Traction control fault message?

[sgould]

Are you sure about “097”.  The battery in our Saab’s are “096”.  The only 097 batteries I can find have square bolt-on terminals.

What is the voltage at the battery when cranking? Anything below 10v is a bad sign.  But make sure the battery is fully charged before you test it.

www.tayna.co.uk are usually cheapest for new batteries, but the last time I bought a battery, Halfords were surprisingly the cheapest for an 096 Yuasa.

[carrera]

The 027 battery is a physically shorter, consequentially slightly lower capacity version of the 096  (not 097)

I had a 2.0t 9-5 that was fitted with an 027. it now has an 096

[Steve McF]

Are you sure about “097”.  The battery in our Saab’s are “096”.  The only 097 batteries I can find have square bolt-on terminals.

What is the voltage at the battery when cranking? Anything below 10v is a bad sign.  But make sure the battery is fully charged before you test it.

www.tayna.co.uk are usually cheapest for new batteries, but the last time I bought a battery, Halfords were surprisingly the cheapest for an 096 Yuasa.

Sorry, typo on my part!!!! "096!"

The last time my battery died it happened without warning at around 8pm on a weekday night, meaning I was at the mercy of the AA man, and got charged about 120 quid for an 85 quid battery  So want to sort it early if the battery is on the way out this time.

[Audax]

I'd say 12.0V and 5 or 6 years old is getting close to replacement time, you might be able to nurse it on another year or two but personally I wouldn't risk it as it will fail at an inconvenient time and it's a consumable anyway. Also with your spurious error message it's probably the cheapest diagnostic you can start with.

[aerojon]

12v is about 20-30% charged..Ignore the searches 99.9999% of the time they're wrong when it comes to the 9-3 battery..The battery box on the MY03 onwards is the same size in all cars and fits 096 battery.. just to add the exide also https://www.tayna.co.uk/car-batteries/exide/ea770/

[Steve McF]

Well I started it up at work all ok, no message. Got onto the M40 started to accelerate, and bing bong, and what felt like a brief loss of power/limp home mode, and the Traction Control Failure warning on the dash again.

But then the car carried on, no loss of power, but with the message staying on the SiD, and the traction control light on on the cluster. I drove home without incident.

Spoke to Fraser at Bagnal Saab and so I am going to try and book it in asap.

[Steve McF]

I didn't use the car for work yesterday, but thought I'd try it again when nipping out locally in the evening. No fault lights, check OK, drove faultlessly - so thought I would chance taking it to work whilst I try and sort a new battery as the first port of call.

However, this morning it struggled to start, with the traction control fault message coming on at the same time before stalling. I did managed to start it, with the fault message coming on again and staying on, so decided against taking the car to work.

So he's sat outside the house now waiting for me to try and get another battery as the next step. Will report back when I've got a new one in the car, and see if the fault goes away.........

[Steve McF]

Just replaced the battery with a 5 year guarantee S27 Yuasa from Halfords, and changed it in the dark on the drive with just a workshop light and an LED torch (and sockets and spanners of course!).

Let's see what happens.

Not sure the battery that came out was even the right one for the car.....

[Steve McF]

Well quick test run. Started up no fault lights at all. Drove down towards the end of the road and suddenly 'Traction Control Fault' message again, and the engine cut out. It did start again though, and I carried on my way, but a little while later there was a sort of stumble, like a momentary loss of power, even though I was going at a steady speed. No warnings or fault lights though.

Came home and switched off. New battery showing 12.7V before cranking,  whereas old battery was down to 11.9V. I started the car again, and no traction control warning on SiD or light on the cluster 

So although it was time to change the battery, it looks like it is something else 

[carrera]

The battery that came out is an 075,which is a low height version of the 027, which is a short version of the 096

I guess there's something else going on

Can you read the codes ?

[Steve McF]

Sadly my code reader only seems to show engine related faults, so keeps saying no DTCs.

[sgould]

Rather than a Tech2, you could consider an "eSID3".  I bought one last June at the Saab Museum Festival.  It's been left connected almost continuously since.  It picks up codes, but it also shows live data like misfires.

https://www.esid.se

[carrera]

Another alternative is Tech2win

https://vxdiag.com/pages/gm-gds2-and-tech2win

It's a PC based emulator which uses the bit of kit that you use to access the NG 9-5 with the later GM GDS software. Get that & you get the Tech2 bit for free.

I have it running in a Win10 standalone laptop, and a VMware virtual machine

Tested it out, just for fun & it seemed to do what a proper Tech 2 would do... but you do need a bit of PC expertise to get it working

[Audax]

Rather than a Tech2, you could consider an "eSID3".  I bought one last June at the Saab Museum Festival.  It's been left connected almost continuously since.  It picks up codes, but it also shows live data like misfires.

https://www.esid.se

I love my eSID3, wish I'd got one way earlier. Although for 03-06 cars it's a different model so make sure you get the right one if you invest.

[sgould]

The most useful feature of eSID is if the engine light comes on when SWMBO is away from home. She can call me and I can tell here whether it matters or not. Usually not, and she can drive home.