What I Did To My Saab Today.

[sgould]

When you do the rears, take the plastic liners out and treat the rust. I did the rust a year later and it was a lot harder with the springs and shocks in place.

[fka]

Fitted a 314mm brake conversion to my 9-5.

Do you feel much difference with the 314mm? I thought I'd read a comment of yours, after you'd done the conversion on the last 9-5, that you didn't think it was worth the effort?

[phoenix]

Well, it's not a night and day difference, but if you can pick up the calipers and carriers cheap enough it's a lot cheaper than any other brake conversion, and it *should* fit under most 17" rims.

I'd actually bought the calipers before Xmas. Refurbished them- painted, new pistons and seals etc. Having now done a bit more reading, it seems to be a given that they won't fit under 9-5 wheels, which are ET49 whereas the 9-3 wheels are ET41.

[sgould]

Having a bad day today.

Decided that the shed was tidy enough, so I thought that I would have a go at the 9-5 passenger seat electrics. So...

Battery was charged up and reconditioned by the new charger in the car last week.  This morning it was dead. OK to get the locks open, but just the ignition relay death rattle when I tried to start the car.

So, bonnet open to look at battery. 8.5 volts.  Decided to take it out to charge it up.  And although the doors are open, the boot, with all the tools in it, defaults to locked, it seems.  Got the battery out with a small adjustable and put it on charge.  Then I got the battery from the jumpstart unit, which I had also reconditioned last week, connected it to the car and opened the boot.  Took out the tools and removed the battery tray and as I saw some rust beneath.  Also removed the fuse box.

Then it rained, so everything was put away.  10 mins later the sun came out.  I had left the tailgate ajar, but it decided to lock again.  Went through the same procedure with the spare battery, but that seems to be dead as well.

So I have what looks like two dead batteries and some rust to fix. And a locked boot with the tools in there.

Then I went to move the Carlsson, to use that battery with jump leads and that just started with the battery being very low.  That needs further investigation, either there's something wrong with the new charger/reconditioner. Or the fact that I found the boot had been open all night may have flattened it.

I have to day to sort it.  We are promised two days of rain after this.

9-5 battery is two months out of the 5 year guarantee.
Carlsson battery is 3 years old.

[fka]

Well, it's not a night and day difference, but if you can pick up the calipers and carriers cheap enough it's a lot cheaper than any other brake conversion, and it *should* fit under most 17" rims.

I'd actually bought the calipers before Xmas. Refurbished them- painted, new pistons and seals etc. Having now done a bit more reading, it seems to be a given that they won't fit under 9-5 wheels, which are ET49 whereas the 9-3 wheels are ET41.

Yup I read about that when I was looking around for refurb wheels. Hence my comment about not planning to fit bigger brakes as I could have had a set of ALU71 with ET41 but didn't like the look of them, too fussy.. Spacers don't seem to be too much of a hassle though.

Once I finally get the chance to haul a fully ladened caravan around a bit more I may change my mind on the brakes!

[fka]

Sounds like a right palava Will
Here's a freshly cleaned car to cheer you up 

[sgould]

 

Our Carlsson would probably be worth more if I plant things on it!!

The rust has been chipped off the 9-5 and coated in Bilt Hamber Hydrate 80. And while I'm in there, there are some earth points to clean up.

[phoenix]

Once I finally get the chance to haul a fully ladened caravan around a bit more I may change my mind on the brakes!

I hauled mum's caravan in 2018 on stock brakes/suspension. Very impressed how it handled. Don't forget the van has it's brakes. Every now and then I run mine at max gross train weight with an unbraked trailer...

[carrera]

Having a bad day today.

Oh dear, sorry to hear about that and missing the post.  I make a point of disabling any auto locking options and increased the speed when the tailgate locks on the green one when I was messing around at the weekend. So I suppose that's the only auto lock that I have enabled. Of course I'm nowhere near London.

I would put the battery back on the car, with the charger connected and use your tech 2 to disable all that stuff until you get the battery situation sorted.

[sgould]

Hopefully the battery will be OK in the morning. But it will be raining all day...

Normally the tailgate stays open once it's been clicked, or opened on the door button, which I did before I took the battery out. With no power, it seems to lock and then not open because the release is an electric button above the numberplate and it will have no power.

The worry is that when I gave it power from the spare battery from the jumpstart unit, it worked once, but not again.  It's showing 11.5 volts and may be dead.  It was in the jumpstarter for a long time and wasn't really used more than once every 6 months.  The new charger is supposed to have reconditioned both batteries.  We shall see tomorrow.

[carrera]

Ah, the benefits of a more modern car...... I'm not sure I am ready for a DE yet

[carrera]

How is the battery this morning ?

I would be tempted to leave it off charge and off the car to see how well it is holding its charge.

The battery on my green one is behaving unusually. No issues on the car, but while working on "fixing" the intermittent wipe I did manage to flatten it, which I realised when the radio switched off.  The battery charges up OK, but it seems that it prefers to settle at about 12.3 volts. I measured it when dropping the sump last week. 12.26 volts when removed, 12.18 volts when replaced 2 days later. I have old tech garage type chargers, so can just hook it up and start the car on the charger if necessary.

[sgould]

I haven't been out to look at the battery yet.  It's "somewhat wet" here. All the bits are in the open under plastic sheeting. There's due to be a short break in the weather soon.

The small 33Ah battery from the jumpstart pack, was removed and charged and put through the new charger "recondition" cycle.  It was 12.3v soon after being removed, but 11v the following morning.  I ran it through The charge/recondition cycle again.  It dropped to 11.9v the following morning and has now levelled out at 11.7v.  But there wasn't enough power to allow the locks to work on the remote.  It worked once, but no more. I suspect it has died.

We'll see how the car battery has got on soon...

[fka]

The new charger is supposed to have reconditioned both batteries.  We shall see tomorrow.

I've got a Halfords branded Ring charger and find it can take more than 24hours to recondition and charge especially on a 4 amp charge

[fka]

I hauled mum's caravan in 2018 on stock brakes/suspension. Very impressed how it handled. Don't forget the van has it's brakes. Every now and then I run mine at max gross train weight with an unbraked trailer...

My only experience is the hours drive back from the dealer in Sussex, empty at around 1300kg and with a ridiculously light nose weight.
It has ATC which I felt kick in a few times on some of the twistier bits and generally it felt very stable considering the lack of weight on the hitch.
Obviously the key is taking it easy and looking well ahead.
The disks and pads were all new with genuine Saab parts when I bought the car and have plenty of meat left on them. I've got no desire to start changing them yet, although my bored lockdown brain might have other ideas