Headlight switch spins in housing

A small plastic bit of the switch case has broken off. You can try to glue on a piece of plastic which will do the same job, but this seldom lasts. Try to find a replacement switch.

Get it into the on position & leave it there - the ignition key turns the lights on & off, and there's evidence that driving with 'em on is safer anyway (others see you better). The consumption of 100 watts or so is nothing in the scale of gas mileage, probably not even measurable let alone noticeable.

In all the time I had my '88 900t, I think that switch got moved 6 times.

Dave Hinz

I've had this happen. Get a replacement switch.

John

yup, the same thing happened to me. i just leave the lights on all the time now. the only problem is that i forget to turn the lights off in my toyota because i'm used to the saab taking care of it for me.

I know the extra fuel comsumption is minimal, but these bulbs eventually burn out and have to be replaced more often with them on all the time the vehicle is running. I noticed that I had to replace the bulbs frequently in my '94 when I first got it. I don't want a police officer to notice a bulb out before I do and write ma a ticket. Can you imagine what a point or two will translate in an increase in my insurance policy?

Headlight switch for any 82-93(and 94 conv), 94-98 900 all. and 86-98 9000. Genuine Saab. #8590838 Headlight switch $53.90

Actually, the most damaged caused to a bulb is in the initial power on and off as the power surges through it.

If they are switched on and off when you use them, you are wearing out the bulb just as quickly as leaving them on and the ignition controlling them.

When a bulb blows in the house, has it gone before you switch on, or do you get a flash as you flick the switch? Not totally unknown, but it is very rare for a bulb to fail after it has been running for a couple of hours.

Well, that may have been bad bulbs. I found that mine didn't like GE bulbs at all (annoying since I worked for GE at the time) but it was fine with Philips.

So keep a spare in the glovebox & change it when he pulls you over. Equipment violations aren't worth points anyway, at least not in this state. But, you asked for options, I suggested one that works for me. The documented safety improvements and convenience are, to me, worth more than an extra bulb or two a year and the possibility for a hypothetical but highly unlikely points-bearing ticket.

I was lucky-- my mechanic had a cardboard box filled with old headlight switches, and gave me one at no charge. Well, that is, no charge in addition to the $600 or so crankshaft pulley job :)

John

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This must be some meaning of the word "lucky" that I've not encountered before?

Oh, is that a lot for the crank pulley? It was little while ago, so I might be mis-remembering. I don't have the receipt handy.

John

Naah, it's just that a crank pully failure and the word "lucky" in the same sentence is a bit unusual ;)

Ah. Perhaps "inevitable" is a better word. :)

John

Replace the switch.

Dick in Falls Church

Sounds like a *big* lot to me...

Try wraping a single layer of insulation tape around the switch, wear it fit into the dash. This will fix in most cases

If you are concerned about power usage, go to "

"and purchase replacement ultrabright white-LED lamps to replace them anddrastically drop power usage and heat generation inside the light clusters.I've replaced all lamps (except for the headlight bulbs and a couple of theinterior lights which I don't have the right size replacements for yet) withLED-based lamps from Ultraleds. It's quite an expensive investment to doeverything, but just replacing the brake lights and white front markers andrear white reversing lights won't set you back too much. If you go for the 'special' versions of the lamps, they cost a bit more but they have LEDS facing forward and a small circle of LEDS facing to the side to maximise light distribution via the built-in reflector that's part of the lamp housing.

I don't know if the '88 900's are the same as my '83 and '85 900's, but on those two, the front marker and indicator lights are two-terminal offset-pin lamps, while all the rear lamps except the main brake lamps are single-terminal non-offset pin lamps.

Regards,

Craig.