3 ms·

Coincidentally, yes! I had to use that diagram to troubleshoot a no-fuel issue on my '83 900 last year. (Bad pump.) Now I'm learning all about fuel leaks and br

Coincidentally, yes! I had to use that diagram to troubleshoot a no-fuel issue on my '83 900 last year. (Bad pump.) Now I'm learning all about fuel leaks and brake calipers and putting too many miles on (and paying too much attention to) my emergency backup Saturn. What year is your 900? I haven't heard of this fan issue yet, but there are a lot of really specific SAAB things that I'm sure I'll encounter if I can keep this car going long enough. What I'd really like would be to select a wire and have it highlight the wire and every connection; that'd make continuity tests a lot easier to confirm. I'm sure places like Haynes have some great software in-house they can use to make their diagrams.

calvinmorrison 4y ago
please reach out to me at calvin@pobox.com. It's good to have saab freinds on call when you have Q's. I have... a LOT of experience with 900's. This is my 88. I am getting fairly close to ripping out the whole fan relay system as it's very complex and replacing it with fewer, simpler, easier to replace and maintain switches and relays. Even with the 80's CIS stuff I have experience so... happy to help. The pre 86 calipers are trash though, if you are east coast i have a whole set of 88 front knuckles you might be able to swap over (Not sure if it'll work with your axles). Anyway, I have a good network of saab people offline so parts and things I can usually wrangle up. Last year we did a saab underground railroad and shipped an 1968 96 transmission 700 miles for free over a few months of people visiting people
- drewzero1 4y ago
  That's awesome! I've never been a part of a car community anything like this before. The closest is with Saturn fans, but those cars are so plentiful that parts can almost always be found locally even with the early ones like my backup car. I'll have to see where I get on the caliper rebuild. The surviving local SAAB shop has been a great resource, and they've offered some good used pistons if I end up needing them. I'm in the midwest and I get the sense that SAAB never had as big of a presence around here; mine was an IDS car so it was purchased directly from the factory. Most of them including mine have suffered heavy rust damage by now, so there aren't many left.
  - calvinmorrison 4y ago
    Sorry, been meaning to reply. The best trick I have for old caliper rebuilds is to pop the piston out with compressed air. You can do it with a bike pump and some tubes or anything you can figure out how to supply air to the brake line inlet. This will act like you are pressing the pedal, sort of. What's an IDS Car? Also for rust... I honestly mostly ignore it. These cars are unibody construction. You'll have to seriously be rusty to have enough structural problems. I am the king of wire wheel and por-15. I have only replaced a few sections on my cars, mostly floorboards and lower A arm areas. For what it's worth, I have gotten by with the humble harbor freight welding setup, flux core. It doesn't look pretty but it gets metal welded. I did both of my floor pans this way, and it's... well it's fine. It's not beautiful but it does work. Copious seem sealer helps along as well. I'd also lightly hone the inside of the calipers if you can, if there's pitting that you can feel rubbing your finger along the inner wall. I haven't rebuild a pre 86 caliper in a long time, but there should be some good resources on the forums. I'd mostly focus on getting on the saab facebook group. I am not on facebook, but it is a treasure trove for asking questions. Unfortunately the forums are mostly relegated to historical information now as people have transitioned to single sign on social media. There's also saabnet which is invaluable. As for popularity, you're quite right. Saab seems most popular in new england. With it's relative wealth, weather and proximity to the outdoors, I think that was a natural fit, unfortunately that means that we lack the arizona rust free cars of yesteryear, there weren't many saabs out there to begin with. Anyway... I can probably write forever on saab, but I have just recieved parts in the mail from the saab heritage museum and am going to try out the fitment!
    - drewzero1 4y ago
      Good tip on the compressed air. IDS = International Diplomat Sales; as I understand it, instead of renting a car when traveling in Europe, you could buy a SAAB and they'd arrange shipment back home. The former owner of mine was a professor who spent a year guest lecturing in Norway in 1983-84 and brought the car home when he was done. And I'm certainly heading toward needing to do some welding, because here in the rust belt it's impossible to ignore. (3 of my last 4 cars were killed by structural rust, and of those, 2 were unibody.) I'll send you an email. I could (evidently) talk about SAAB for weeks.

calvinmorrison 4y ago

please reach out to me at calvin@pobox.com. It's good to have saab freinds on call when you have Q's. I have... a LOT of experience with 900's. This is my 88. I am getting fairly close to ripping out the whole fan relay system as it's very complex and replacing it with fewer, simpler, easier to replace and maintain switches and relays. Even with the 80's CIS stuff I have experience so... happy to help. The pre 86 calipers are trash though, if you are east coast i have a whole set of 88 front knuckles you might be able to swap over (Not sure if it'll work with your axles). Anyway, I have a good network of saab people offline so parts and things I can usually wrangle up. Last year we did a saab underground railroad and shipped an 1968 96 transmission 700 miles for free over a few months of people visiting people

drewzero1 4y ago
That's awesome! I've never been a part of a car community anything like this before. The closest is with Saturn fans, but those cars are so plentiful that parts can almost always be found locally even with the early ones like my backup car. I'll have to see where I get on the caliper rebuild. The surviving local SAAB shop has been a great resource, and they've offered some good used pistons if I end up needing them. I'm in the midwest and I get the sense that SAAB never had as big of a presence around here; mine was an IDS car so it was purchased directly from the factory. Most of them including mine have suffered heavy rust damage by now, so there aren't many left.
- calvinmorrison 4y ago
  Sorry, been meaning to reply. The best trick I have for old caliper rebuilds is to pop the piston out with compressed air. You can do it with a bike pump and some tubes or anything you can figure out how to supply air to the brake line inlet. This will act like you are pressing the pedal, sort of. What's an IDS Car? Also for rust... I honestly mostly ignore it. These cars are unibody construction. You'll have to seriously be rusty to have enough structural problems. I am the king of wire wheel and por-15. I have only replaced a few sections on my cars, mostly floorboards and lower A arm areas. For what it's worth, I have gotten by with the humble harbor freight welding setup, flux core. It doesn't look pretty but it gets metal welded. I did both of my floor pans this way, and it's... well it's fine. It's not beautiful but it does work. Copious seem sealer helps along as well. I'd also lightly hone the inside of the calipers if you can, if there's pitting that you can feel rubbing your finger along the inner wall. I haven't rebuild a pre 86 caliper in a long time, but there should be some good resources on the forums. I'd mostly focus on getting on the saab facebook group. I am not on facebook, but it is a treasure trove for asking questions. Unfortunately the forums are mostly relegated to historical information now as people have transitioned to single sign on social media. There's also saabnet which is invaluable. As for popularity, you're quite right. Saab seems most popular in new england. With it's relative wealth, weather and proximity to the outdoors, I think that was a natural fit, unfortunately that means that we lack the arizona rust free cars of yesteryear, there weren't many saabs out there to begin with. Anyway... I can probably write forever on saab, but I have just recieved parts in the mail from the saab heritage museum and am going to try out the fitment!
  - drewzero1 4y ago
    Good tip on the compressed air. IDS = International Diplomat Sales; as I understand it, instead of renting a car when traveling in Europe, you could buy a SAAB and they'd arrange shipment back home. The former owner of mine was a professor who spent a year guest lecturing in Norway in 1983-84 and brought the car home when he was done. And I'm certainly heading toward needing to do some welding, because here in the rust belt it's impossible to ignore. (3 of my last 4 cars were killed by structural rust, and of those, 2 were unibody.) I'll send you an email. I could (evidently) talk about SAAB for weeks.