Grogee's spannering (Maestro , Corsa & Avensis). MAESTRO NEWSFLASH

[grogee]

Had another look. I don't think this is overspray - I think the black is actually on over the silver but has worn off, leading to what looks like overspray. 

So I think @Popsicle 's suggestion of spraying something back on is what's needed. The problem will be trying to match the finish of the centre insert, which is indeed proper plastic. 

I don't want to just spray A.N. Other matt black paint on. Any suggestions?

[Popsicle]

Spray it all orange like they VW boys do, it'll look sick innit.

Chances of getting an exacting match black are pretty slim I reckon. I presume two shades of black will mess with your head? Pain in the arse but would it be worth spraying all the black trim?

[grogee]

43 minutes ago, Popsicle said:

Spray it all orange like they VW boys do, it'll look sick innit.

Chances of getting an exacting match black are pretty slim I reckon. I presume two shades of black will mess with your head? Pain in the arse but would it be worth spraying all the black trim?

Sick, yo! Orange and green! 

Yep two shades would make me twitch. I'll have a think.

This bumper stuff is only cosmetic, I need to get the thing mobile again. Ironically the front bumper is worse but I was planning to take that off and fill/spray in the summer. 

Tomorrow is other side hub & brakes then I'll see about tweaking the air con. 

[stuboy]

camoflage it................

[grogee]

Why can't I just leave things alone? The bloody rear bumper insert is being a pig, theoretically it should just slot in but in practice it's jamming up for some reason. I'm going to have another go with the original and if that goes in without a fight there must be something different with the new one. The main problem, probably, is that I'm fighting with 18 year old dusty bits that weren't meant to come apart in the first place. 

At least the RH rear brake is back together now, all bolted up and adjusted. I don't desperately need the car so I've decided to leave it until later, and I've come in to watch first practice at Bahrain. F1 season is here at last!

[grogee]

Well the Great Bumper Experiment was a spectacular failure. Firstly the replacement I bought was wrong colour, and secondly the inserts I bought didn't fit! I will be returning both, but I'm expecting a battle. The first eBay seller gave me a postage label, marked "0-2kg". Thanks guys. 

I did have an experiment with abrasives and solvents, I eventually got brave enough to try acetone and that actually shifted the grot off the black bit. So the bumper is back on now, but I've wasted shitloads of time messing about with it. 

Wheelarch liners back in as well, with some extra cable tie engineering to make sure they don't fall out. 

The final piece in the puzzle is these wheelarch finishers. I think they should be held on with silicone goo, there's certainly some in them. But I'd like to get the old stuff out before applying any new goo. Has anyone got any suggestions for cleaning off old silicone sealant?

[Wgl2019]

1 minute ago, grogee said:

final piece in the puzzle is these wheelarch finishers. I think they should be held on with silicone goo, there's certainly some in them. But I'd like to get the old stuff out before applying any new goo. Has anyone got any suggestions for cleaning off old silicone sealant?

They are just glooped into place.

Screwfix sell a silicone remover but not sure how good this is, iirc I used some horrible roofing mastic to stick mine back down as I had it left from sorting a different job.

[grogee]

Today I attempted to fix the sticky flaps. Having had a play with some trim off, the distribution drum thingy rotates enough to do windscreen and floor level, but it won't rotate around far enough to give face level. Annoying in the summer. 

Access to the bits I'm trying to reach is horrendous. The stepper motors and levers are on the driver's side (of course) and there's a dash brace right in the way of where I need to be. 

Of course the WIS book of lies makes no mention of this access problem, and instead just explains the procedure with a removed climate unit on a nice clean bench! Thanks, Saab. 

I may end up taking the dash out, which is obviously horrible, but I do have alternative wheels. Maybe I'll SORN it for a bit in the summer and do the front bumper (fill/spray) at the same time. 

However before I try that I'm going to take the driver's seat out and lie on my back to see if that improves matters. Job for tomorrow!

[grogee]

Done a bit of digging on the A/C system. The plan for today was to fix the flaps, but that looks quite involved so I decided to check AC system. After all, cool air through any vent is better than no cool air at all. 

Seemingly drawing a blank on my first try, with both high and low ports reading about 30psi, I had a look at the fuses. 

A while back, I'd disconnected the anti-theft system fuse to prevent an error message on the SID on start up. However, that same 10A fuse apparently powers the compressor clutch - when I plugged the fuse back in, there was a 'clunk' from the compressor and the high side rose to about 150psi. That's good, shows the compressor is compressing. 

I've added in some more fake R134a to top the system up and now high side is up to about 175psi which seems healthy. The AC pipe going to the cabin is nice and cold, too. 

I imagine the anti-theft fault warning will come back, but I can live with that if it means a comfortable cabin. 

[djoptix]

There's a story about the green stain on the bumper, I'll post it in a bit... 

[RoverFolkUs]

Never take a Saab with inop air-con to Halfords. Even if its "just a regas m9". NEVER

(Refer to very popular YT video)  

[grogee]

56 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Never take a Saab with inop air-con to Halfords. Even if its "just a regas m9". NEVER

(Refer to very popular YT video)  

This one? Tamworth? Pretty shocking but sadly not surprising.

https://youtu.be/eJ7uDVQY3ZA

@djoptix I'm foaming at the gash to find out about the green stain. 

[RoverFolkUs]

33 minutes ago, grogee said:

This one? Tamworth? Pretty shocking but sadly not surprising.

https://youtu.be/eJ7uDVQY3ZA

@djoptix I'm foaming at the gash to find out about the green stain. 

That's the very one

[grogee]

Today's mission involved working out how the Saab's HVAC system worked from first principles. There were some clues in the WIS book of lies, but they weren't necessary conclusive to the fault on mine - unable to shift to face level. 

Anyway I took the driver's seat out which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The seat belt mount has a quick release which is handy. 

Then I laid a couple of slabs of foam on the floor and lay on my back to get at the foot level vent. Taking this off reveals the distribution 'drum' which rotates to direct air to screen, feet or face. 

Mine was able to do feet and screen but not face. According to the WIS you have to push it fully clockwise to get face level. Mine appeared to be jammed so I forced it then heard a crack... oops. 

Turns out the actuator is on the passenger side. The crack was this blue/grey arm thing which had failed. I tried superglue but it takes a fair amount of torque to rotate the drum even after I've lubed it all up. 

To check it was working ok from the passenger side I had to Jerry rig a 1/4" extension and ratchet then turn it from the other side and see if it moved. There's no room to get fingers in there - thanks Saab. 

The good news is that there's a Saab spares guy on eBay who sells useful but obscure bits so I've been able to get the arm 2nd hand along with some stepper motors (which I don't need - yet). 

[Cookiesouwest]

Does the front passenger seat fold down on the 9-5 estate?

[grogee]

13 hours ago, Cookiesouwest said:

Does the front passenger seat fold down on the 9-5 estate?

Having accidentally leant on the electric seat switch a lot lately, I can confirm the answer is no. 

[grogee]

Today I are be mostly under my Puma. 

It's making a rattling noise that I can feel through the steering wheel. I've had it on stands three times now to try and isolate the source, but everything I've checked is ok. Today I double checked subframe bolts (even though I'd paint marked them and they haven't shifted). And caliper bolts, ARB links, wishbone bolts etc etc. All tight and behaving. 

I'm thinking it must be exhaust rattling around somehow because the routing is a bit poor and it touches on the body in one spot. 

While I was under the car I treated a few spots of rust that would only get worse, so wire wheel, rust juice then a couple of coats of chassis black. 

The front radiator carrier thing is a bit crispy too. I gave it a quick going over but a new Ford one is only £23 so not worth going mad over. 

Anyway it's been bugging me but no smoking gun yet. Also found this bumper scrape which I treated with some scratch remover, it's better now but not perfect. Ah well these things happen. 

[grogee]

I spent Friday afternoon washing and waxing the Puma, figuring if I can't fix the rattle I may as well make it look nice. 

On Saturday I parked at my semi-employer's house and we went out in his truck. Imagine my delight* when I came home to find his workman had been digging a trench on his drive, and my newly waxed Puma was now covered in dust. 

Anyway can't complain really as we had a fun day at Donington circuit where he tested his Porsche before the season's first race. Annoyingly for him, the new exhaust system he's fitted to the car is too loud (102dB v 98dB limit). So back to the drawing board/Porsche sweet shop to find something quieter. 

[grogee]

More Saab bothering this afternoon, once we'd got rid of MiL. I have fitted some of the second hand spares I bought. The challenge seems to be turning the distribution drum - it sometimes seems to stick and jam up. But I've freed it up as best I can, and squirted a load of silicone oil in there. 

Fitted the spare servo/stepper motor that does the distribution drum. I didn't have a choice because the replacement crank thing had a hex rather than a T-shaped spline like the old one. 

I can't get the unit apart any further to do anything else, so if I've still got problems then I need to consider dash off and new/used climate unit. Not something I really want to contemplate for now. 

I'm hoping if I just leave it in AUTO and air con on, the windows won't mist up and I won't need windscreen blow. But I imagine I'll need some defrost action in about six months when the weather starts to get worse. 

Anyway I've just got to screw the trim back together tomorrow, then the next job is a wash, polish and wax... That counts as heavy lifting in my book. 

[Barry Cade]

On 3/23/2022 at 3:37 PM, grogee said:

Today's mission involved working out how the Saab's HVAC system worked from first principles. There were some clues in the WIS book of lies, but they weren't necessary conclusive to the fault on mine - unable to shift to face level. 

Anyway I took the driver's seat out which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The seat belt mount has a quick release which is handy. 

Then I laid a couple of slabs of foam on the floor and lay on my back to get at the foot level vent. Taking this off reveals the distribution 'drum' which rotates to direct air to screen, feet or face. 

Mine was able to do feet and screen but not face. According to the WIS you have to push it fully clockwise to get face level. Mine appeared to be jammed so I forced it then heard a crack... oops. 

Turns out the actuator is on the passenger side. The crack was this blue/grey arm thing which had failed. I tried superglue but it takes a fair amount of torque to rotate the drum even after I've lubed it all up. 

To check it was working ok from the passenger side I had to Jerry rig a 1/4" extension and ratchet then turn it from the other side and see if it moved. There's no room to get fingers in there - thanks Saab. 

The good news is that there's a Saab spares guy on eBay who sells useful but obscure bits so I've been able to get the arm 2nd hand along with some stepper motors (which I don't need - yet). 

I've had issues with both my 9-5 blend doors, used these and never any issues again.

 

[grogee]

Thanks @Barry Cade.  I think the heater blend doors are working ok at the moment but I did have to superglue the arm onto the LH side one. Anyway that's good to know.

I'm surprised there isn't an equivalent kit for the distribution drum. Even after my fiddling the movement isn't exactly smooth which means that poor little servo motor is doing a lot of work. 

Anyway fingers crossed it'll be serviceable for a while

[grogee]

Did a test (press AUTO & OFF simultaneously) and the system does a calibration/check. The calibration is important because the motors don't 'know' where they are until they pass through their full travel. 

The check highlights any faults and today I'm pleased to report 0 faults. I could hear the flaps and stuff whirring away so that's probably good. 

I can only imagine the whole thing was a warranty disaster for Saab. It's a very Heath Robinson setup with long levers and linkages that just look destined to fail. And the aforementioned motors are quite stressed even with substantial reduction gearing. 

Anyway I've since been on a mission cleaning the outside. I am in my last week of current job which means I'm basically doing NOTHING and have all day (between school runs) to do stuff to the cars. 

Yesterday was back breaking polishing, today is back breaking waxing and detailing. Of course the weather threw a wobbly and it was raining this morning as I was chamoising the car dry, a Sisyphean task. 

Went to the cheap shop for wax but they only had some weird spray on stuff which doesn't feel very convincing. Of course I continue to forget I'm paying for Amazon prime and so I've ordered some cheap turtle Wax liquid stuff which I'm more used to. 

No pics yet as I've only done one side of 'back to black' which is grim stuff. I did wonder whether black shoe polish might be more effective?

[grogee]

I've finally done all the cleaning I wanted to do on the Saab, so the windows are clean and the black has been back-to-blacked. Seems a bit silly seeing as the weather is quite wet, but somehow I wanted to get one good clean in before I start new job on Monday. 

Also did wife's Alfa and scrubbed the Puma that was clean three days ago. Bugs me when you clean a car and it gets dirty again so soon. But I'm a glutton for punishment, I should really just give into the elements. 

Somebody was giving some heating oil away locally and I was half tempted to put a bit in the Alfa (say 10l per 50l diesel) but then I thought how cross I'd be if it chewed up the fuel pump so I didn't bother. 

We are off to Devon today, stopping in Cribbs Causeway for tea. I wish we still had the nice weather but then that would bring all the muppets out onto the M5 - swings and roundabouts.

I was tempted to take the Saab but it's an extra £50 in fuel which I think I'd rather spend on pastys.

[grogee]

I haven't done anything to any cars except MoT the Saab which passed after a headlight adjust. 

Actually that's a lie, I cleaned the Puma again after having used it twice in the week. It was dirty because wet roads and motorway, but I tried a new 'lite' cleaning method which doesn't involve dragging the hose and pressure washer out. 

Like an equivalent human 'bird bath' (washing balls in the sink), this is just a wet sponge/cold water rinse, then suds, then another rinse followed by chamoising dry. I think it worked ok because it wasn't absolutely filthy, so didn't need max power to shift the grime. 

Of course once I'd washed it, the weather closed in and it rained. Thanks, sky. 

I have broached the exciting* news that Easter will be Puma cambelt weekend to Mrs Grogee. She was understandably overjoyed* at the thought of me under the car all weekend, but we actually don't have any other serious plans other than FiL visit Sunday so it looks like a good use of my time. 

There is a Gates bulletin to read up on which describes the tensioner procedure. According to the Puma forum, if you don't do it the 'Gates way' then your family becomes infested by pestilence and a curse is placed upon your home town. 

[Sunny Jim]

Good luck with the Easter project, I'll be watching with interest.

[grogee]

We have had an FTP. Drove the Saab to work this morning, no problems. Then moved the car a short distance to change car parks about 10am. 

Got in to go home at 5, turned key and it would turn over but no start. AA man thinks DICk which is brand new. 

Ungrateful sod is now sitting on the drive until I can investigate. 

Has anyone got a spare DICk I can try please?

[RoverFolkUs]

2 hours ago, grogee said:

We have had an FTP. Drove the Saab to work this morning, no problems. Then moved the car a short distance to change car parks about 10am. 

Got in to go home at 5, turned key and it would turn over but no start. AA man thinks DICk which is brand new. 

Ungrateful sod is now sitting on the drive until I can investigate. 

Has anyone got a spare DICk I can try please?

You could try this DICk to see if it'll work, it might still be hiding in the fridge.... Maybe worth a check/try?.......

 

 

 

 

 

.....

Ah, a SAAB DIC is what you're after isn't it, sorry don't have one of those m8

[Wgl2019]

Hmmm. DIC doesn't normally just die.

Crank position sensors can but normally just stop hot starting.

[twosmoke300]

One thing I’ve learnt about those DiCk modules is that they are oil filled for cooling . You have to make sure they are the correct way up for at least half an hour before starting the car or they can overheat and fail prematurely.

[twosmoke300]

Oh yeh and I’ve had a couple 9-5 crank sensors go . One right outside my local motor factors on a sat . Luckily they had one and a torx key set in stock .