further question on Direct Ignition (DI cassette) failure

I followed with interest the recent thread about DI failure, having had to spend around $600 to have one replaced yesterday on my 97 9000 Aero. I'm trying to understand if I did something to cause it to fail.

About a week ago, my battery died, after the headlights were on for about 30 minutes without the engine running. Foolish of me. But I jump started it and then used my trickle charger overnight and all seemed fine the next day. About a week later, after the car started and ran normally, I went to start it again after a couple hours. Good cranking but no start. I kept trying but eventually the battery ran down. I popped the hood and got a strong smell of burning plastic. Had it towed to the shop where they said my battery, although it took a charge, would still not pass a load test. So new battery. They also said the DI had fried and that was what I smelled. I'd replaced the plugs (yes, the NGK's) in early September but he said two of them were fouled. Could that be a sign that the DI was failing, not delivering enough spark to the plugs? Did I cause the failure by continuing to try to start it?

Any wisdom appreciated.

Michael

Reply to
mdb
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First of all, $600 for the DI cassette? It costs no more than $300 new. Likely $275 or so. Why $600? There are only four torx screws to seat the DI cossette and an electrical connector. It takes about five minutes to replace it.

I suspect your battery issue and the DI cassette are unrelated. Just happen to go bad near the same time. Battery may have been on the way out. How old is the battery?

Reply to
yaofeng

"mdb" skrev i en meddelelse news:KnCqf.56632$Ht4.40068@trnddc08...

$600.-!!?? Saab has lowered the prices for the DI's just a month ago.

Go back to that dealer and demand a refund, he's screw*** you over...

Reply to
Henrik B.

Reply to
ma_twain

He charged $420 for the DI part. Another $85 for the replacement battery. More for a new set of plugs. Plus about $60 for "shop fees", "hazardous materials", etc. Plus labor to diagnose and replace DI and battery.

Anyone have any ideas on my original question, whether my actions caused any of the problem?

Reply to
mdb

This is borderline anecdotal evidence but after I toasted a couple DI cassettes, my favorite SAAB mechanic said "You ain't usin' them fancy Bosch spark plugs are ya?" I told him I was, in fact, using Bosch Platinum + . He said I could switch back to NGK's or keep buying DI cassettes. I threw away $13 of spark plugs and never had another problem.

Woof.

Reply to
WOOFER

Never ever use anything other than the real NGKs. Ever.

Graham

Reply to
Pooh Bear

We've seen that story over and over and over here. NGK only for Saabs. Period. With all the Bosch electricals in that car, if Bosch plugs were appropriate, they'd have put 'em in at the factory.

The spark plug in modern Saab engines is used as a conductivity sensor to determine when to fire the sparks, so it's way more than a spark plug used to be used for.

Reply to
Dave Hinz

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