Oh no, has my amp gone so soon? :o Help!!!!

[Steve McF]

Well well....have I had my first failure in 6 weeks of ownership?

Hadn't driven the 9-3 since the weekend, so thought it was time for a blast when I got home from work today. Started it up all OK, drove off, put the radio on......no sound. Thought I must have turned the volume down before I got out of the car last time, but turned the volume knob, and pressed the volume buttons on the steering wheel - nothing. Although the SiD was telling me what radio station it was that I couldn't hear!!!!! FM/AM, made no difference, there was no sound.

I pressed the CD button to play the CD I have in, and all of a sudden I could hear the sound out of what I thought was just the 3 dash speakers. I later noted that there was still sound coming out of the front door speakers, but nothing out of the parcel shelf speakers.

Also not making any sound are the indicators, (although they flash, but no tick tocking sound), and the Parrot Bluetooth kit I have installed doesn't relay the sound of a call or someone on the other end of the line.

Now, all this surely points to the amp under the front seat. Knowing that the drain tube in the plenum area was gunked up when I got the car, I'd cleaned that out quite soon after getting the car. Checking, there is no evidence I can see or feel under the passenger seat of any dampness. The pollen filter didn't look water stained from memory  (I haven't checked it for a few weeks).

Is there any troubleshooting I can do, and can these amps be fixed, or does it sound like I need a new amp?

[sgould]

My guess is that one of the optic fibre cables has fallen out of the connector some where. Possibly under the passenger seat if youmhave been poking about there.  If the optic ring is broken, all the sound should stop.

But it could be the EHU (Entertainment Head Unit) behind the aircon, or the ICM (Infotainment Control Module) which is the bit you see. Normally if the optic link goes, all sound stops.

[Steve McF]

Are there any Saab audio specialists around that could look at such a thing?

I was looking at a couple of videos on YouTube earlier where someone had similar issues, but they weren't the same, as they had no sound from the door speakers,  but I have (when playing CDs)......

[Steve McF]

UPDATE!!!!!!

Now here's a funny thing. I have not been in the Aero since Friday when the radio wouldn't work at all.

Just nipped out to the car to have another play with the controls in case something was set incorrectly. Put the ignition on, switched the radio on, and it came on - albeit on the right hand speakers only, but all three right hand speakers (dash, door, parcel shelf) were working, but nothing out of the centre dash speaker, and nothing from any of the left hand speakers.

Managed to adjust the balance, and then all speakers fired into life as if nothing had ever been wrong.......CD plays well, sounds good, and radio works well on all speakers.

What is going on? 

[Steve McF]

Well, used the car again earlier, radio, speakers and indicators all working. There were a couple of dropouts at one stage but otherwise all working ok.

Had a feel round the passenger side front and rear carpet and all seems dry. I've read online about blocked aircon drain tubes, or  door shedder behind the door casing not being sealed properly and letting rainwater run down the inside of the door and onto the carpet.

Not sure if I have these problems yet though...

[Steve McF]

Haven't used the car today but it was sat in the rain on the drive, so just checked those carpets. No sign of damp, so I turned the ignition on and.....  no radio, CD working on dash and door speakers only, and indicators silent.....

Is the rain/damp/amp-under-the-seat all a red herring?

[sgould]

If the door and centre dash speakers are working, then the underseat amp is OK, because thats the feed for those three.

The four “corner” speakers are fed from the unit (EHUj behind the air con panel.  It might be worth levering out the aircon panel. Disconnecting it. Then release the side clips on the silver audio unit, pull it out with the CD beneath and having a look to see it anything is loose.  But it’s beginning to look like a faulty EHU.

The EHU generates the indicator noise.  And if the underseat amp is working, the optic fibre ring must be OK.  There is one big plug on the back of the EHU, so it seems less likely that all four speaker connections are loose.

You don’t see the word “telephone” on the SID display on top of the dash do you? If so, that could be the problem and a sign of a badly removed telephone kit.

[Steve McF]

Hi Will,

no, have never seen the word "telephone" on the SiD. Although the parrot system in the car must have been in for quite a while and has worked very well when I have used it......

[Steve McF]

Quick update on this - since the car has been in with Hallam & Sutherns, who suggested the amp under the seat may be on it's way out, I have had no recurrence of the radio not working!!!

I wonder if they checked all connections and inadvertantly reconnected something better than it had previously been, but the issue has not happened again.

Fingers crossed........

[David]

I like it when these sort of 'repairs' happens.

[Steve McF]

Perhaps they disturbed the fault when they installed the rear parking sensor kit and accidentally fixed it? They said it only did it once while they had the car, and it hasn't done it at all since I've had the car back

[Steve McF]

Well, got in the car this morning, for the first time in a days - radio didn't come on, and parking sensors silent It hasn't done this for a few weeks, so I was surprised.

Twiddling the volume knob, I could hear some faint clicking from the dash speakers.

I moved the car, then turned it off, and went back in the house.

When I came back out to go to work a few minutes later, everything was working again!!!!

If it is a contact issue in the radio controls, can I clean them up? Or is it likely to be the amp after all?

[Steve McF]

About 5 or 6 weeks have passed, with the radio/indicator sounds working perfectly. Even last night when I used the car.

Then suddenly this morning...no radio, no indicator sound. CD working through front speakers only. Someone on another forum had said they had this on their car too, and would lock the car with the remote, and then unlock it again, and all would normally work again.

I tried this when I first got in the car, but it didn't work. So I listened to a CD through front speakers only as I drove to work, but when I got there and parked up, I tried the locking/unlocking again, and hey presto, radio working again!!!

Could there be some kind of initialisation issue with some part of the system?

[Steve McF]

Was just perusing Ebay, and thought I'd look at EHU units to see how much they are, in case this is the cause of my intermittent radio/indicator noise not working issue.

They are not that expensive, averaging around £30, but I notice there are different part numbers:
12762491
12761502
12758076
12761503

Which one would I need? Or are they all OK, but the higher number is the most recent model?

Does one need Tech2 programming if changing the EHU, and would it be better to buy a 6 CD multichanger with an EHU to swap both at the same time?

This one is even cheaper than the others I looked at:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/03-07-SAAB-93-AUDIO-RADIO-CONTROL-MDULE-AMPLIFIER-12761502/122434023671?hash=item1c81a2f0f7:g:e3IAAOSwVctY5lJV#viTabs_0

On the bottom left corner of the label, there is a number that may indicate the year of manufacture. On this one is says 286-6332-06. Am I right in thinking the 06 means 2006?

[sgould]

12758076 is replaced by 12761502

12762491 is not the right number.

But for 2006 it gets a bit funny.  It describes four different units and refers to "black and white screen" and "colour screen". Which, seeing as there's no screen on the EHU is a bit strange.

But for 2006 they list

12761502 for chassis number ***** 61099999 - ***** 66099999

12771231 for ***** 61100000 - *****66100000

12761503 for chassis number ***** 61099999 - ***** 66099999 with "Black and white Screen/Colour screen"

12771230 for chassis number ***** 61199999 - ***** 66199999 with "Black and white Screen/Colour screen"


Maybe some changes were made at the end of the run...