[sammy5611]

I need help- my 97 900 won't start. Drove it 5 miles to the grocery store yesterday, everything was fine. When I came out, it was completely dead. AAA guy tried to jump it, no luck. Said he heard a "click" so he didn't think it was the alternator... the battery is fairly new.
The interior light works, but everything else is dead. FWIW.
I have a good mechanic, but it's a $100 tow to get it out to him. I have a local mechanic that isn't comfortable with Saabs. Any chance it's something simple and basic?

 

[suniku55]

same thing happened on my saab on the way to the grocery store last month.
The engine shuts off at the stop sign. My saab had a strong robust cranking with a recently replaced starter and battery.
The failed fuel pump(about $100 part) was the blame in my case, not entire fuel pump assembly (about $450).

 

[hkayssi]

Providing enough info to help you is always better.

--You never mentioned the engine type (2.0 Turbo, 2.3 N/A, 2.5 V6)

-- No mileage provided. Cars break in a predictable way. Certain components break at a specific mileage range.

-- It also never hurts to mention what maintenance the car had and what recent maintenance, repairs or failures were. Some problems could be traced to other recent repairs or failures.

I'm assuming the car isn't cranking since you thought about jump starting it with AAA. If that's the case the main suspects are:

1-- Main fuse.
2-- Bad starter, starter relay or fuse.
3-- Bad ignition switch. (Common problem oddly enough with our SAABs)
4-- A bad battery (even fairly new ones could be defective unfortunately). Are the windows going up and down? What about the radio and other accessories. Is the light on the dash dim when attempting to start the car?
5-- Bad connction from the battery to the battery cables (lose or corroded terminals)
6-- Bad Alternator but you would've seen a light and head the chime. So that's a remote possibility
7-- Broken belt that wrapped around one of the pullies preventing the car from starting. Most likely cause for that is a bad ideler pulley.
8-- Siezed engine. But that's very unlikely unless your car has no oil of the oil pump failed

If the car is cranking the most likely suspects are

1-- Bad DIC (Direct Ignition Cassette) if turbo equipped.
2-- Bad CPS (Crank Postion Sensor).
3-- Bad Fuel Pump
4-- Bad fuel pump relay or fuse.