What I Did To My Saab Today.

[phoenix]

I've got one of these for testing. Only have to flick the switch for a second or so to see how healthy the battery is.:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6V-12V-100Amp-Car-Van-Battery-Load-Tester-Drop-Charging-System-Analyzer-Checker/313069080827?epid=2308226882&hash=item48e45f10fb:g:jF0AAOSwcIpeqtGy

[sgould]

Well it's been a good morning so far.  I was going to go down and charge the Carlsson battery again and see what happened, but a quick check of voltage showed it was at 10.4v.  So I went straight back to Halfords.  Queued for half an hour.  And spoke to the lady at the plastic window.  "I have a dead battery which is three years old and has a 5 year guarantee".  I showed her the receipt and she said "Bring it to the exit door and I'll bring you a new one".    No testing. Just took my word for it!!

Battery is in the car and seems to be fine.


Then I went to sort out the passenger seat electric switches.  I've found the problem.  I'll see if I can fix it this afternoon.  The switches are fine, but the plastic cover is loose.  It stays on, but slides forwards and back more than it should.  When it has gone too far forward it jams and prevents the "up" working.  We shall see what needs doing.

[carrera]

So that's good news then:

Both cars working and a full set of kit & caboodle in case either of them dares to misbehave again.

I did suspect that the battery testing gear had moved on and had seen that same gear on ebay too ........ whether it is accurate who knows, perhaps, perhaps I may get one.

The seat switch problem I assume is on the Carlsson, in which case I have nothing to offer other than luck. Back to the Polo HG

[sgould]

The seat switch is on the passenger side of the 9-5 Aero.  It's a simple arrangement for the seat base.  Three switches.  Up/down front. Up/down rear, and the fore/aft switch.  The backrest has its own separate rotary switch.

The seat base switches are all under one cover which clips to the two end switches, bit locates on two rectangular pins.  The lugs sit in cruciform holes in the cover.  This means that when the cover is moved up or down at either end, it cannot slide forwards and back, and vice-versa, when the cover is slid forwards or backwards, the end switches cannot be engaged to move the seat up or down.

The problem turned out to be that when the cover had bee moved back, there was just enough play that it was still slightly engaged in the horizontal arm of the cruciform preventing the front switch from operating in the up direction.  Some gentle bevelling of the two corners involved has fixed it.

[sgould]

The other thing I did was to free up the driver's seat belt in the Carlsson.  It has started to become sluggish on return.  Lots of suggestions as to the cause, but once the pillar trim was off, it was clear that the belt was running freely into the reel, but was being slowed by something in the top loop.  I did what everyone suggests and cleaned the loop with a bit of emery.  That got some dirt out, but not a lot.  I had trouble getting the emery in the gap.  It's very tight.  That helped a bit.

Then I had a think about what else could jam things and took a closer look at the belt.  Once I had removed the fuzz along the edges with my beard trimmer, the belt became quite free!!

[carrera]

Sounds like you have had a good day. You had to get more into the seat switch on the 9-5 than I have ever had to too.

Polo HG done, sounds sweet as a nut, but road test will be tomorrow now. Back on topic, I swapped over from winter tyres to summer tyres on the green car today, so I did something to my Saab too

[sgould]

Yes, it seems to have been quite successful today.  Two cars back on the road, a couple of niggles sorted.  And the hose clips arrived, so my blowlamp it now functional.  It's on test overnight with leak detection fluid on all the joints I've made and remade.

I put the Maypole on the old 9-5 battery.  On the low setting.  After I hour is was pushing 5 amps.  After 4 hours, it was putting 17.5 A though the battery.  I took it off and left it for 30 mins and the voltage of the battery was 10.8v.  So that's ready for the scrappy when I'm allowed out again.

[carrera]

Classic reading for one cell down. I think I must have a dozen to weigh in one day 

The Polo battery was showing 12.62 volts after being disconnected for 4 days. Turned it over with plugs out to make sure the cams and bores got some oil through the galleries before firing it up. Ten seconds cranking slowly and I tested the battery.....  12.35v.  It is indeed close to death, but 10 minutes on the charger she turned over and fired up first time. 

Mine has a timer on, max 90 minutes and then it drops to a maintenance charge level. 20 minutes is generally enough for any flat battery, without having to resort to the 0v or starter charge functions.

[sgould]

Went shopping yesterday and found that the door mirrors only work in the up/down direction.  Memory button makes no difference.  It will give me something to explore once the Carlsson lights have been done and the plumbing finished, etc...

[sgould]

Changed the winter wheels for the summer ones, following the failure of the front tyre.  A brief check under the body suggests that the rear discs are close to worn out and the pads need replacing.  And the rear spring rubber supports are in dire need of replacement.

[sgould]

I got fed up with the loose battery cover that couldn't be fitted properly because the holes for the catches didn't line up properly.  The cover hooks in at the rear and has two quarter turn catches at the front.  If you locate the hooks at the back correctly the catches  can't be pushed into place unless the cover moves forwards about 6mm.  So I extended the holes forwards by filing, and then glued in some bits of plastic to stop them sliding back allowing the hooks to come out.

[carrera]

I spent a couple of hours repairing some siren units by putting new batteries in.

Based on my testing, the SID warning seems to come on when the aggregate voltage is below ~ 6.15v, a new battery is 3.25-3.3 volts.

That's 3 on the shelf, with one faulty one still to be removed and two to be fitted.

Yesterday I also fixed the xenon lights for someone where pins had broken on the front sensor and there was also damage to the loom.  A happy chappie 

[phoenix]

(yesterday) Replaced the small pulley on the aux belt of my 9-5. It had started whining badly over the last couple of journeys and I didn't want it to let go. It has made things so much quieter- what I'd thought was maybe a little bit of auto trans whine that has been lingering for a few months has disappeared.

Interestingly enough when I got it off and spun it, there wasn't any obvious sign of a problem. So much so that I wondered if I'd replaced the right part, but on start up all was quiet.

[fka]

"What someone else did o my Saab today" - Went into Joe's a few days later than planned due to parts taking longer than expected to come from Sweden. Air con now blowing nice and cold, rear ARB Powerflex bushes fit.
Asked Joe to investigate what sounded like a rattle from the front end when going over severe bumps - or as we call them in Surrey, the road!
He found both front drop links on their way out, had them in stock so put a new set on for me. Didn't get a chance to give it a good test but seemed very much improved on one of the poorer roads round my way, although I still think maybe something is clunking but it was on such a bad ridge it frankly could have been my teeth!

Also discovered in the course of chucking it round a roundabout, that the CrossClimates get really very soft when it's hot. Still very grippy but a mild amount of understeer (ok maybe quite a lot  ) on a right and then left hander and the outer edge of both front tyres is torn quite noticeably. They wouldn't last long if I always drove like a loon..

[fka]

Drove down to the south coast today and the new drop links have resolved a number of issues. Slight vagueness/twitchyness to steering at speed, slight knocking felt though the steering wheel when driving on ridged/uneven fast A roads or motorways, and rattling on the potholed back roads of Surrey - have all gone. Had a lovely day on a quiet beach and a really lovely drive there and back. Don't know why I didn't check them sooner, especially as so many people bang on about them!

There is still something rattling when I hit a particularly bad bump but it seems to be coming from the offside front and higher up. Culprits are the rubber stop on the bonnet which I adjusted recently along with the bonnet catches to get the shut line more even. Or the evap purge valve (i think it's the evap) attached to the jubilee clip clamping the MAF, which I'd refit poorly so the evap valve or it's bracket was spun round and would hit the AC pipe below it given a slight shove.