88 900S, code interpretation

Greetings all: I am a non mechanic, so would appreciate help in this one. Brief history, I have an 88 900S which was running great. All of a sudden, the check engine light would come on, and the car ran terribly. The light would go off, and the car ran well again. It was intermittent, but started happening more and more. My SAAB mechanic diagnosed a bad air mass meter, but after replacing it, he said that a new code showed up in the computer. The code is 12111, which has something to do with the computer itself. He tried to explain it to me, but I couldn't follow everything he was saying, except that it sounds like a major problem if the symptoms of this code number start to appear.

Could anybody tell me what this means in terms of the seriousness of the repair associated with this particuliar code. I would appreciate it!

Thanks

Art

Reply to
Art
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I can't tell you what the code means - I was unaware that you could read codes from an '88 900 ECU!

But the worst case scenario is that you need a new ECU. This isn't very expensive (~£250). Fitting it is a matter of minutes.

You haven't supplied enough info to help in diagnosing the fault. You say the car ran terribly intermittently - what do you mean exactly? In what way did it run terribly? Did it do this all the time, when first started up, when?

Reply to
Grunff

By running terribly, I meant the car would hesitate and buck violently. It wouldn't stall, but I had to put in the clutch to keep the car from shaking apart. It started to occur about 15 minutes after start up, then would run poorly for about 5 minutes, then the check engine light would go out and the car ran fairly well again. Then the whole thing would repeat itself.

After the air mass meter was replaced, the car is now running fine again, but it was the comments from the mechanic that said there is the code I mentioned lurking in the background, and it could start to show itself in the car's performance at any time (or never). So in a nutshell, if the symptoms do occur, what am I facing. Your diagnosis sounds promising if in fact the ECU replacement isn't a big deal.

Thanks for your time!!

Art

Reply to
Art

There really aren't that many components in your fuel injection system. If it's running fine after replacing the AMM, that means that the AMM was faulty. It's very unlikely that the other code means anything is wrong.

Reply to
Grunff

Guesing your in the US and have LH2.4? Chances are its the fail code for the AMM that was never cleared. If its okay with the new AMM don't worry about it.

Matt

Reply to
**-**
12111 is an o2 sensor adaptation fault - throttle open.
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the light illuminate at idle or while running? Does it run better at idle or under power? First, make sure that the idle switch is adjusted properly. Then, make sure that there is no vacuum leak. Look at hoses, fittings, etc. when it runs rough, can you tell if it is rich or lean? This would help. How old is the O2 sensor? This would not cause a bucking condition, though.

KeithG

Art wrote:

Reply to
KeithG

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