9-5 2.3lpt misbehaving

When my '02 9-5 Aero acted like that (check engine light on, died at stop signs), it was a faulty throttle body controller. I don't know about the cruise control -- I was in town and didn't try to engage it -- but probably the car disables it in its "limp home" mode.

I took it to the dealer and described the symptoms, and the service manager immediately diagnosed the controller. (I said "Whatzzat?" He popped the hood and pointed it out to me. I said, "Damn, that's $500." He went in and looked up the parts & labor cost and it was $506.34. *sigh*) He stuck a Tech2 on it and confirmed his diagnosis, so it's easy to verify.

BTW I'm at 77k miles right now. I should probably familiarize myself with DI cassette symptoms and replacement procedure. Any pointers?

Gary

OK that was my other guess.

4 screws and a connector. Undo the 4 screws, there's a red yoke type thing on the connector, slide that sideways which lets the plug unplug. Lift out. Change the plugs while you're in there. Line up the new one, plug in the plug & slide the red keeper back in place. 5 minute job.

Good DI failure: Your car starts to miss, throws a CEL. You have the CEL checked and it shows "misfire". You reset it but it throws it again on the way home from the test shop. You drive to the dealer the next day, and get a new DI - which is good because the car barely makes it there and back.

Bad DI failure: Your car stops while driving. You suspect a DI. After paying for a tow home, finding a ride to the dealer, and getting a new DI, all is well. You're out quite a sum of money and inconvenience.

If your DI is getting close, I would suggest purchasing one now for security. It takes all of ten minutes to change one and it can make a bad day good.

is good if you are in the USA.

Yick. $232 to have one on hand "just in case." Is it a near certainty that it will go out sooner or later?

If you get a CEL it could be many things. (I just got one for a coolant sensor.) You can't just toss in the DI any time you get one, though it would definitely be good to have if you had the "bad" DI failure.

I guess if you keep the DI in the car at all times, and you get a CEL and take it in and it turns out to be the DI, you can always tell them to use the one in the trunk...

Yes. Don't feel so bad, older DI's are over $300.

That's why I suggest getting it checked. If it's a mis-fire and it recurs, then it's likely a DI. Unfortunately, some DI's go withoutrning.

If you are in the USA, you can get the codes checked at any Autozone store. You can change your own DI - the torx driver is in the trunk. It's very easy.

Oh really!? They have Tech2's there? What do they charge?

I went to my usual service guy when I had the coolant sensor CEL. He wasn't there and his assistant charged me $50 to read the Tech2 code. Grr.

No, they have OBD2 readers. All cars sold in the USA since 1996 have a standard OBD2 interface to the computer/emmissions controls. YOu can buy an ODB2 device to read the codes for $150. Autozone will read them for free. They will also reset it for you. TechII is a much more expensive device and gives you full access to programming the Saab control systems. About $2k AFAIR..

Yeah... $50 is the going rate to run the TechII but most indies will do it for free most of the time. Some dealers will even do it for free if you are having other work done.

Well, that's what the commercial claims.

I suppose AutoZone's theory is that you'll probably buy parts from them once they tell you what the problem is.

Or at least know where the store is. It costs them maybe $100 for the reader and 10 minutes of a $15/hour (at most) employee's time.

Very cost effective marketing.

Yeah, it's smart. See if I'll go back to my Saab mechanic to read any future CEL codes!!! :-)