Thread of several Saabs

[Keymaster]

On 13/10/2025 at 08:16, Split_Pin said:

Some decent miles done this weekend but its now developed a strange fault. When I brake I get a loud 'click' from somewhere up front. It doesn't do it when stationery,  moving off, accelerating, cornering or over bumps. Pad retaining springs are present and correct.

I'll jack it up at lunchtime and see what's what, hopefully not a driveshaft!

Mine does that aswell occasionally, never been able to get to the bottom of it

[mintwth]

5 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

 

Crank

Shaft

Seal

[Split_Pin]

33 minutes ago, Keymaster said:

Mine does that aswell occasionally, never been able to get to the bottom of it

It doesn't seem to affect anything and nothing is apparently amiss with the braking system.

[Split_Pin]

35 minutes ago, IronStar said:

I'm looking at 9-3 convertibles for days, and I've just realized where the idea got into my head. 😄

I'll definitely go out and replace this one with another. They really suit my needs.

[Keymaster]

6 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

It doesn't seem to affect anything and nothing is apparently amiss with the braking system.

Yep, same, have had it on various ramps trying to track it down.  Mechanics and MOT testers can't find anything wrong. 

Verdict: just old car stuff 

[SiC]

Pads moving in the calipers and taking up slack when braking? I find many fixed calipers do it but my wife's Civic with floating did it recently. On the advice of my local garage, putting some copper grease on the back of the pads did the trick to sort that. 

[Split_Pin]

Thank you, I will try that. It definitely sounds like it could be that as pressing the brake while stationery does not replicate the problem.

[beko1987]

I'd agree with the coppaslip and doing that on all 4 corners, you'll be able to check the slider pins aren't siezed anywhere which could be causing the start of some issues...

If it's something contacting somewhere you'd hopefully see some witness marks on something 🤞

[colino]

Can the click be a cracking bulkhead or is that a different saab disease? 

[Split_Pin]

14 minutes ago, colino said:

Can the click be a cracking bulkhead or is that a different saab disease? 

That's the OG 9-3 pre 2003 thankfully.

[Split_Pin]

I've lost patience with this now.

It was heavy rain today and water is collecting somewhere above each door and when I drive off there's a significant deluge of water that dumps down the seat and carpet.

I used to get the occasional message ping up that the roof was open/there are obstacles but the car is pretty much undriveable now as it permanently thinks the roof is open and bongs at me every 5 seconds.

Crank pulley has started to leak.

Clonks from the back end.

Drivers door/window iffy.

Dents in NS door and wing.

Rear subframe looks corroded

OSR caliper sometimes binds a touch, sometimes not.

MOT is up in a month. 

I only paid £695 for this thing 7 months ago and its been absolutely grand up until now. That's £100 per month just to have the car, and a nice one at that. So no complaints for me.

But I needed it to be a WBOD and unfortunately it has failed to be that, so..

I hate scrapping cars but there's no shame to it really.

I'll be taking the plate off it if anyone wants J19NTH for £100 (transfer fee plus a few coffees/cakes at the weekend for the family and I). I'd feel a bit better if at least that bit lived on.

[FakeConcern]

Sad to have a pet car put down, but it's kindest thing sometimes!

Funnily enough I saw one of these in a roadside dealer for £1000 on the way home and thought of you...

[Split_Pin]

I'd take that!

[FakeConcern]

In East Sussex.

Just remind me where you are!

 

In 2017, I flew from Gatwick to Inverness, picked up a car and drove it home to the South Coast, it would be fun to do it in reverse!

(If you're interested)

I can't find the Saab for sale online so if you are interested I'll go and have a look tomorrow

[Split_Pin]

Theres an MOT fail for sale in St Andrews, failed on headlights and exhaust. Same colour as mine. Someone has offered a transport solution. 

You can see where this is going.....

[FakeConcern]

29 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Theres an MOT fail for sale in St Andrews, failed on headlights and exhaust. Same colour as mine. Someone has offered a transport solution. 

You can see where this is going.....

You're going to fly down to Gatwick?

[Split_Pin]

Not quite, probably close to Leuchars though!

[mk2_craig]

33 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

You can see where this is going.....

Didn't have you down as someone who enjoyed indulging in a spot of good old fashioned British ringing!

[Split_Pin]

Haha no just headlights and exhaust.

The car I'm interested is scrap money, out of MOT since June but unfortunately the owner thinks it's worth more.

Ho-hum!

[Split_Pin]

Saab has obviously heard me and STFU. I'm out in it this morning to attend an eye test. If I can nurse it to the 5th December then I can see what it might need for a test and whether it would be worth replacing that expensive hall sensor in the roof.

[SiC]

20 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

but the car is pretty much undriveable now as it permanently thinks the roof is open and bongs at me every 5 seconds.

Mrs SiC and myself drove to the Cotswolds and back in the Z4 last weekend. Absolutely beautiful weather and had the roof down for a fair bit of it.

On the way back we had the roof up (dark and getting cold) and from Gloucester to back home we had the same intermittent periods of it constantly bonging that the roof was down when it clearly wasn't. Like the Saab bong, the BMW one makes your heart sink hearing it. Doesn't do the nerves much good it going off every few minutes even though you know it's only the roof!

Unhelpfully these are the only error codes. So I have no idea which of the 15 sensors it could be...

I put it back in the naughty corner for now. 😂

(I just drove it to the gym about an hour ago and it stayed quiet the whole time. Which could make this fault finding exercise even harder. Seems to be more of a thing when it's around freezing on this)

[SiC]

Short term I guess you could unplug the middle speaker on the dash as iirc that's where the warning bongs come from on the 9-3 🤔

Would loose the indicator click but iirc that isn't even an MOT failure as you still have a dash light flashing as an indicator which should allow it to pass. 

[Split_Pin]

I know what sensor it is as I had it scanned by Tech 2, unfortunately it is £115 used. Not worth it when the MOT is due and needing more work.

It's fate was decided at lunch time when I opened the roof a touch to try and get some red rubber grease into the seals between the roof and windscreen corners. It did open a bit but then stopped saying 'only manual operation possible',  which is nothing new. However after that it just died completely. There is now no response at all from the button.  

So I pulled the roof closed manually, put the car in my garage and I'll take the plate off after work and then call Cartakeback.

[Split_Pin]

5 minutes ago, SiC said:

Short term I guess you could unplug the middle speaker on the dash as iirc that's where the warning bongs come from on the 9-3 🤔

Would loose the indicator click but iirc that isn't even an MOT failure as you still have a dash light flashing as an indicator which should allow it to pass. 

I would do that but what also happens is that as the car flicks from thinking the roof is open to closed every few minutes, it mucks up the heater settings. If you've had one of these, they all have this (IMO stupid) feature where the display changes from 0-27c to number 1-10 when you open the roof 🤷‍♂️ It also whacks up the heat and fan speed. So you can imagine what that's like every 5 seconds driving along!

[SiC]

2 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

I would do that but what also happens is that as the car flicks from thinking the roof is open to closed every 5 minutes, it mucks up the heater settings. If you've had one of these, they all have this (IMO stupid) feature where the display changes from 0-27c to number 1-10 when you open the roof 🤷‍♂️ It also whacks up the heat and fan speed. So you can imagine what that's like every 5 seconds driving along!

Does it have a roof control module? If so maybe unplug it. You'll get a roof fault warning but at least that should only happen once on startup.

IME climate control temperature control with a roof open is utterly useless and 1-10 probably works better for the most part. My Boxster was temperature but the later ones changed to 1-10 with the roof open. 

[SiC]

11 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

I know what sensor it is as I had it scanned by Tech 2, unfortunately it is £115 used. Not worth it when the MOT is due and needing more work.

Does it look something like this?

If so that's identical to ones used on many BMWs and VAG. On the Z4 E89 it's £190. 

However the identical sensor on the E88 (1 series convertible) is £25. Only difference is the wire colour and has no connector on the other end. So you chop off the old sensor connector and connect it to the new sensor. 

https://ebay.us/m/XCQqDd

(Other sellers available including main dealers - just search on the BMW part number)

Also many times even just disconnecting the connector and giving it a good spray of electrical contact cleaner can help too. 

[SiC]

13 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

So I pulled the roof closed manually, put the car in my garage and I'll take the plate off after work and then call Cartakeback.

I mean even if you don't want to fix the roof, if there is still MOT left, just keep using it until it expires even if the roof doesn't work?

Plus might be a good short term parts (seats/roof sensors/modules/etc) donor if you are getting another 9-3 before you send it off to be bean tins. 

[Split_Pin]

4 minutes ago, SiC said:

Does it look something like this?

If so that's identical to ones used on many BMWs and VAG. On the Z4 E89 it's £190. 

However the identical sensor on the E88 (1 series convertible) is £25. Only difference is the wire colour and has no connector on the other end. So you chop off the old sensor connector and connect it to the new sensor. 

https://ebay.us/m/XCQqDd

(Other sellers available including main dealers - just search on the BMW part number)

Also many times even just disconnecting the connector and giving it a good spray of electrical contact cleaner can help too. 

Yes thats the one, excellent sleuthing!

That could be an option.

I dont even mind if the roof doesn't work just now, and I can silence the bongs, it's just the crazy heating thing thats not really an option to live with.

Even if I can get to Christmas with it would be fine.

[MAF260]

32 minutes ago, SiC said:

Mrs SiC and myself drove to the Cotswolds and back in the Z4 last weekend. Absolutely beautiful weather and had the roof down for a fair bit of it.

On the way back we had the roof up (dark and getting cold) and from Gloucester to back home we had the same intermittent periods of it constantly bonging that the roof was down when it clearly wasn't. Like the Saab bong, the BMW one makes your heart sink hearing it. Doesn't do the nerves much good it going off every few minutes even though you know it's only the roof!

Unhelpfully these are the only error codes. So I have no idea which of the 15 sensors it could be...

I put it back in the naughty corner for now. 😂

(I just drove it to the gym about an hour ago and it stayed quiet the whole time. Which could make this fault finding exercise even harder. Seems to be more of a thing when it's around freezing on this)

Broadway?

Beautiful place, especially at Xmas time.

[MAF260]

10 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Yes thats the one, excellent sleuthing!

That could be an option.

I dont even mind if the roof doesn't work just now, and I can silence the bongs, it's just the crazy heating thing thats not really an option to live with.

Even if I can get to Christmas with it would be fine.

It'll be a shame if it has to go over the bridge, but you have more than enough ownership experience of these to recognise a good one from a bad one. Their current low values prohibit sinking funds beyond a certain amount into them, sadly.