Is my DI cassette going ?

What a coincidence. Today I received a panicked phone call from my significant other. It seems her car (2001 9-3) went dead in the passing lane of I-95 (the major north-south artery in the eastern US, which is generally 8 lanes wide). Luckily she was able to pull off to the shoulder. She said it happened with no warning, and that afterwards there was a little bit of smoke in the cabin, and the Check Engine light (which she described as looking like either a faucet or a submarine) was on. She said it didn't appear to be leaking any fluids. It was towed to a dealer, and it is under warranty (and they provided a loaner car- a Honda Accord, strangely). I'm betting on it being the DI, but we shall see.

John

That sounds similar to what I've heard about the DI cassette. They seem to *go* on you suddenly. I'm unsure if I'm getting a warning or the problem lies elsewhere. I can't fathom why the idle speed has now increased for example.

I dare say I'll have a tale to tell soon. :-(

Graham

If your car has a catalyst and you can smell petrol ... best to have it looked at else you might need a catalyst.

The nearest similar thing that has happened to me (twice) - same car as yours 1997 - had to do with accidentally resting my foot on the accelerator at traffic lights. When I realised, the ECU had adjusted the idling speed of the engine to 300-400 rpm. Hence it could not idle etc.

If that is the case drive it esp. at motorway speeds so it can reset itself.

The only other weird symptoms I have had were a serious misfire +stall soon after I set off from home one cold night, and another instance where all the electricals (including engine) just went off. In both instances, stopped waited for a minute and restarted the engine and all was normal.

If it helps at all. Charles

Yes, that concerned me since I'm aware raw fuel isn't going to do it any good.

Oops, hit send too early !

Yes - as I said I've had odd misbehaviour before from an ECU. Seems to be no rhyme or reason to it.

Only other factor is relatively warm temps here recently but nothing by US standards.

ES seems to be having his fair share of trouble too !

Graham

lol not for long hopefully

I don't claim to be an expert, or even very knowledgeable about Saabs, but I just went through something rather similar. Here's a list of what I would have checked, in order..

Vacuum leaks. Fuel system - pump, sending unit, evap canister/valves Does the 9000 have a timing belt or chain? Chain could have jumped.

What you describe sounds like a timing problem.

doesn't the old 9000 DI have translucent coils, so you can see if the fluid is still in them? If you find the coils in good shape, I would look elsewhere first.

For my persistent stall issue, it turned out that someone had re-installed the cam in the car and misaligned it by a tooth, which is effectively similar to a timing chain jumping.

The ECU is smart enough to compensate for driveability. In my case, each time it was reset, The stalling would go away (~100 mi), then reappear, then (~200 mi) the CE light would come on.

Good luck.

I heard from the Saab dealer today, and it was indeed the DI cassette. Furthermore, the catalytic convert was destroyed. It seems lucky that the car didn't catch fire.

All repaired under the extended warranty.

John

"John B" skrev i en meddelelse news:slrndajp7e.af1.rotten_NOSPAM snipped-for-privacy@oragam.example.com...

Uhm, why should it catch fire?

Cheers!

Maybe some unburned petrol fumes into the catalyst?

"Johannes" skrev i en meddelelse news: snipped-for-privacy@spamblock3721sizefitter.com...

It's still inside the metal-shield.

True, but the catalyst can get extra hot and could set fire to rubber hoses, road rubbish (garbage) and such like.

Saw a TV program recently. A traffic police spotted a new Alfa Romeo apparently parked on a main traffic road. The car had broken down. As he diligently investigated, smoke began from under the bonnet (hood). He immediately called fire brigade, but when they arrived the car had already burned out. Now we don't know what exactly caused it, only that no one was involved.

I recall reading a couple threads on this group about people who kept driving when one or more cylinders wasn't firing, resulting in fuel getting into the exhaust and catching fire. One possibility is that if a seal between junctions in the exhaust is not tight, fuel could leak through and ignite on the outside of the exhaust.

John

"John B1" wrote: > On Thu, 09 Jun 2005 22:24:54 +0100, Pooh Bear wrote: > > On the way into work today I noticed that the old 9000 ( 2.0 > lpt ) > > wasn't as quick off the mark as usual. > > > > Later I noticed that the engine would cut out when stopping > at > > junctions. Manual gearbox - de-clutching. > > > > On the way home although the engine started ok it > immediately stopped > > without any throttle. Applying a bit of right foot revved > the engine ok > > but it was clearly misfiring and I could smell petrol. > > > > What a coincidence. Today I received a panicked phone call > from my significant > other. It seems her car (2001 9-3) went dead in the passing > lane of I-95 (the > major north-south artery in the eastern US, which is generally > 8 lanes wide). > Luckily she was able to pull off to the shoulder. She said it > happened with no > warning, and that afterwards there was a little bit of smoke > in the cabin, and > the Check Engine light (which she described as looking like > either a faucet or > a submarine) was on. She said it didn't appear to be leaking > any fluids. It was > towed to a dealer, and it is under warranty (and they provided > a loaner car- a > Honda Accord, strangely). I'm betting on it being the DI, but > we shall see. > > John

hello everyone,

well, when my di went, it was the exact same symptoms,smoke in the cabin and a funny kind of burning smell. i?d say generally i just konks out on you you can?t really tell. however, i did notice that same smell intermitantly for months previous. when the a.a. man came round, he said it?s a common problem with saabs (and i guess vectras etc.). he described the smell down to a T. it was the same smell i had before in the cabin. so maybe if you have a sensitive nose, then you start to panic in advance.

as for the "urge" (or surge) in the car, i still get that. i had this 93 conv (2001 model) from new and it?s always done that. i thought for years it was the climate control cutting in and draining the power. i?d switch it off and all would be good, well at least i thought so. then it started to happen with the climate control off. hmmmmm..... well that?s my sixpence worth.