. When she came out at 4pm the car wouldn't start.

We tried to jumpstart it with two other cars, but it wasn't having any of it. In the end I called the AA who were out in about 40 minutes. Put his booster pack on, and the car fired up no problem. It had been as low as 5.5V but very quickly recovered to about 12V. However he said the battery health was showing as zero, which he couldn't explain, other than to advise we may need a new battery.

Now I wouldn't expect one drain over a handful of hours to kill the battery, that is maybe only 2 or 3 years old, but I did around a 30 mile loop on fast A roads, and got home to put the battery on charge for a bit.

The car started perfectly OK 2 or 3 times before I put it on the charger and left it for a few hours.

When I took the car off charge and locked it, I noticed a light flashing on the dash - a car symbol with a key in it, which I gather is to do with the immobiliser.

The car still opens and starts and runs, but this light seems to keep flashing once the car is locked.

So have I got an immobiliser issue, or a battery issue, or both, and has one led to the other?

Is there anything I can do to reset this immobiliser light?

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Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: 93 V6 fuel pressure release.

« Last post by sgould on 15 May 2024, 11:33:34 PM »

Alas, after two days, the light is on again.

No time to try any other options at the moment.  Busy tomorrow, then away for the weekend followed by a funeral in Leicester on Monday. Then to the garage on Tuesday for the MOT on Wed, followed by a fix there on the 9-5 on Thursday. family come to us the next weekend for Bank Holiday.  Then just a quick week before the trip to the Saab Museum Festival... and she still needs to use the car in the odd gaps in my schedule!!

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Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Non Saab jobs - satisfaction

« Last post by carrera on 15 May 2024, 08:24:18 PM »

Excellent news & well done - I assume the MOT place collected & returned it for you, avoiding insurance complications

On using Vauxhall dealers, one was helpful, but needed a reg number for a part when I didn't have the number to hand, still very covid with no parts counter & card only.

So I went to another one who treated me like a trade account, even gave me a trade supplier phone number. Guess which one I won't be going back to in a rush.

Airbox intake id £60 from Vauxhall, who have none, no backorder delivery time either, £82 from Saabits. I'll be checking Insignia scrappers again...
 

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Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Non Saab jobs - satisfaction

« Last post by TomPaine on 15 May 2024, 08:18:23 PM »

Respect due!

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Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Non Saab jobs - satisfaction

« Last post by Steve McF on 15 May 2024, 12:25:23 PM »

Main Stealers can be quite uncooperative can't they... anyway, how did the MOT go ?

Drum roll.....

Well....guess what??!!!

The car was taken away before 7am yesterday, and every time I messaged my son to see if he'd heard anything, there was no news Until I was on my way home from work, and the Missus said the car had just been dropped back home around 4.30ish, and had passed!!!!! I was eager to get home and see that list of advisories.....but, again, guess what? There were none!!! That is 4 clean MOTs this car has had!!! 

So remaining jobs are to get that rear parking sensor kit fitted, and to get that paint from Paintstore and sort out the front bumper now that I have rubbed down all the lacquer peel!!! Oh and we think the battery is on its way out, so he may go and get a new one.

My son immediately got it taxed and insured last night - he even got a much lower premium than he had previously been quoted (maybe because he had just turned 18 - he was quoted around £2800 - £3000 before, but got a premium of around £2000 in the end!!!

He'll be out and about cruising round in it today no doubt!!!! 

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Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Non Saab jobs - satisfaction

« Last post by sgould on 15 May 2024, 08:53:38 AM »

There was a time when some Vauxhall dealers would only supply parts against a model/VIN number.  If you asked by part number they would refuse to sell in case you were going to install it on a Saab.  The same part was probably twice the price, or more, from a Saab dealer.