P.S. I was thinking of a bad ground connection or a relay failure, but I just don't have any clue where to start checking. Thank you for your attention!

 

Sounds like the main relay failure to me, they are in the footwell to the left and up from the pedals. I believe there is one in there the same as the main, try swapping them over. If I remember correctly they are white.

 

Thanks for you guys advice. But the latest update is, I checked all the relays (as described here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ire7vyDqelg )and they all turned out to be good.

I think I will look into the starter, the ignition cylinder and the neutral position switch next.

 

Main Relay. check for functianlity.

 

Dear all,

I really need you guys' help because my SAAB is making me frustrated. It's a long story but I'll try to make it short.

I have owned a 2001 SAAB 9-5 SE V6 for 3 years and now it has 14K miles, mostly for commuting to school. Automatic transmission.

Four weeks ago I had my hose replaced at a local mechanic because of the coolant leaking. Three days after they replaced the hose, the car happened won't start on campus.

The symptom was:
1. When I turn the key to ignition, I hear a click noise then the car dies. No lights on, no display on dash board, no electric. However, I could hear continuously clicking noise under the fuse box under hood. The first thought to me was the battery dead so I called a friend to jump start for me. But, nothing happens when the jump cable connected. The clicking noise just won't stop even though I pull all the relays out from the fuse box.
2. Then I disconnected my battery, the clicking noise under the fuse box stopped. With the jump cable directly connecting my friend's battery and my power cable, turn the key. The car tries to crank but still won't start, sounds as if there was not enough current.
3. Connect my battery back on, with jump cable connected, waited for 20 mins, turn the key, the car dies again as described in (1). Then I found that if I disconnect the negative end of the battery for a few minutes then reconnect it, I could power on the car. Everything works, and no check engine lights on. But as soon as I try to start it, all the power disappears.
4. I removed the battery and took it to the Autozone. They said the battery was good and was 99% charged.
5. I left the car on campus for two days. Then I tried again with jumping cable from another car. It started immediately! I didn't know what was going on but it ran really good for another few days till died again. The same symptom as (1,2,3,4).
6. This happened three times. At first I thought it just won't start when hot, but yesterday morning it also won't start after staying for one night. Battery is always fully charged.

The problem to me was I don't know when it won't start, and when it will start again. If it was because of the starter, I should not be able to start it now and then, right?

I searched a lot only found this guy's symptom quite similar to mine: http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=233071
As he said, the reason was because of the bad connection of the ground connection on the thermostat housing, the only difference was his seems to be a V4. So I spent an hour to find the thermostat housing. It's a bit difficult for V6 because I had to remove all the intake manifolds, you know. But I found there is no ground connection on V6's thermostat...

I also did a diagnose following the SAAB WIS. I think I could hear the starter motor solenoid kick in when attempt to start.

Thanks to you guys for reading this much. I love this SAAB but as long as it's not getting me into trouble. Any advice is appreciated!

The problem you're having sounds a lot like mine when my saab used to do that back then. http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=370482 <--- thats the link if you have time check it out because i had the same problem. What fixed it was when i replaced the ignition cylinder. Good luck with your saab!

 

I would bet it is the neutral position switch aka neutral safety switch, its located on top of the transmission and they go bad on basically every saab 9-5 automatic from 1999 to 2001. I would buy a low mile used one and see if that fixes it or a new one from eeuroparts.com. It's pretty easy to do your self.

 

I am having a hard time understand everything you have typed. But here is what I would do. If you can jump start your car than there is nothing wrong with your NSS/ starter or grounds. If it won't start without being jumped off by another car then it is your battery.

Because if any of those components I mentioned above were NOT operational getting a jump start won't fix them or by pass them.

I hope that helps you out. Oh and take your battery somewhere else and ask for a "load test" on it.

good luck

 

+1^ NSS cannot be the culprit, if it has failed it would prevent engine from turning over. You can still start when you jump it. How did Auto zone test your battery; with hand held device or on bench with load? I've seen several times when the hand held device gives a good reading but bench test shows failed battery. One of the cells could have gone bad and it could still show a reasonable voltage (close to full) but what you may be lacking is the crank amp (may not be sufficient if a cell is dead). So suggest, like toxic, that you have battery retested under load.

 

I wouldn't rule the NSS out, that is exactly what mine did when the NSS went out. It usually only works intermittently. It could be the starter, battery or ignition cylinder but I would still bet it is the NSS. let us know when you get to the bottom of it.

 

^^Actually when the NSS goes bad you can't jump start it, it doesn't do anything at all until it cools down. Also how can it be a bad starter or ignition if he can jump start it?????

 

When the switch starts going out it is because of a bad connection in the switch so it is really just a toss up of how and when it will start. When mine was going bad it would not start even when it was cold I would try it and nothing and then wait 20 mins and it would start, other times it would start on the tenth try and sometimes it would start right up and sometimes it would barely crank or not start at all. It is the next thing I would check, that's all I can say.

 

Good info bro!!!;ol;