New to saab, sucks so far.

Hopefully it's just an alternator issue. I replaced the battery a few days ago, thinking that was the problem, and this morning it sloooowly died as I drove up the road. Thank god it's a stick. I think I have the only saab in my county, can't find an alternator anywhere. I'm only hoping it's not some weird wiring problem. ~GJ~

Reply to
Gemini Jackson
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Erm, OK.

Reply to
Grunff

Because of course, Saab is the only car that uses alternators. Are you just here to complain, or did you actually want information and/or help? If the latter, how about giving us a year & model, and what country you're in for starters?

Reply to
Dave Hinz

I'm here to complain of course. Actually, I am wondering if there's any 'common knowledge' of any discrepancies or 'quirks' that are associated with this car, which by the way is 97 900se. Basically a very nice car, but I've found myself on the side of the road three times now and only had it 3 weeks. I thought it was a battery problem but apparently not. I'm in the sticks in N GA and the closest saab dealership is about 2 hours away and an alternator with them is $428.48. I didn't know an alternator could cost so much.... Sooo I called the place I bought it and they turned me on to the place that does work on their cars and I can have it rebuild for about $35-$80, if I can have it there in a few hours. Being new to the wonderful world of saab, I have no experience working on them, but it appears the alt must be removed from the bottom, and I bet it's metric wrenches, of which I have none. So do I want information? Sure, if yourself or anyone has experience and can kindly give me a few pointers as to removing it (tricks of the trade, etc.), it would be greatly appreciated. If not, I'll probably have it out in an hour or

2 anyway. One way or the other.

~GJ~

Reply to
Gemini Jackson

Odd way to ask for help...

If you're having alternator problems, you _are_ having battery problems. On what information have you decided it's the alternator? I mean, before someone posts a procedure for you, why not make sure you're replacing the right part?

Dave Hinz

Reply to
Dave Hinz

If they are not able to rebuild the alternator, you can buy one at

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for $180. Saab dealer is rarely the best place to buy parts for aging cars.

And no, I have no connections to Europarts other than that I have purchased a part of two from them, and always got good stuff.

BR:Z

Reply to
Zon

Well, you have to read the whole thing. And I clearly said I was here to complain :-) But I would think a Saab newsgroup would be a good source of a 'defects' list (if one exists) for this particular make. And not just because I'm having an alternator problem. And yes, I googled.

Like every other type of car, I've heard extreme cases for them from both sides. Some have told me they're the best cars ever made, other say they have had nothing but problems. I assume the truth is in the middle, like everything else.

I've replaced the battery. Nothing 'seems' to be on or shorting out. Regulator or brushes seem to be the next obvious problem. Or no?

One thing I do know: this alternator is a bitch to get out.

~GJ~

Reply to
Gemini Jackson

The place I bought it said they could replace the brushes and regulator. Would there be a reason they can't?

~GJ~

Reply to
Gemini Jackson

Yeah, I did. Didn't see much content, just a whine based on a guess.

As measured how? I don't have a "seems" setting on my VOM. Replacing the battery before taking care of whatever is draining it might be a really bad idea, because now the new one might get damaged.

On what basis are you making this statement? Have you checked, for instance, to make sure that nothing is draining the battery while you're _not_ driving it? What current is being drawn by the car when everything is off? Once you've ruled out phantom loads, _then_ start suspecting the charging system.

Even if you're nowhere near a Saab dealer, any electrical automotive shop will be able to diagnose a charging system problem down to the specific component. And, depending on what the problem is, the fix could be as simple as replacing the voltage regulator or rectifiers, neither of which involves pulling the alternator at all.

In other words, you're complaining about how hard it is to do something, which may not be the necessary or even correct thing to do at this point. But, if you just want to complain, by all means go ahead.

Reply to
Dave Hinz

If you look back through this NG, I think you'll agree that it has a lot of competent, sharing participants. I've learned that when asking, one needs to be quite specific, but then an answer or two with a probable fault cause will show upfairly quickly. These guys care.

As for the cause of your problem, I'd like to offer a wild guess based on experience with a '84 C900. I had intermittent charging problems, and tore out a bit of hair locating the reason, as all voltages looked fine. Then I connected the ground lead of my voltmeter to chassis ground instead of alternator ground. Interesting.... Tightened the bolt holding the alternator adjustment bracket, and voila...

Dunno if you shiny new '97 looks anywhere near the same under the hood/bonnet, but anyway :)

Welcome in the ranks of SAAB fans - and no, SAABS aren't for anyone...

regards Per '95 9000CSE 2.3LPT

Reply to
Per Laursen

Well, no, but the problem may not be in the brushes or the regulator. If it is something as simple as brushes or regulator, anyone with two hands can do it. However, usually 'rebuilding' an alternator is more than simple brush or regulator change. If you get an alternator rebuilt, you typically get also new bearings and brush contacts. Can they do that?

BR:Z

Reply to
Zon

Sadly it isn't - it's pretty different, in fact it's almost the same as a 9000. And you know what that looks like ;-)

Reply to
Grunff

You're just throwing parts at it, but if that's the way you want to do it, you'll get it eventually.

If you ask nicely around here, maybe even say "please" and "thanks" some of us will help you out. That said, you should order a Haynes Repair manual from

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Buy yourself some metric sockets and some good torx bits. Since you are in a hurry, I'll help you out. Remove the inner fender liner on the passenger side. Release the tension on the serpentine belt by putting a 1/2" socket wrench in the adjustment pulley mechanism (top of motor) and pulling it. Put something in there to hold it in place with the tension released. Undo the alternator bolts, note which wires go where, remove. It's not that bad a job.

While you are toying in there, replace the serpentine belt. Also replace the upper idler pulley. It's the one that in on the lever you moved to loosen the belt. They only last 50K miles and if they break, you stop. Unless you know they've been replaced, replace them now.

As to a "defects" list - you can get a list of TSB's. The only alternator problem is a bearing issue. Sometimes they get noisy. Other than that, they don't have any known issues.

Bob

Reply to
Bob

_then_ I know why he seems to feel that

1) everything goes out the bottom - or - items a-y have to be removed to repalce item z 2) it'll take forever....

Just replacing the thermostat took me 2+ hours...

-- Per

Reply to
Per Laursen

Since my 1993 Saab 9000 is absolutely fine, I can only tell the alternator story about my FIAT Croma. As others have said, I don't think you can blame the car for the alternator, they come in Bosch and Lucas and maybe others. Even same car production line might fit Bosch, then run out of stock and fit Lucas the next day.

Well I was a poor student, so I picked a refurbished replacement alternator for my Croma. In the way home from a holiday in france, the engine became very hot from pulling the alternator around! Eventually, the drive belt was torn to screeds and the engine was free - what a marvelous engine it suddenly became. However, battery power was not likely to take me very far, especially for the evening when you need the headlights. Luckily I had break down insurance. It was sunday afternoon, I drove around with the french recovery service at strange alleys until he eventually locked himself into a depot and picked up an alternator, presumably for a Renault, but that was all he could find. Back to the workshop. The alternator didn't fit, the drive wheel didn't stick out long enough. But the ingenious mechanics, working overtime sunday afternoon, made up an extension and all was well. This alternator kept working for years afterwards.

Reply to
Johannes H Andersen

Many thanks indeed. I found a place about 25 miles from here that can do it for slightly under $500. To me, that is a tremendous amount for an alternator replacement. Your instructions sound good, I got to the 'Undo the alternator bolts' part and could not figure it out. This place can't get to it until next tuesday, so I have until then to figure it out, starting with finding a manual. Are you 'cybertroll Bob'?

~GJ~

Reply to
Gemini Jackson

Replacing the alternator at this point is premature, for reasons several of us have tried to educate you on.

Reply to
Dave Hinz

And many thanks for that. However I have not shared the additional battery testing, ground checking, throwing a meter on everything, disconnecting battery while running, cleaning connections, etc that I've done in trying (with my limited knowledge) to determine the problem. Brought my bro-in-law (mercedes mechanic) over to help, he thought it was probably the alternator too. It looks like the alternator to me. ...so you may still be right, but it's not exactly correct to call it 'premature'. And seriously, by all means, share any thoughts or suggestions. Taking it in for a professional diagnosis is a last resort. I am more than open to anything I haven't tried.

~GJ~

Reply to
Gemini Jackson

I would not consider a 1997 an "aging car", at least when one is still driving a 1982.

1982 245 turbo 1990 900S
Reply to
ma_twain

You're right, you haven't. Please go read this article, it'll help you to communicate more effectively in this sort of a forum. It's more directed to software develepment types, but the communication hints apply no matter what the topic is:

"How to ask questions the smart way" -

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Among other things, gives examples of what does, and doesn't work. Hopefully you'll read it instead of taking this suggestion as a slam of some sort.

Is the voltage regulator built into this alternator? Do you know the regulator isn't the problem? If it's the problem, even if it's in the alternator, it can be replaced separately without having to go through the hassle of removing the alternator.

Well, replacing the alternator might very well take care of the problem, because the problem could be the rectifiers _in_ the alternator, or the voltage regulator which I think is _in_ the alternator, but those parts could be replaced by themselves for much, much less expense and hassle than the whole unit. It's not quite as bad as replacing the whole engine because the spark plugs are bad, but it's about the same thing.

Reply to
Dave Hinz

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