water dripping under dash!

[PeterGustavsson]

Just got my 900 and noticed the floor of the drivers area was wet, but when it didn’t dry out i began to wonder, and now i just noticed big drops of water were falling from under the dashboard, basically right over the break the pedal, perhaps even sliding down the break pedel.
its defiantly water, but when i touch it my hand get weirdly dry after wards.

i cant image what it is or where its coming from...

[Geoff Weeks]

My guess is its not water but brake fluid, which will dry out skin when it draw the moisture out of it.
keep an eye on the level for the next few days.

[dmgb5]

Coolant from heater control valve?

[PeterGustavsson]

break fluid would always be kinda oily and dark though, or? this is totally clear, ya, like water.

[PeterGustavsson]

Originally Posted by dmgb5

Coolant from heater control valve?

YA! it was warm!!

ok... ill research... do i need to tear out the whole dash :/

[PeterGustavsson]

So is that just water actually, or something like water, special fluid? (do i just used distilled water to refill the cooling system once i drain it to fix this?) hehe, this might be the obvious

[dmgb5]

Its a mixture of coolant and distilled water.

No, the dash doesn't need to come up but depending on how you decide to replace it...(there are two ways) the knee bolster may need to come out.

[16saabs]

temporary fix, so no leak into car... take of the pipes that goes into the heater unit at the bulkhead, and either join the two ends with a piece of copper pipe etc, or remove one of the pipes completely and connect it to the other open end. you will have no heat in the car but will get no more water loss except what is left in heater unit , but most will come out with just the removal of bottom pipe

[PeterGustavsson]

yup, that’s it. i was sorta able to take out the lower dash, but got a better view from the speaker/window vent.


hm, what to do. would kinda like to fix it, cheaply. if i cleaned the corrosion off could i silicon or glue it?

but still need to get at it.

does anyone know how to remove the lower vent? i got 2 screws out but it goes under the dash somewhere in the middle and is stuck.



as for the fluid, yep, the coolant tank is empty! good to catch it now !
half anti-freeze, half water? hm, have to see what they have here in germany to put in.

and wash this hehe

[PeterGustavsson]

well i posted some pics, but the moderator needs to approve...
its totally corroded!
what can be done sort of replacing it?? some cleaner spray and high temperature silicon?
wow, crazy, good we caught it too, as the coolant take was all drained by now, it must have just sprung the leak recently.

does anyone know how to remove the bottom air flow vent? should be able to get to it then. got he middle dash thing out (infront of the gear shift), and 2 screws from the vent out, but its stuck in the middle.

(guess the pictures will show up and this will look like a double post soon )

[dmgb5]

Whats totally corroded? The heater matrix?

Not sure what you mean bottom air flow vent? A photo would be nice. Are you referring to the black plastic tubing for the floor heater vents? If so, you don't need to remove it to replace the heater control valve or matrix.

[PeterGustavsson]

ya, hopefully the pictures will be approved soon...

the copper pipes and the connectors to the copper pipes are corroded. ya, the whole thing basically.

floor vent, ya, it runs the whole width of the car, right below the dash. i figured if i removed it i could get to the heater control and the copper pipes enough without having to removed the dash, and its not a very good angle to reach it from above through the speaker hole.

[dmgb5]

If the copper pipes are corroded I would suspect that your heater matrix may be at fault too.

The floors vents do not needed to be removed for this. If you taller than say 1.8 meters then the through the speaker grille is physically impossible...I've tried. The centre console and knee bolster need to be removed. Then you can access the screws the hold the heater matrix and cover in place. Once you have removed the cover just gently pull the matrix and control valve down together.

Sorry, I know thats not the best explanation. Try searching heater control valve removal and find a write describing going through the lower dash.

[crwchf01]

There are two screws by the vertical column that houses the core. They are inside the distribution slots. There are 3 possibilities as to the leak. The control valve, the core itself, and the 2 O-rings between them. Corrosion streaking may tell you if the rings are the problem. Streaking at the joint is the indication of this condition. Streaking from the valve slider (top of control valve) means seals internal to the control valve are gone and it should be replaced. There are 4 screw that hold the cover to the core in place , and may have valves or brackets attached at the screw points, depending on the installation.

[16saabs]

if it's completely gone it will need replacing.
regards losing all your water from header tank ??it does'nt take much of a hole(pin hole) to sson loose any amount of water as it's under pressure and soom blows out

[SteveZodiac]

Once the lower part of the dash is off then it's much simpler to get at all of it than many cars, I've had to change a 9000 matrix recently and it ain't much fun jumping up and down on top of the engine hoping nothing will break whilst tugging at the matrix, blower motor, wiring, cabling etc!

This lower dash - knee bolster - is held on by 3 bolts, 2 on each end you need to get at from the engine bay near the wiring for the door windows etc and the centre one behind the ash tray. Also will help to remove lower part of steering column shroud, 2 torx screws there, I didn't on mine and snapped part of the shroud . Thinking on it the design of this is pretty good for maintenance wise, that and the dash top speakers as well

[nutcase]

Pics are approved, sorry for the delay

[PeterGustavsson]

wow, i did it! got the whole thing out, sealed it up with some Dirko (high temp sealant we have in germany, is it also in the states?)

edit: here is the link to a blog post i wrote about it > http://saabrepairguide.com/saab-900/...control-valve/

i got most of the screws out from under, the bugger was the one closest in the direction of the radio, after about an hour i finally found the right tool and the right angle!
(im writing a post about it with pictures, will post back here)

in the meantime i want to confirm the bleed valve so i can go refill

is this it? should i take it off or just open it a few turns?

[S900t8v]

don't want to be a party pooper but did you put the silicone in between 2 mating surfaces that are held with fasteners? if you did it'll probably work, if you jut put it over the top it's very unlikely to work. The cooling system reaches 10-15 psi when hot, more than enough to push coolant through the silicone.

I guess you may find out anyway, but you'll probably need to replace or have the pipes brazed or something.

[peva]

That is a bleed valve. Whether you bleed it or not is up to you. The cooling system purges itself of all air automatically. Bleeding that valve does no harm if you feel happier doing it. When you first run the engine after refilling it, keep an eye on the reservoir level. As the air comes out of the system and into the reservoir the level will drop, so keep the reservoir topped up.