Im such and idiot!!!!!

[fredric53]

ANy and all help is welcomed and appreciated. Was working on car tonight bolting everything back together and missed an connected battery wrong!!! car want start i had it jumped adn drove it home but its definately in limpmode all everything is sluggish all the way down to windshield wipers,rpm is very low. I dont think the computer is fried or car wouldnt work at all am i correct. Starter is good or car wouldnt have taken the jump. battery light was on but also the brake light so not sure if alternator is fried. checked the 4 fuses right by battery and they are ok what could be the issue. please help

['97 Saab SE Turbo]

Get an inexpensive voltmeter and check the alternator and battery. My guess is that the alternator is bad, and the battery ran down while running the car.

A fully-charged battery should be +12.5 VDC or slightly higher with the engine off. If the voltage is down 2 volts (you read +10,5 VDC), expect that it has one bad cell.

With the engine running, you should see +14.0 to +14.5 VDC. If the alternator is bad, you will only see the battery voltage.

If you have to change the alternator, do a search because it is one of the harder things to do on the car... Ron

[fredric53]

I've actually changed the alternator on car before its not 6mnths old....jusst wanna make sure that Ididnt do any damage to and of the computers,the check gear box light was on,and like Isaid EVERYTHING was sluggish

['97 Saab SE Turbo]

It sounds like it's in limp mode... Ron

[fredric53]

So I guess my question is would the car be drivable if the ecu.was fried ?

[earthworm]

Originally Posted by fredric53

ANy and all help is welcomed and appreciated. Was working on car tonight bolting everything back together and missed an connected battery wrong!!! car want start i had it jumped adn drove it home but its definately in limpmode all everything is sluggish all the way down to windshield wipers,rpm is very low. I dont think the computer is fried or car wouldn't work at all am i correct. Starter is good or car wouldn't have taken the jump. battery light was on but also the brake light so not sure if alternator is fried. checked the 4 fuses right by battery and they are ok what could be the issue. please help

But it is impossible to mal-connect and tighten the battery cables!
But the "touch" is possible - with sparks flying all over....oooops...more than once......generally no damage except a deflated ego....

Probably both the alternator and the ECU and anything with a diode is fried..

Once I "messed up" with the Mercedes .. switched jumper cables....toasted the AC -generator....luckly, that was all !

[earthworm]

Originally Posted by fredric53

So I guess my question is would the car be drivable if the ecu.was fried ?

no
Its time to visit your local friendly junque-yarde.
Good luck
Relate this story, you will find that you are not the only one...

[fredric53]

So I guess my question is would the car be drivable if the ecu.was fried ?

[fredric53]

Ok so if the car will start and drive with a jump then that means the ecu is ok am I correct the car is in limp mode tho.

[Nova]

Your ECU is probably fine. My first instinct is to check the alternator (as a previous poster already said). If it needs a jump in order to start, you either have a bettery that won't take a charge, or the alternator is underperforming. The switched polarity may be to blame for that (damaging the voltage regulator). If you are a AAA member, they will come to you and do a complete battery/charging system test. Otherwise, check the voltage with a digital volt meter.

[fredric53]

Thanks nova and everyone else who chimed in,have the battery at work right now charging,will have the alternator check once I get home, will the car automatically come out of limpmode when everything checks out? Or is there some other step I need to do in order to reset it?

[Fox Fader]

Replace the main fuse or fusable link. It has most likely blown.

[BobSaabit]

Originally Posted by fredric53

Thanks nova and everyone else who chimed in,have the battery at work right now charging,will have the alternator check once I get home, will the car automatically come out of limpmode when everything checks out? Or is there some other step I need to do in order to reset it?

No, you need to reset limp home mode. Go to youtube and look for "reset limp home mode" & "saab".

[fredric53]

Thank you guys sooooo much finally made it home with my recharged battery popped it under hood and she fired right up,and as for limpmode im guessing due to the low battery voltage it was recieving the car threw the limpmode signal. once it was seeing 13ish volts it was ok. Bad news alternator is shotout,but i just replaced it so its under warranty just gotta take a weekend to replace it. Bout to replace alternator and motors mounts and DIC cassette,but id like to thank all you saabnatics for your help