My 94 9000 was running as usual through the day today. On the way home around 30mph I lost power. When hitting the gas there was no RPM response, but there was response still on the Turbo gauge. We rolled to a side street as it died.
-I was a little above empty, but no warning light.
-tried to add some gas, didn't change anything
I searched around the forums and found a couple checklists of things to fault check - but wanted to know if anyone had ideas. (The car is now parked inconveniently away from my home, but I will go back tomorrow for some diagnosis!)
I was thinking because of running on a less-full tank might have pulled some debris into the line causing it to clog a filter maybe?
I'm sure there's probably a filter in the tank with a pump, but there's probably another one inline that I don't know about. Does anyone have any suggestions of what to check and where. Or is this a bad line of thought all together?
Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. This is my wife and I's daily driver (and we cant take the kid in the VW Bus:cheesy so down time is bad for business.
For a start check if the fuel pump primes (pressurizes) the system. Turn the key to the ON position ( don't start it yet) and listen for a hum that last about 2-5 seconds. It does this once the car has sat for a while so listen for it carefully.
I'll give a shot to listening for the pump too. I was having trouble earlier hearing it because the power antennae was running. If I turn off the radio it should fix that problem.
Is there only a pump in the tank on this car? Or another one elsewhere?
We only have the one in the tank. i have seen a mercedes with 2 pumps but didnt have time to check and see how they work....
Back to your car, had you done anything to it prior to this happening? any work under the hood... could be a loose connection somewhere.....??
Checked out the car again this morning. Battery was dead from leaving the flashers on :evil: Didn't notice it when I left I guess.
And apparently a 1.7L VW T4 does not produce enough juice to give the battery enough boost to do anything more than sluggishly turn the engine over.
I did let it charge for 10 min or so and then sat with the key in the on position to listen for the fuel pump to kick on. I heard nothing. Going to try getting it on a battery charger so I can silently listen for it without the bus running in front of it :cheesy:
Also found the fuel filter at AutoZone (To my great surprise!) And dumped in a bottle of "Heat" gas treatment.
I'll give a shot to listening for the pump too. I was having trouble earlier hearing it because the power antennae was running. If I turn off the radio it should fix that problem.
Is there only a pump in the tank on this car? Or another one elsewhere?
To hear it beyond that couple of seconds it runs when the key is turned on, reach the fuse box and jump fuses 14 and 22 together. This will positively power the fuel pump. If you just turn the key, you only have a couple of seconds to listen for it, before it shuts down, waiting for the einge to start cranking.
I had a friend come by with a different car to jump it with. With some careful listening, we did hear the fuel pump coming on. So instead of replacing the fuel filter, I went towards the ignition.
Removed the cassette, detached it from the harness and hooked up the cassette that has been riding in my trunk since before I bought the car. Bolted the unit in and the car fired up immediately
As a stupid question to ask of you could you try the old DI again? Something tells me the car will start with it too.
Just if you have the time and inclination to try that. I would not leave it on. I "THINK" the DI told the ECU/APC or whatever unit received a fault and turned off the signal to the DI. The replacement unit did not toss a fault when "questioned".
I think it does that to prevent a major engine issue if the engine was to say only run on 3 cylinders. This would make the engine run very hot and if a turbo is involved it could cause severe detonation and eventual engine failure.
This is just my "theory". Someone will probably show me as very wrong
As a stupid question to ask of you could you try the old DI again? Something tells me the car will start with it too.
Just if you have the time and inclination to try that. I would not leave it on. I "THINK" the DI told the ECU/APC or whatever unit received a fault and turned off the signal to the DI. The replacement unit did not toss a fault when "questioned".
I think it does that to prevent a major engine issue if the engine was to say only run on 3 cylinders. This would make the engine run very hot and if a turbo is involved it could cause severe detonation and eventual engine failure.
This is just my "theory". Someone will probably show me as very wrong
Mmmh. Now I'm curious too to see the results of such a test.
But, AFAIK, T5 does not have such capability, to "inspect" the DI and decide wethere to run the engine or not. I know that T7 cars don't run with a less than perfect DI, but T5 cars can.
Also, in the case the ECU decided not to run the case as a result of some fault code from the DIC, I would expect at least a CEL, but the OP doesn't seem to have one.
Mmmh. Now I'm curious too to see the results of such a test.
But, AFAIK, T5 does not have such capability, to "inspect" the DI and decide wethere to run the engine or not. I know that T7 cars don't run with a less than perfect DI, but T5 cars can.
Also, in the case the ECU decided not to run the case as a result of some fault code from the DIC, I would expect at least a CEL, but the OP doesn't seem to have one.
I wish I could answer that. My car did not throw any CEL it just refused to start once. I disconnected the DI and reconnected it and it got me home but the very next day refused to start again. Changed the DI and it has been fine since.
The DI system does some self testing I am sure, the "shower of sparks" some people mention the system (not sure which variants, LH, T5 or T7) doing must look at the plug resistance at some point. Since the system uses the plug resistance to detect knock through that resistance it may be that when the system detects a no resistance fault (say a coil pack has failed by shorting to the head instead of through a spark plug) or an infinite resistance by having a dead coil the system saves itself further damage.
I do not know and most of the threads I have read about the system are vague except about what cassette to use. Even that info is rather sketchy for the LH (Bosch) cars. The defacto info is if you have a red replace with a red, have a black replace with a black.
I would try this myself with my old unit except it is puking oil and I do not think it is such a good idea. I'm waiting on another dead unit and I am goint to O'scope them and try to understand how they work better.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
SaabCentral Forums
3M posts
119.1K members
Since 2001
SaabCentral forum the most comprehensive Saab resource on the internet. Join our discussions on the Saab 9-3, Saab 9-5, Saab 900, Saab 9000 and all other Saab models, choose your forum.