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Re: re-occuring CEL - 98 9000 CSE Turbo Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Fri, 1 Dec 2006 05:41:40
In Reply to: re-occuring CEL - 98 9000 CSE Turbo, RjRillo, Thu, 30 Nov 2006 13:53:04 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
What R said (I can call you R, can't I?) is correct. What you see with the brake pictogram is a test of the brake light switch. This was added. If you ever get into a NG900, there is a display that when you start the car, it tells you to step on the brake pedal to test the system.
As to the CEL, be careful with cause and effect. You put in fuel cleaner, and the CEL came on. You refilled the tank and the CEL went out. You may have also changed your socks, but that doesn't mean they are related. The CEL is the engine control's only way of communicating with the owner/driver that there is an issue. It can be serious or incredibly minor. Many things drive the CEL, and depending on what turns it on, there is different logic that will turn it off. For many faults, it goes off after you've driven the car three times AFTER the fault goes away. That makes it hard to diagnose by just seeing when it comes on or goes off.
The engine control can accomodate for many sensor failures and the engine will run just fine. Because of that, the system has to tell you there is a problem. And sometimes a sensor is just on the hairy edge of a limit, so it trips the CEL, then is OK, and sometime later the requisite number of non-failed trips are made, and the CEL goes out.
The CEL can be driven by a loose gas cap, or just a poor seal on the cap. Those faults show up as a purge valve fault. It is unlikely the fuel system cleaner cause the problem unless you had less than a full tank of fuel. Then it might cause an issue.
Your cheapest first approach is to take the car to Autozone or Pep Boys, or any other store where they'll read out the codes. You'll only get the generic OBD II codes, not the full set of Saab codes, but it's a start. And remember that the codes are just a starting point - a O2 sensor indication may be the O2 sensor, but it can also be a vacuum leak; a purge valve fault can be a bad seal on the gas cap or a loose hose. I would read the codes, write them down, then clear them. Then see if the CEL comes back. You might have a bunch of old codes floating around in the ECU confusing things. Then come back to the board with the results. You may need to go to a dealer/independent shop with a Saab-specific Tech II to read all the codes. But start with this.
And don't ignore the simple stuff. Do a visual inspection of the engine compartment. Look for loose hoses, dangling hoses, cracked hoses. Make sure the one-way valve between the valve cover and the throttle body is OK - those like to crack and die with age. I had to replace it on my '97 a few years back. And look at all the sensors, and make sure the connectors look OK. Not just on, but see that the wires appear intact.
posted by 192.249....
, Fri, 1 Dec 2006 05:41:40 <-- Viewing This Message
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