If this is in the wrong area of forums here, please kindly redirect me to whomever might be able to shed some light on this.
I'm a first-timer here, and need help diagnosing an ACC related problem. I bought a '95 900 SE turbo for my daughter for cheap money, knowing that it had some problems. Never owned a Saab before. For right now, with it being winter, my main objective is to get the heater blower working. My buddy who is a mechanic has helped me remove and bench-test the blower motor itself, which we demonstrated works just fine. I'm confused now as to what the next step in diagnosing the problem might be. I've read a bunch of posts here relating to similar issues, although since neither of us is at all familiar with this particular model, we can't decide whether it's a fan speed resistor, ACC controller, or what the heck to even look for, if we knew WHERE to look for whatever it is that we're looking for, and how to test it, whenever we do locate whatever could be causing the fan to not work. (I sure wish this car just had the old-fashioned MANUAL controls!!)
Anyone's help would be very much appreciated.
Thanks.......
Good diagnostic work on testing the blower motor.:cheesy:
Welcome to Saab Central, Gazoo
I hope the link helps
I agree with the desirability of manual controls in an older car. GM could help here and make them all the same, at least in the "preminum line" (Cadillac, Olds, Buick, and Saab).Holden , too..
The problem I had was that some wires had corroded because of water dripping on them. Take off the windshield wipers and pop off that black plastic housing on the bottom of the windshield to expose the cabin air filter. Underneath that to the right there is a wiring harness....fiddle with that with the ACC on to see if there is a loose connection.
Good diagnostic work on testing the blower motor.:cheesy:
Welcome to Saab Central, Gazoo
I hope the link helps
I agree with the desirability of manual controls in an older car. GM could help here and make them all the same, at least in the "preminum line" (Cadillac, Olds, Buick, and Saab).Holden , too..
Thanks Earthworm, for the link, although I've already gone through the ACC re-cal. thing, and it always comes up with 0 default codes, and I don't have access to an ISAT scan tester. Just wondering if there's a way to diagnose or test further, without having the scan tester available.
Yes, bring back the ol' fashioned switches, dials, knobs...if something broke, usually easily observable...and, do-this, to-that.....done!.. New and improved, is debateable. (showing my age?...oh well)
The problem I had was that some wires had corroded because of water dripping on them. Take off the windshield wipers and pop off that black plastic housing on the bottom of the windshield to expose the cabin air filter. Underneath that to the right there is a wiring harness....fiddle with that with the ACC on to see if there is a loose connection.
KSPARK....That was the first thing I tried, and was really hoping that it'd be as simple as that, but, even though all the connections looked ok, I cleaned them all anyway, emery clothed and sprayed contact cleaner, made no difference still.
What I'm dealing with now, is trying to find out if there's any way to check the ACC controller, (& is that under the dash?) other than just replacing it (kinda expensive). Or what else might be causing the fan to not blow. All fuses have checked out fine, also.
Thanks for helping, anyways.
...But you might change your mind, if you were trying to get through this diagnostic nightmare, without spending megabucks on this. As I mentioned, the way I'm used to gettin' it done, was go right to the problem, singling it out easily, & then if you couldn't just find it at some junkyard, then get the part from the supply store. Progress in electronic controls??....not so sure....in the space shuttle, sure... go for it, but, my daughter's fixer-upper car?....nope.
I bet the (manual) heater/AC in your S works just fine, don't it? :lol:
Thanks Bb, have a good (warm?) ride today. It's in the 20's & teens, here today.
hi eveyone I'm the tech thats helping Gazoo with his heater problem.......
we got the blower motor out and bench tested it like he said......works fine,
I cleaned up the connections and pluged the motor back in, with the controle set to manual and the fan speed set to high the blower just barly turns....and it make a funny noise...
So where do we go from here? I know some cars wont turn the fan on until the engine has reached operating temp, could this be the case here even in manual?
I really don't know much about it (I have manual controls in mine), but it seems to me that you should be able to find out how what voltage should be supplied to the blower when the fan is on high. If you set the ACC to high and check the voltage at the blower, you can determine if the problem is the blower or the ACC controller. I know you bench tested the blower, but it is still possible that it is malfunctioning when installed. But like I said, I really don't know much about it, so hopefully someone with more info will correct or add to this idea.
I hope I understand what you mean by "manual", but if I do, then no, the fan can be turned up and down, on defrost or on the feet etc., from the moment the car is started.
However, we do not actually have a "manual" control. Turning off AUTO is just a software function, from an electrical point, everything is controlled the same way.
well I did kind of checked the voltage at the connection... I figured the fan should get a full 12v all the time like most blowers out there and the speed control was done through the ground. So I grounded the (-) side and the fan blew like the wind.....
so i guess it must be the control...
one thing i failed to mention is that with it all hooked up the fan would react to Gazoo raising and lowering the fan speed. On high it would almost spin and make the noise and when he lowered the speed it it would stop.
well I did kind of checked the voltage at the connection... I figured the fan should get a full 12v all the time like most blowers out there and the speed control was done through the ground. So I grounded the (-) side and the fan blew like the wind.....
I believe that is correct, the fan gets power directly through a fuse, and the (-) side is connected to the controller. However, there is also a feedbaclk circuit directly to the ACC module. So, I think the ACC module must sense the voltage at the (-) side of the fan, and output a signal to the controller, the controller adjusts the fan. Each step on the ACC display is supposed to correspond to approx. 2 amps current, so I am guessing (I have not done that myself) you could test that at the fuse.
There have been controller failures posted here, more often than bad ACC modules, but I have no idea how to tell one from the other.
If you had it apart, I would run the ACC calibration/diagnostic again, to see if it shows any new errors now. (same thing you run after disconnecting the battery, press AUTO+OFF simultaneously, etc...)
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