I know old Saabs have oil leakage issues but do they also have serious electric problems - expensive to have fixed? Heard this recently from a mechanic relative both to a non-functioning horn and heated driver's seat. Greta
Define old! Pre '93?, pre '86? or older? Elctrics improved over pretty well every year of the 99 & 900 model runs. Pre '88 some of the switchgear can get pretty shabby internally. Fuel pump relays were a pita item on many cars. Several model years and many individual cars suffered multiple wiring loom and specific earthing problems both in the dash and at the rear. Biggest problem with my '81T was working out what the hell some previous owner had done with their comprehensive underdash rewire to fix some previous electrical problem before we could even begin to trace the current issue! Interesting coloured cables, splices and re-routes everywhere. Never did get the temperature gauge to work again before I sold the very faithful old relic 2 weeks ago!
The only horn failure I remember was on a '77 99GLE about 20 years ago. Ended up installing air horns with a dash switch as a probably cheaper (& definitely louder!) option than running diags and fixing the original circuitry. BTW, the '90 4dr that I picked up today is the first one I've had that actually *has* heated seats, so no direct experience there. Cheers
I forgot to say that it is a 91 Saab with about 95,000 miles. Greta
in article mlQti.404696$ snipped-for-privacy@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net, Greta at snipped-for-privacy@worldnet.att.net wrote on 07/08/2007 02:58:
Automotive electrics are pretty much the same whatever the car - you pay for the electrician's time, really. Check their hourly rate and use one that has been recommended.
As far as the old 900 goes, the electrics are pretty simple. The car is well documented in amateur mechanics manuals and the service manuals that are used by garages are well detailed. I've been able to fix most little electrical gremlins with a multimeter, the wiring diagrams and a reel of new wire ... I'm no electrician, BTW :)
Specifically, I cannot see what is difficult about the horn - IIRC the steering wheel buttons are grounded onto the steering column and the actuating wire goes down to a pair of horns. Anyone could fix it, really. Nothing at all complicated. Same with the heated seats. If someone has broken the heating grid (by kneeling or standing on the seat) then you'll need a new one of those, but the supply and grounding is not difficult to understand, nor the pressure sensor setup.
TBH, I wouldn't worry - if a garage tells you jobs like that are going to be expensive, go to an auto electrician. Both of those example jobs could be removed and new wire/parts refitted inside an hour by an auto electrician, I'm sure. I reckon I could do the seat, new wire and all in a couple of hours.
Paul
1989 900 Turbo S
Find a decent mechanic then. Your mechanic sounds like a knuckle-dragger.
Oil leaks are often indicative of poor maintenance. Leaks can arise from not flushing the power steering system periodically, failure to change engine oil. A well maintained old Saab doesn't leak oil normally.
There is nothing special at all about their electrical system, except that Saab switch gear is of a higher quality than that used in domestic US cars.
About the heated driver seat. After 15 years or more of flexing, the heating element can go open circuit but it can easily be repaired.
The only serious electrical issue I've had was in my 83 900S. One turn of the starter motor's armature broke, creating a very high current short circuit, which burnt out a lot of the wiring in the engine bay.
But that had nothing at all to do with Saab's wiring job - it was purely a freak fault which just happened to manifest itself in an interesting (and expensive to fix - but such is life) sort of way.
Unforseen problems occur in any machine, and cars are no exception to that. Saab's as they age suffer the same sort of problems as any other aging machine - things wear out, break, fail, refuse to work properly, and providing a realistic approach is used to dealing with them, it doesn't get to the point where it overwhelms the person who's trying to overcome them.
Regards,
Craig.
"big dom" writes: [snip]
What's a "power rack"?
Everett M. Greene ( snipped-for-privacy@mojaveg.lsan.mdsg-pacwest.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
A steering rack with power assistance.
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