What I Did To My Saab Today.

[carrera]

They just keep on going don't they.

With the help of a little TLC along the way. mechanical & corrosion prevention.

I had two Saab passes this month, plus a pre test on a family related Peugeot 108. I predicted two advisories. There were two advisories, from Kwik Fit no less, one day after the MOT expiry date 

[Audax]

New tyres this week, a complete set of Michelin Crossclimates, 235/45 R18 98Y XL for £592 fitted at Costco. I had to get these on short notice as I had got lazy with checking tread depths as ideally I should have replaced them a few months ago really as one of the fronts was borderline on getting me 3 points... At least now the weird handling issue has gone.

Other jobs I need to complete soon are put the ECU heat shield on as it's been sitting in the boot for several months, I also have a spare engine ECU from ebay which has also been sitting around for a few months. I have all the tools to take a copy of the current software and will put it on this spare and test it, I just hope it's OK but that's on me for not testing it as soon as I got it.

I also had a weird fault code the other day (P1682 ECM - Plausibility Fault between voltage feed from +15 and main relay) so need to clean up the earth points at a guess although this could be ignition switch or something else, I also have some new door speakers to fit but I want warmer weather first as I'm recovering from flu and coughing a lot.

[aerojon]

P1682 ECM - Plausibility Fault between voltage feed from +15 and main relay

If this is a T8 ecu this sometimes appears when the ecu is about to go/gone south..

[Audax]

P1682 ECM - Plausibility Fault between voltage feed from +15 and main relay

If this is a T8 ecu this sometimes appears when the ecu is about to go/gone south..

I'm aware of that, it's why I have the spare ECU sitting around although this code has been randomly appearing in the car since I got it 18 months ago with no signs of it getting worse.

[carrera]

We had some snow yesterday,more today & the forecast suggests we are going to have an extended cold period

Time to swap onto the Winter tyres / Insignia rims on the 9-5 TTiD.

All done, pressures checked, much improved grip levels, so I can tackle whatever the weather throws at me 

[carrera]

Not a huge task, but it brought a big smile to my face

My 9000 quasi Aero was looking a bit sad & forlorn, with tyres that had lost much of their air. I don't think I had run it for over a year, but having got my Combiadapter working I recently took an image of the bin file, which meant I would reunite the ECU with the car.

Fitted the ECU and checked the disconnected battery. 12.54V, that was the first smile

I then got the keys, switched the ignition on & pressed the fob to get the immobilisor off. The LED ceased flashing.

Turned the key and she immediately started as though I had only parked her up yesterday.   

After that I inflated the tyres while she warmed up to full operating temperature. She needs a run really, but a good warm up cycle will be good enough for now

[carrera]

The battery in the 9-5 TTiD decided that it didn't want to work after a period of little use & an error leaving the boot unlocked (= lights on)

After a couple of days using the jump starter in the morning I did a battery test & concluded it was never going to recover, so had to dig deep & buy another

They're big ones, an 019, longer & higher than the 110 in the petrol cars, with 900 CCA

So the Yuasa is ready for weighing in, while the Exide has replaced it, 4 year warranty, rather than the 5 on the Yuasa.

Yuasa £175 in Halfrauds, £146 on special offer while the Exide was £80, next day delivery on ebay

Reliability has returned & she starts better 

[welshwizard]

No the Saab - the horn is waiting for the better weather - but the Golf.

Mk 7 Golfs are notorious for water ingress issues.  Especially via the drainage tube in the tailgate.  Other areas of potential entry are the door cards via the speakers (although our passenger compartment is dry so that is ok) and the air vents in the rear bumper that get loose and water trickles in to form two lakes below the rear lights, need to get under car to remove two grommits for that...

So, £10 drainage tube comes from China, 4 trim panels removed plus lots of skin.  Tube replaced and trim replaced.  Lots of rain since but no new water.  Carpet cleaned and drying out.  I hope I do not have to a) remove bumper to fix the vents and b) continuously microwave the silica gel pouches.

Apparantely rear tail lights are another weak point on the cars.

[carrera]

I'm currently working on a 107, for which water ingress is a similar feature. Multiple areas of weakness, mainly via the void for the rear light connections

[Geoff1951]

I'm currently working on a 107, for which water ingress is a similar feature. ...

As is my wife's VW Up. Paddling pool in the driver side footwell.
As for the silica pouches, I leave them on a radiator in the kitchen.  They dry out better than in the microwave.

[carrera]

Looks like there's not many working on their Saabs at the moment, partly because they're working on their other cars.

Meanwhile, Will seems to be the only one with a leaking Saab. Perhaps

[ScarbSaab]

I neglected to post that over the holidays I worked on the '04 estate, thanks to the use of an empty unit at work. I stripped down the tailgate which was in a much worse state than I thought, removed/treated (as best I could) the rust on the tailgate and the arches, filled, resprayed and polished the rear quarters and tailgate. The lacquer on the doors was rubbed down and resprayed, which has hidden most of the scratches. The headlights were clouding again, so they were polished and given the UV treatment. So no bubbling paintwork or peeling lacquer at the rear. My spraying is not the best, I couldn't get it fully wet without runs and then I ran out of time. So come the spring I will try to flat it and polish it better. I've made numerous mistakes, but she looks a lot better than before.

Sadly, she does appear to have a leak onto the parcel shelf. I think it's the rear washer hose as it was really damp after I had been trying to get the jet working, and we haven't seen any more since despite torrential rain. So that's another spring job: remove the lining and fix the washer pipe!

[sgould]

I still have the "long bronchitis", so I have only checked the car on a couple of occasions.  The blue tissue I trapped around the edge of the parcel shelf has remained dry, even though there has been continual rain.  The floor was dry the first time I checked, but there was a small wet l patch on the floor the second time I looked.  I am planning to check again today as it's going to be sunny.

[sgould]

I went out in the sun and checked the car after several days of rain.  It was dry.  I'm wondering if the tailgate was not fully shut.

But I took the opportunity to go to Tesco.... and found that the handbrake had stuck on snd the wheel just dragged!!   A quick to and fro and it freed off.  It won't be going on again soon....

[carrera]

I put a battery on the grey 9-5 estate yesterday, I was a bit concerned as she had been left standing since passing her MOT.

Started first time, but there had been condensation inside so I had to go round with the Mr Sheen removing the early signs of mould

No handbrake problem, as I didn't put it on, and a few moves forwards & backwards got the brake discs cleaned of rust

These rims don't have any leakage problems