Page 4: Return to the 'Max Power' era

[willswitchengage]

My eBay second hand headlights have saved the day and a surprisingly inexpensive MoT and service has been completed. Roll on another year of stylish motoring! (Driver however still lacks style)

Note: got tired not long ago of DIY oil changes as they always just made a mess at home so pay for the garage to do them these days.

[grogee]

25 minutes ago, willswitchengage said:

made a mess at home

Hahahahahahahahaha

[willswitchengage]

Old headlamps disassembled. As predicted, the plastic mirroring has dulled and has no real reflectivity at all. Any DIY ideas for restoration? Google is not massively helpful here.

[red5]

https://www.stardustcolors.co.uk/chrome-paint/1229-brush-on-chrome-chrome-paint-using-brush-3700730806015.html

The link to the pro kit is in there as well. 

[cort1977]

8 minutes ago, red5 said:

https://www.stardustcolors.co.uk/chrome-paint/1229-brush-on-chrome-chrome-paint-using-brush-3700730806015.html

The link to the pro kit is in there as well. 

Cheers for that, may have to investigate for mine soon.

[willswitchengage]

Thanks. I guess as they're plastic it's a repainting job, not polishing/cleaning.

[willswitchengage]

It transpires that the latest female from the online dating community also has a Saab. Perfect for dogging.

[tooSavvy]

On 05/02/2024 at 18:12, willswitchengage said:

My eBay second hand headlights have saved the day and a surprisingly inexpensive MoT and service has been completed. Roll on another year of stylish motoring! (Driver however still lacks style)

Note: got tired not long ago of DIY oil changes as they always just made a mess at home so pay for the garage to do them these days.

DIY Oil changes.... Oh Aye 🙄

@loserone has furnished me an AdBlu container..... Big n Square so *likely will get all the oil + filter dribbles caught now...

 

F T W 😕

🚙💨

[willswitchengage]

Yesterday's outing: the excellent Brooklands Museum in pleasantly fair weather. Next door it appears is Mercedes-Benz World.

[willswitchengage]

First 'proper' summery outing yesterday in the SAAB-SCANIA, to Milford on Sea. Forgot how much I miss air conditioning but the sunroof offers good ventilation with only a minor noise penalty. Very depressing driving on endlessly pothole roads though. It makes me not want to drive at all.

MINOR PROBLEM OBSERVED - I think the battery is on its way out as cranking in the morning is getting increasingly slow, even in warm temperatures, mindful that I drive infrequently so it often sits for a few weeks between starts. How hard is it to change the battery in a relatively modern vehicle like this? It has a Sigma S Series immobiliser which worries me the most. Is it as easy as remove old, fit new, or will that cause chaos with its electronics?

[N Dentressangle]

Changing the battery should be the same as any other car.

If you're worried about the immobiliser etc then you could always use one of these car battery saver things?

[willswitchengage]

36 minutes ago, N Dentressangle said:

Changing the battery should be the same as any other car.

If you're worried about the immobiliser etc then you could always use one of these car battery saver things?

What does that do?

Only ever changed batteries on 'dumb' cars before, just have fears of it not starting or something stupid following a brief period of no juice. 

[N Dentressangle]

You hook the croc clips up to another battery, plug the lighter plug into the car whose battery you're changing, then change the battery whilst the 12v feed is maintained to the car so nothing is ever disconnected.

[willswitchengage]

Today's nice backdrop destination: Devil's Dyke, Sussex. Starting the annual battle against parking under trees but the car still looks nice from a distance.

[willswitchengage]

COMPETITION TIME!!! What is wrong with my car?

This drove fantastically until today. Driving back from holiday straight to work, 100milesish, the engine light came on flashing four 'blips'. Hard to tell if it was hesitating under load on the motorway, it was so potholed it was hard to tell what was just a bump, but I think it did VERY mildly every now again. Then almost at the end of my journey the hesitating became very bad, you know, put your foot down, car goes slower etc, clutch down to see what would happen... engine died... so coasted into a layby. Restart attempt #1 - car stuttered a bit - attempts #2 onward, nothing, just cranking.

RAC man suggested maybe low compression as he said it was 'cranking quickly' - not sure if this is the case as obvs it cranks quickly when warm anyway - and would this lead to catastrophic failure? He seemed to think there was a spark and fuel but this was determined purely looking at the engine - so maybe not the best diagnostic. Anyway, it's poorly, so any suggestions welcome on fixes... it's at the garage now anyway. The local Saab specialist sadly politely refused due to a very long orderbook and no space even on their yard.

Internet resources located son far:

https://www.saabnet.com/tsn//bb/900/index.html?bID=357261

https://www.saabcentral.com/threads/check-engine-light-in-1986-saab-900s.3147/

https://www.saabcentral.com/threads/check-engine-light-flashing-4-times-any-ideas.18151/ (GM version, but same engine?)

https://www.saabcentral.com/threads/check-engine-light-blinking-5-times.748946/

Obligatory funny picture:

[Surface Rust]

Sounding like it has no compression / cranking quickly - it could be flooded. Pull a plug and see if is wet? It might fire up once it's cooled down again (before doing it again).

If it is flooded, on those 900s (and quite a few other injection systems) if you put your foot to the floor whilst cranking it helps it clear and it should start to fire. Might start firing on one before eventually picking up on all 4.

As for why it flooded, could be coolant temp sensor? I had 2 fail on my 900s, and an ignition module, which could also cause a FTP like above. It was only ever the Bosch parts that let me down!

[willswitchengage]

Thanks - fingers crossed it is that easy!

[Surface Rust]

Also, in relation to your parking issue the other day, c900s would give me a massive boner if I parked next to one so I can see the problem now.

I'll repeat my question from then too, is it for sale?! 😀

[willswitchengage]

This car? To be honest I 'like' to have a car per year, YOLO and that, just to own as much interesting stuff during a lifetime. I bought this last October...

No idea how much it's worth, bought for 3900£, clumsy neighbours have worked hard to scratch it a lot in that year though sadly. Might polish out. Haven't actively started looking at anything new though as this has worked well for me and I haven't had the time to surf eBay recently.

Sorry of you messaged before, must have missed it!

[Surface Rust]

I was only kidding, though I do love a c900 (have had 5). 

I think you'd complained in the parking thread about well endowed individuals brushing along your car.

Good luck with the fault finding.

[willswitchengage]

Impressively fixed within a day - garage speculatively replaced coil, cap and rotor and it works again. Makes sense, I had really bad hesitation with my old Corolla and replacing these made it work again. Back to nice driving 😎 and they could get parts within 24 hours - result.

In less positive news within 24 hours of being home, the neighbours have put another large scratch on the door. I feel that with on street parking it is impossible to own a nice car, and it makes me very sad.

[willswitchengage]

Goodbye engine light! Hello new knock sensor in a ridiculously easy repair.

In more depressing news: I was chatting to my neighbour while cleaning the car outside earlier. Whilst doing this, another neighbour walked past the cars, carrying rubbish for the bins, literally dragging it across the neighbour's cars boot as she walked past. With utter morons like this in the world I can see why my paintwork is not doing well.

[willswitchengage]

Poss for sale in the near future if my now-arranged viewing of latest ebay find is successful...

[willswitchengage]

On 05/02/2024 at 20:52, red5 said:

https://www.stardustcolors.co.uk/chrome-paint/1229-brush-on-chrome-chrome-paint-using-brush-3700730806015.html

The link to the pro kit is in there as well. 

Finally got round to using this to refurb the headlights, it works 😊

Not quite as good as in the videos (lesson: I think you need to apply it quite thick) but reflectivity is now good. Only downside is you can't clean your brush afterwards, neither spirits or water would get it off.

[willswitchengage]

The Ssaab was successfully sold a couple of weeks ago on CaC. I was sadly to see it leave, you often don't appreciate a car until you see somebody else driving it, and watching it grunt away into the night on a crisp and dry collection evening made me feel like something died inside me.

Anyway, we move on, and I use the philosophy of you only have one stab at life and I want to own as many interesting cars as possible. Much of life is spent either as a poverty-stricken teenager, needing an SUV slightly more practical car for ferrying around offspring, or something a bit more comfy for those twilight years.

I have always wanted a Honda CRX and have spent the past few years monitoring the usual sites for them. A couple have escaped me in auctions, but decent ones rarely come up more than once a year.

A Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace advert was found, the Bank Manager was negotiated with, a train ticket was bought, a test drive was made, hands were shaken, a journey home was made.

It has a Honda D16A9 engine which redlines at almost 7500 rpm. Fuck me is this thing fast, it's like having a motorbike engine in a car. Misjudge the clutch and wheelslip is easily possible. It has no power steering and driving it is a general hoot as it hugs the road like it's on rails. It's nice and simple, cat-less injection, no central locking, no silly immobilisers, just plug and play. It's even very economical on fuel, being absolutely tiny.

It's largely corrosion free underneath and the previous owner conducted a mild restoration as it'd sat standing for ten years before he bought it.

It's hard to fault it - it's a little noisier inside than the highly refined Saab and again sounds more like a Hayabusa (engine noise, the exhaust is silent) than the two-litre lug I'm used to. Boot space is small, but I knew about that.

Then the day after I bought it...

BROKEN PINKY! This has got to be the most pathetic and debilitating injury possible and stopped me driving for a couple of weeks. Anyway, better now, but in that time the car managed to seize the thermostat slightly open in a bizarre failure mechanism where one of the sealing rings appears to have expanded with age and got stuck. Anyway, two hours of swearing this morning and a replacement has been fitted and is working well. I can now commute with the heater actually working!

Anyway, this is the new whip which I am very excited about.

[mark165]

Brilliant! A mate of mine had a couple of these back in the day, they were so ahead of their time. Your one looks so clean.

[IronStar]

Tipo Sedicivalvole AND a CRX in a same day on a forum? Neither completely rotten?

Wow. 

That car looks amazing! I always wanted one, but by the time I actually had some money they were all crashed and subsequently crushed. What little is left has gone stratospheric in price.

Enjoy man! I got a lift in a Civic with that engine, that redline is so bloody cool!

[willswitchengage]

Pretty incredible to think it's a 1988 car - we've all seen what cr*p European build quality was at that time. Build quality seems marginally less good than comparable era Toyotas, but still fantastic.

[grogee]

17 minutes ago, willswitchengage said:

Pretty incredible to think it's a 1988 car - we've all seen what cr*p European build quality was at that time. Build quality seems marginally less good than comparable era Toyotas, but still fantastic.

What are you saying mate? You saying my 88 Maestro is crap? 

(It is. Apart from the gearbox, which is made by Honda). 

[loserone]

3 minutes ago, grogee said:

Honda

Volkswagen, surely?