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One Hour Alarm Install 2 Saabers Like This Post! Posted by Justin VanAbrahams [Email] (#32) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Justin VanAbrahams) on Mon, 2 Oct 2017 10:47:27 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
Related to this post:
http://www.saabnet.com/tsn/bb/900/index.html?bID=454310
I feel like "How do I fix SaabGuard" questions come up a lot, and my response is don't. It's old and sucky. You can replace it in about an hour, making zero modifications to your car. You can put that SaabGuard in a box and reinstall it for shows. :)
It's pretty trivial to install an aftermarket alarm in any ~'85+ c900. I'm doing it in an '85 SPG, but have done it in others as well. No convertibles, however. They should be materially similar, but later convertibles did have keyless entry which changes this narrative a bit. ;) In fact, we're not discussing keyless entry at all as that requires some more invasive wiring. Point of this effort is a FAST replacement of SaabGuard.
For this project you'll want Saab #4115580 from eeuroparts ($10) which is a connector housing that matches the plug on the factory relay unit along with seven Mouser #571-964304-1 which are the terminals that go in the housing. That way it's all plug & play - no splicing or cutting or butt connectors. You will need a standard terminal crimping tool to assemble in this way, however. (You can get an inexpensive one for about $20, such as:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BQWO5RU/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00BQWO5RU&linkCode=as2&tag=thesaabnetwork
I *highly* recommend using DEI alarms. They come under a wide variety of brands but are all largely the same internally. I *really* like the Viper 350 Plus - it's full featured but pretty basic. They've made it for years, and will probably continue to do so for years to come. Most DEI alarms will share the wiring diagram I pictured. The 350 Plus is always less than $60 on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C1T8P1O/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00BQWO5RU&linkCode=as2&tag=thesaabnetwork
The SaabGuard connector is under the back seat, near the tunnel, driver's side. You may have to reach up under the cross member. But, it's there on every '85+ (maybe '84, too) c900. It's there on convertibles, too, but again, we're not talking about them. :)
The connector has eight terminals:
1 - blue - battery
2 - black - ground
3 - blue - parking lights
4 - yellow - siren (you will find this wire bundled near the power steering reservoir if you don't already have a SaabGuard)
5 - red - ignition
6 - brown (x2) - hood and trunk open switches (you will find this wire bundled near the power steering reservoir if you don't already have a SaabGuard)
7 - white - on/off switch (I actually don't know where this wire goes in the car - but we don't need it anyway)
8 - black - door open switches
Just match these up to the appropriate wires on your alarm! For my DEI 350 Plus:
1 - red
2 - black
3 - white
4 - brown
5 - yellow
6 - blue
7 - n/c
8 - green
You will end up with a few unused wires - the starter interrupt, the unused positive door trigger sensor, and extra channel controls. You could install the starter interrupt if you wanted, but I don't care for them as they're a ~100ma drain on the battery while the alarm is armed. The positive door triggers aren't needed (we're using negative). The extra channels could be used with a motor to pop the trunk or put the windows down - but again, this is quick & dirty. But not actually dirty.
Crimp the terminals onto the appropriate wires from the alarm box, insert them into the housing, and plug it in. For the 350 Plus, you need to mount the antenna (which is also the programming button and warning LED) somewhere. I haven't decided where yet - either the left rear window, or maybe above the rear view mirror. Still thinking about it. ;) You may also need to install the DEI siren under the hood (it's included), and you may need to source a switch for the hood open circuit (the trunk open is pre-wired). DEI sells a cheap hood pin switch, but I'll be using one from a NG900. :)
An important note: Because the c900 has a courtesy dome light, but only one wire from each door lock switch, the courtesy light will cause the alarm to think the door is open until the light goes out. If you arm the alarm immediately after closing the door, while the light is still on, you will get an error chirp (zone defect) from the alarm. It will arm anyway, and after the courtesy light goes out will resume sensing the door. It's just an extra annoying sound. The only functional way to work around this is remove the courtesy light relay, and that kinda sucks. I live with the extra chirps.
FWIW, if one wanted keyless entry, it's literally a matter of connecting two wires from the alarm's brain to the two trigger wires at the door lock relay. The small-gauge green and blue wires from the brain go to yellow and Green/white at the relay - you can refer to my other door lock relay post referenced above for additional information on that.
Hope this helps someone... I'm sure it'll help me so I don't have to reinvent this wheel *again* next time I do this. :)
posted by 12.195.130...
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