I've just had the most stupid accident/incident in a duplex garage. I had taken out the key so normally the car should stay put shoudn't it? Well it rolled back under its own weight and dammaged its rear part when I lower the garage platform. Surely this means there's something seriously wrong with the electronics of the vehicle or did I do something wrong. The handbrake was pulled somewhat, but apparently not enough to prevent it from rolling back. All the same, the handbrake should not be relied upon to keep the car motionless. Any ideas?
Hmm, I would consider the handbrake very important to keep the car stationery when not running, or even when running but not driving anywhere and you're out of the car. Relying purely on say the parking feature of the transmission (which is a feature of auto transmissions) is not good.
If the handbrake was pulled until it was tight, the car should not roll, even on a significant grade. If it does, you need to get things checked out.
The 'parking' feature for cars with an automatic transmission replaces the ability of cars with manual transmissions to select a gear and leave the car in gear when turned off as an additional safeguard against moving. Automatic transmissions don't have they ability usually as if they're put in either a forward or reverse gear they depend on the energy coupling through the torque converter to 'feed' the transmission with energy from the engine so when the engine is off, there is no 'mechanical' connection between the road wheels and the engine itself.
On my 2001 manual one, there is some play in the drivetrain, so it could move a few inches until the slack is taken up. It could also be an adjustment problem in the lock, making it possible to take the key out without it quite being in reverse.
It's manual, construction year 2007. I suspect I was not really in reverse. But why did the key come out so easily then? I didn't pull it out by force. It didn't move a few inches in my case, it was simply loose. If it had been on the top platform (rather than on the one below, which vanishes underground when lowered) the car could have rolled over me. I'll have it checked by Saab, problem is they'll see the substantial scratches in the rear and they might not be eager to identified a real problem as they think I might sue them for the cost of putting the scratches right.
In the future I'll pull the handbrake to the hilt. Question: doesn't it wear out the handbrake in the end to pull it tight all the time? I use my car once a week, the rest of the week it would sit there with handbrake pulled tight. Thanks for the helpful feedback. I may be lucky that this happened in these circumstances and not in the street! By the way, I never had any such problem with my old 12-year old Saab (9000) whose key would never have come out in any gear but rear.
You don't have to have the car in gear to remove the key in the 9-3 Sports Saloon, unless this has changed. What does the handbook say?
Rather, they'll see you as having done something pretty stupid (didn't secure the vehicle) and are now trying to blame somebody else. That's the way I see it.
No. Check what the handbook says about using the handbrake, but essentially, it's design to hold the car when it's being parked. So it'll wear out just in the same way that the engine will wear out when it's being used to drive the car.
First things first would be to check the handbook to see what the recommended parking procedure is. It may be to leave the car in gear, or to fully engage the handbrake, maybe both. If you've carried out the procedure to the letter than there may be a mechanical issue with your 9-3. If you've missed a stage, hmm; next time you'll know.
I almost did something similar the day I replaced my Classic 9-3 with the Sports Saloon. I was used to the car always being in gear when you have the key in your pocket, thus, I'd park the car pointing nose down on our drive and walk out with the handbrake off, knowing that the engine would hold the car. Since one can take the key out of the newer shape (my '04 at least) without the car being in gear, I stopped, shut down, took the key out and caught the car starting to roll down the drive with the foot brake. So I am sympathetic - are you going to get the bodywork repaired?
It definitely sounds like something is wrong then. I don't know how the interlock is done on 2007 cars, but your dealer should certainly be able to sort it out if they can repeat the fault. Have you tried fiddling with it to make it happen again?
No, it won't wear it out as long as you only pull it on with the car at a standstill. Using it whilst moving will certainly cause some wear, so go easy on the handbrake turns...
I'll probably have the bodywork repaired since not doing so could cause the rust guarantee to become unenforceable, at least according to the manual. Not that rust is much of a problem with Saab but mine is only one-year old.
The manual require to engage the handbrake *before* pulling out the key. Don't know what that *before* means. Seems to me the handbrake is a purely manual device so pulling it when the motor is dead should have the same effect. It's a pity handbrakes don't have an "either-or" way of working, I mean a position where they surely would break the car (rather than lower or intermediate positions where all they do is slow down the car somewhat or not all like it did in my case). From now on the handbrake handle will be seen near to right-angle in my car, you can bet on that!
I would at last approach Saab on this point. They may say "your fault, no hand brake on" or they may say "OMG, we need to check on this and have the factory guy come in and take a look". Saab used to always lean towards understanding the problem and making any corrections needed and helping the consumer out - but GM seems to have tempered that quite a it.
That said, if they say it's your fault, I would not get too huffy about it.
You don't have to pull it like there's no tomorrow. A firm pull should do it. Test on some hills.
That's logical enough though. That way the car won't roll off with the steering lock engaged.
See above.
Now you're not making any sense. There are electronic handbrakes that have an on / off switch, but really, it isn't necessary. The handbrake is just like the footbrake; you use as much of it as you need.
If you don't use the button, you'll find that a given number of clicks is enough to hold the car on a hill. Might be two, might be three, might be four.
What else does the manual say about parking the car? Leave it in gear?
OK so I called the Saab dealer and he confirmed that the rear gear block is a thing of the past in new models. The ignition key can now be pulled out in any gear, including neutral. My mishap was just waiting to occur considering that I went on relying on the transmission brake like I had done for so many years with my older model.
jack snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.fr gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
What "transmission brake"?
Apart from a very few vehicles, handbrakes work on one pair of normal brakes - usually the rear.
Handbrakes on rear disks are notorious for letting cars go for a wander as the brakes cool - you pull the handbrake on, just about sufficiently to hold the car. The brakes cool, the disk shrinks slightly, the handbrake now doesn't hold the car. The car goes walkabout. With drums (and some cars which incorporate a drum into the rear disks specifically for the handbrake) as the brake cools, it shrinks slightly and holds the brake on harder, not loosens.
Just pull it on, pause, then snug it up another notch.
On the earlier manual 9-3s, there's an interlock between the ignition switch and the gear lever. You can't take the key out unless the car is in reverse. Presumably, it's in lieu of a steering lock, since the ignition switch isn't on the steering column.
The old 9-3 hatchback has drums for the handbrake. Not sure about the SS. The main problem with disk-only handbrakes wasn't self releasing (just a tiny amount of springiness in the operating mechanism will sort that out completely) but general poor effectiveness and their liability to seize. Modern ones are generally much more reliable.
Quite true. Many years ago, it was common for American vehicles to have a hand brake that was a band around a drum at the rear of the transmission output shaft. It's probably been about 50 years since that was common (unless it still exists on large trucks).
I'd noticed it, but the statement just seemed - odd - in a SAAB 'froup..
Absolutely. And very useful in mud or snow it is too.
Does the c900 have the handbrake on the back? I'd thought the 99 and subsequent developments had handbrakes on the front wheels (the 90s I've driven in Sweden did - well, putting the handbrake on a couple of notches certainly tamed wheelslip in the snow).
c900s are real SAABs, whatever.
The 9000 I have has a rear-wheel handbrake, but it's merely a FIAT. And built by GM at that. I'd not claim it to be a SAAB.
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