Ownership Verified: The Saaba begins: 1995 Saab 9000 Aero

Just replaced the light bulbs inside the seat heater switches.

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:lol: Nice!
 
928GTS said:
How much of an issue was that? I need to do that on my '87.
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With the usual caveat that things may have changed between yours and mine, I found the instructions at http://jope.fi/saab/www.quasimotors.com/seat_heater_bulbs.htm very helpful. There are two globs of solder that you have to remove from the circuit board before you can access the bulb; once you open up the switch, you'll see what I'm talking about. I bought my bulbs from http://www.1000bulbs.com/product/26332/IND-8640-10PK.html .These are also used in my climate control backlighting, and are probably shared with other interior bits, so buying a 10-pack isn't as overkill as it looks.
 
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Just took it on a ~1,500 mile highway trip. Didn't miss a beat, those seats are incredibly comfortable, and the turbo has scared the crap out of at least five or six passengers total. Slightly rough-riding over really crappy roads, which is probably due to the 35 PSI pressure that the instruction manual recommends; it was much softer in the winter when I let it slide to 32 PSI. Still doesn't beat an XJR for outright comfort, but I did manage 30 MPG throughout the trip. Oh, and every engineer who's ridden in it wants one.
 
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What tires are you running? 32psi is best for ride comfort on 17" 45-profile tires. For performance, mountain-runs I increase it up to 35psi, but for everyday driving 32psi is decent.

(This is for 45-profile tires. On my old car, the 55 profile rode best on 36psi. )
 
I'm running on Toyo Extensa HPs with a 55 profile. I did fill the tires when it was a bit colder than it is now, so the pressure will have gone up a bit.
 

And so it continues. Still running pretty darn well other than the traction control intermittently turning itself off. Doesn't cause any other problems apart from the light coming on, and hopefully it isn't the precursor to a more major fault.
 
It might be a dying ABS module (afaik, it's one device running the abs and traction control). It's really expensive at the dealer, but it costs less than $100 to rebuild it professionally. But at this point I don't think you need to worry about it.
 
Saab bucket list item ticked off: haul furniture and haul ass at the same time. God bless free furniture ads on Craigslist and having the capacity to carry it too.
 
You mean you couldn't do that in the MR2? :D
 
_HighVoltage_ said:
You mean you couldn't do that in the MR2? :D
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I could, but I don't have enough bondage gear tie-downs to keep it stable.

So the top of the dashboard has to come off in order to access the instrument panel. It is, like they say about warefare, 99% boredom and 1% terror. The boredom comes from removing the 12 bolts and screws holding the dashboard cover onto the dashboard, as well as unbolting the steel cable securing the dashboard cover to the A-pillars. This attachment is apparently in case an accident dislodges the other 12 fasteners and the 5-pound sheet of plastic and metal starts to buzzsaw through the interior of the car. The terror comes from removing the fiberglass A-pillar trim pieces and plastic speaker grilles, pieces that are probably one careless push from breaking, pieces that are probably hundreds of dollars new from the local Saab parts scalper.

All to resolder some connectors in the tachometer because it took half an hour of driving for the needle to start moving. And now the SRS light is on. Well crap. So it's re-unbolt, re-unscrew, disconnect that part of the TMI display under the tach, and take another half-hour to reassemble it. The internet now tells me that your local friendly Saab mechanic, if one exists in your vicinity, will reset it for free. Time for another epic session of re-unbolt, re-unscrew, reconnect, re-bolt, and re-screw, just as soon as I'm arsed to do it.

Now I have a set of Bilstein HDs in the mail with all the ancillary stuff to go with it. How hard can they be?
 
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From this:
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to this:
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I've decided I hate dealing with MacPherson struts. The originals were on the car since new and were rusted to the strut towers. Now it actually handles for a change instead of wobbling around on what felt like pogo sticks. Once the backordered rears come in it'll feel like new. If it weren't for the car's excellent overall condition I'd be sorely tempted to take it rallying.
 
Rust repair. <_< Just keep telling myself that I'm supporting local business.
 
Labcoatguy said:
Rust repair. <_< Just keep telling myself that I'm supporting local business.
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What's getting repaired? I still gotta paint my two new front fenders that are going on mine, the old ones are pretty well perforated.
 
Just had the rear shock mounts and the surrounding wheel wells done. My left rear wing is also starting to bubble, and the left rear trailing arm mount is bubbling underneath too; I have the sneaking suspicion it was hit in that corner, as the right side doesn't have that rust.
 
I need to bring my good camera more places.
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After that drive, I've decided that a turbocharger is a device for finding water. If there's any moisture near the surface of the earth, whatever the turbo is installed in will gyrate frantically towards said moisture. I discovered this while driving through a rather thin fog that managed to dampen the ground enough to induce wheelspin in third gear.
 
As Jeremy once said - "When do you feel most alive? When you are *this* close to death!"
 
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