What I Did To My Saab Today.

[phoenix]

Prompted by an MOT fail (handbrake imbalance)/advisory (low rear pads), a complete rear brake replacement on the 9-5. Disc, pads, shoes. Whoever designed the shoe retaining spring arrangement should be forced to listen to Black Lace for the rest of their lives!

I'd bought what was apparently a suitable tool from Amazon, but it was too big. Everything else went really quite easily, just getting those pesky springs back on was a real pig. If you've ever tired it, I'm you'll sympathise.

The good news was I found the cause of the imbalance- the O/S return spring had corroded/fallen off so the shoes were dragging and wearing. The N/S had also snapped- I presume recently. Anyway, new ones on order and the car will stay up in the air until I get them.

Worryingly the friction material fell off the backing plate on one of the pads as I removed it, despite the fact that they were only just under the minimum 4mm at service thickness.

[carrera]

I have done two sets of handbrake shoes oer the past few months.

I have a very old screwdrive whih has a 7/8mm hex end on it, a bit like a small socket. I have used that many times to remove the springs on various models. It's all about getting some purchase on the cup to rotate while having a finget at the back to stop the pin rotating. I found you need to do the springs first.

My grey car is up in the air, one of the springs has broken, which i suspected because the handbrake didn't return to rest as quickly as it should

The rear pads are probably about 4mm, I'm in two minds whether to do them now, or wait until later, after the MOT, at which point I'll be doing the discs too as they appear to have some high points. This cause vibration on the black car

I've had two sets of pads have the material separate from the backing this year

Other work for the MOT consisted of a bit of an exhaust repair, there was a minor blow & some brake pipe cleaning & painting. The Bilt Hamber I did last year has done well, so she got an application of hammerite smooth just to top things off.

I have also started putting treatment on the inside of the McPherson strut turrets. They tend to be showing their age now, also treating the front inner wings, but that is mainly cosmetic

[carrera]

A couple of MOT's today

Grey Aero got a clean ticket

Green Aero got a couple of advisories, reversing lamp (both are working) and a bit of wear on a front disc

I'll call that a win, especially as the current MOT's expire on Saturday & Sunday 

[sgould]

Well done!

My 9-5 goes for a service and MOT in 10 days.  I don't think there will be a problem with the MOT, apart from the airbag, but there's a long list of other things that need looking at.  Mostly fiddly things that I'm avoiding these days as my fingers are getting arthritic and sore.  Cold weather doesn't help with that either.

[carrera]

I though you had sorted the airbag problem ?

Now the MOT's are over I need to try another SID repair on the grey one and a geabox oil change on the green one. It's a bit whiny when cold. This will involve removing the battery box & engine mount so that I can access the drain holes with a proper bit. I don't know how long the special tool is, but last time I did this I needed the full torque of a 1/2" drive ratchet to break the threadlock

[sgould]

The drivers airbag was replaced in the spring, and all was fine for a while.  Then in early July I got the "bing bong" when I pulled away from the ticket barrier at the Channel Tunnel as we headed for France.  The current codes show a failure in both the driver and passenger side wiring. 

Since the return from France in late July, life has got in the way, and I haven't had a chance to spend much time on the cars, apart from taking advantage of a couple of days of warmer weather to apply the underseal to the 9-5.

[phoenix]

I had an intermittent airbag problem that was due to the connector under the steering wheel airbag not always mating correctly and then working just a tiny bit loose. had to pop the airbag off every now and then and re-seat it.

Meanwhile I've just had the 9-5 back and got it though the MOT with brakes fixed. Must then get round to the list of advisories...

[carrera]

Today I finished off the gearbox oil change and attempted a ribbon repair on SID, which this time I had the soldering iron head with rubber protection to help bond the ribbon to the glass / circuit board

There's a thread on the oil change at http://www.saabtechtalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=4559.new#new

The SID repair was almost perfect, but I just couldn't get the minutes on the clock to display correctly. More practice or cleanliness clearly needed. Though the connections for the circuit board & ribbon do seem to be slightly off

One question on the SID units. There's reference in WIS to Tech II programming. Is that more about some capabilities / model differences. I have discovered that the units I have on the 2003 cars are a different part because the voltages from the steering wheel controls are diffferent s a consequence of the introduction of flappy paddles on the auto gearbox cars. I have assumed so far that the loaded software version in SID is fixed, and forward compatability will be not possible

[sgould]

Late this afternoon, I received my new antifreeze tester.  So I went out to check the anti-freeze in the 9-5.  I wanted to check it as I topped the system up with plain water in France when it boiled up, and frost is forecast this weekend.  I had expected to replace the thermostat and coolant before now, but life and family got in the way.  The work will be done next week when the car is in for the service, airbag, and MOT...

It was a simple job.  The instrument came with a pipette to remove a small amount of coolant for the tester. Then the wind blew the pipette off the top of the battery and down into the area above the washer bottle and out of sight.  So SWMBO was roused to hold the torch and we got the bumper off and managed to recover the pipette.  By the time it was refitted, it was dark.  I can't remember the last time I worked on a car in the cold and dark...

Anyway, the coolant is a bit diluted, but shows to be still OK to -10ºC which is marginal in our garden, but should be OK until next week.  We work on our garden being 4ºC below the forecast temperature.  We are 75m (250 ft) above sea level but in the bottom of a valley.

[carrera]

If you are really worried, a 60W incandescant light can provide a surprising amount of extra protection

Old School 

[sgould]

If really desperate< I have a low-rise  oil heater somewhere!    It might need a new wick and a fill of oil.  I wouldn't use it indoors though...

[sgould]

In the daylight today, I thought that is would be remiss to not check the antifreeze in the Carlsson.  It's fine.  The tester says it's good to -37ºC.

[carrera]

Good for a trip to Sweden then

[sgould]

Not sure about the Museum Festival this year. It may be a bridge or three too far.  We went  last year, but we had four people, all drivers, in the 9-5.  That isn't an option this time. If I go, I may fly.  But it will be June and probably above -37...

When we took the Carlsson four years ago, we were accosted in the street and waved down by people who had only heard of them.  There was also Isak who had built his own LHD version in Sweden from a V6 Aero XWD.

[phoenix]

Had to SORN the 9000. It's MOT lapsed a couple of months ago but I have been using is or had the time to get it re-tested. Today, prompted by the fact that tax was due next month, I decided to prep it for MOT.

Pesky thing burst the heater matrix whilst it was idling to dry out the damp  . I won't be getting that fixed before the end of the week!!