1985-1998 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
 | [Main 9000 Bulletin Board | BBFAQ |
Prev by Date | Next by Date | Post Followup ]
Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
Re: Dodgy ACC system... Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Tue, 4 Nov 2008 08:11:51
In Reply to: Re: Dodgy ACC system..., Steve C., Mon, 3 Nov 2008 13:35:41 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
It does sound like the thermostat is working. I like to replace them every 2- 3 years, and end up doing at the 3 year mark. No need to flush the system - you need to drain down about 2 quarts of coolant, not the whole system. A new Saab thermostat is about $15. As to having it done - I'd assume they'd charge around an hour of labor. It's not that hard, but access is a little tricky. If yours is working, keep an eye on it.
I'm surprised about the cabin air sensor. If the fan isn't running, the car usually gives good heat for the first 5-15 minutes, then the heat goes away. The fan pulls in cabin air; with no fan, the sensor reads the temperature of the dashboard. When the car is cold, the sensor calls for heat. But the dash tends to warm up (heating ducts, instrument lights, etc), and soon the sensor calls for the temp to drop. Since the dash stays warm, you get cold air.
I just went through this with my '97, where the fan quit on a long, cold drive.
Now, if the sensing element was broken, the ACC would probably detect that and make some assumptions.
So it seems that the car is having trouble modulating the heat. You've got a replacement sensor. The intermittent ACC fault is troubling. To answer your question, if the flap were to break, I don't think you'd get a fault.
Some simple tests-
Open the hood, and remove the flat, horizontal panel at the base of the windshield. Find the heater box in the center. On the passenger side (US cars, right side facing FORWARD) of the heater box you'll see a shaft coming out, with an arm, and a stiff wire going into the firewall.
Start the car, and set the ACC to LO. Check the position of the arm. I can never remember, but I believe it'll be close to the firewall. Now set the ACC to HI. The arm should move in the opposite direction.
Obviously, if the arm is broken or the wire has fallen off, that's a problem. But if the arm is moving back and forth OK between LO and HI, then the servo is working.
It wasn't clear - if you set the heat to HI, do you get hot air when the engine is warmed up?
Also - can you select the vents properly? If you set the ACC to defrost, do you get hot air from the defroster vents? Set it to vents, and get hot air from the side dash vents?
If the arm isn't moving, I'd suspect the servo in the dash or the ACC unit.
If the air isn't coming out of the defroster and vents as it should, then I'd suspect the air distribution servo or the ACC unit.
If the air moves as it should through the vents, the arm moves as it should, but you don't get hot air when the ACC is set to HI, then the heater core has an issue. Might be air in the system. Did this problem show up after the system was flushed?
If setting the ACC to HI gets you hot air, and the only issue is that the ACC unit just loses control on occasion, I'd have to suspect the ACC unit itself. All the ACC II units are interchangable, so as long as it has an OFF button (a sign of ACCII), you can use a junker one.
posted by 192.249....
, Mon, 3 Nov 2008 05:45:03, Tue, 4 Nov 2008 08:11:51 <-- Viewing This Message
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
