The reverse lights don't work and when indicating to the left, the brake lights flicker in sync with the indicator.
Is this a common electrical problem with the 900i? I have a 1985 model. The fuses all seem fine. Any hints where to start looking would be most helpful.
Cheers, Rob
Check the grounds back by the taillights, this is a reasonably common problem with just about any type of car as it gets older.
The very thing I would be checking is the earth connection for left-side read light cluster. When I first started driving my C900 (1982/83 900S) it exhibited what seemed like crazy behaviour of indicators, etc. and I was pointed to the earth issue.
Sure enough, the earth contact on both rear light clusters where the wiring harness connects was very badly pitted and the plastic significantly deformed indicating that the contacts had, over time with continual high-current flow, become high-resistance.
I removed both rear cluster panels (the plastic clip-in piece which holds the lamps), drilled new holes through the plastic and the steel forming the earth connection for each cluster back to the harness connector (after working out which piece of pressed steel formed the earth for the lamps), and ran seperate new wires from lugs bolted directly onto the holes I'd drilled in the cluster panels (secured with appropriately-sized stainless-steel fasteners) to the two rear earth points which are at the rear-most point of the central steel chassis bar which holds the middle of the plywood cover in place over the spare wheel bay.
At the same time as doing this, I removed the self-tapping screws securing the earth wires to the chassis, fully cleaned the holes and the surrounding metal to make sure it was clear of paint, rust, and any oil, etc. along with re-making the crimp lug connections onto the earth wires terminating under those screws, and re-assembled the earth points so they were fully clean and all the lugs (including the new lugs for the new earth wires coming from the rear light cluster panels) made reliable connections to the chassis.
There is a site on the net about doing this, but it's very sparse on actual details. Once I get a digital camera I plan to take details pics of what I did and fully-document it online at my personal Saab C900 page.
Once the earth connections on the chassis under the spare wheel cover and the new earth wires to the rear light cluster panels were all in place, the lights all worked properly.
I haven't heard of anyone's car actually catching on fire because of heat generated from poor earth connections in the harness connectors on the rear light cluster panels, but it's certainly a possibility, not to mention a pain in the butt because of the erratic behavior of the brake lights, turn signal indicators, etc.
Regards,
Craig.
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