[SaabCruisin]

Hello,

New to this website. This morning I purchases a 96 900s 2.3l. I love it. First 5 spd tranny car so of course I've been practiciing on it all day.

Anyways...
the only thing wrong with the car at the time of purchase is that the radio doesn't work. The power atennena goes up and down with the push of the power button but nothing else happens.

So I guess the deck is no good. So I have an extra cd player that I want to put in the car.

So I went to wal-mart to look for a wiring harness and a kit, and No saab .

What can I do now? Anything compatible? Also if this is a repost I appologize. I tried the search function but couldn't find anything.

Looking forward to getting to meet a few of you.

Thanks
-Steve

 

[Jeremy R.]

Wal-Mart probably has a harness that will work. The one for VWs is physically compatible, but a couple of wires will have to be swapped or removed. The pocket to fill the gap and a small bracket are available for $12.00 from www.genuinesaab.com. You can also buy just the pocket, part number 4616660, from your local dealer. It lists for $9.10, but you'll need a piece of double-sided foam tape to hold it in place since US dealers can't get the bracket. It's a Saab of Europe part.

 

[JMarkert]

There's also a chance your stock radio is just fine. If the battery gets disconnected it wants you to enter a pin to unlock it. It's an antitheft stratgy. Now, if someone enters the wrong pin a few times, it'll lock up even more. The solution is to leave the radio on for a full hour while driving around (maybe while practicing your shifts!). Eventually you'll get a message that says "code in" or something like that.

Check your paperwork, you might find the pin somewhere. If not, the dealers keep a record. Most won't give it out over the phone. My dealer was great, I just drove it in and the parts guy looked it up for me for free. Others have had to pay labor :roll: . Maybe going right to the parts counter rather than the service counter is a good strategy.

Anyhow, you might give it a try. It might be the SAAB radio is better than your spare, and you won't lose the frequency display on the SID.

 

[DougR]

I hate those radio's with the anti theft code, it just becomes more of a hinderance than a help. Who wants a stock radio anyhow? Theives are looking for the cars with the big clarion stickers all over their cars.:roll:

 

[jrbrangi]

I used a VW wiring harness, nick at gensaab may have some in stock though

 

[Thurs10cmd]

i also had trouble with the stock radio at first, so i had to go to a local dealer to get the code. but if you want to keep the sid area, and keep the whole area as clean as possible, i would suggest gettin a 6, or whatever, disc changer and installing it in the trunk, or glovebox, like i did. i prefer a multiple disc changer because the dash area just looks a lot nicer as it is

 

[K-CSAAB900S]

Hey, when my wife drained my battery by not turning my alarm off, I got the code in on the radio when I recharged the battery. When I contacted the dealer he said he would give me the code but he needed the numbers on the top of the radio. I took the radio out and guess what was inked on top of the radio? Did you guess the 4 digit code?? Plugged it in and have been jamming every since. Take the radio out and check the top. If it isnt on there, write down all the numbers on the radio because you will need them anyway. The radio comes out easily if you have the write radio hooks to dislodge it. No screwdrivers or anything. Good luck

 

[Slaab4life]

Bent coat hanger pieces work just as well, though the radio puller things can be had from Autozone for $5.

I too had my security code magic markered to the top of my radio. Some security! Particularly what you need for numbers (if your code isn't written on the top), is the serial number off your head unit. I would definitely try leaving the unit on for an hour and see what it says, they are finiky head units on occasion. If that fails, try pulling the two fuses for an hour that are located in the cabin fuse box (driver's side (US) dash end).

If you check some of the popular Saab parts site (http://www.eeuroparts.com , www.thesaabsite.com , etc.) some of them have the stereo wiring harness ends, then its just a matter of wiring it to your new stereo and plugging it into the Saab harness.

 

[SaabCruisin]

wow guys you've been all wonderful help in aiding me towards getting this fixed.

I've been driving the car everywhere practicing all the shifting. Rather difficult at first but I think its coming to me...

What type of tool do I need to "unscrew" the unit from its place. I noticed, if i recall correctly, 4 tiny holes that I believe to be the place that you unscrew from.

Anyways about me...
My name is Steve and I'm 18 yrs old. I have a fully restored 1988 Mercury Cougar with a 5.0l v8, dual flowmaster exhaust, intake, sound system, blah blah blah. http://www.cardomain.com/profile/cougarcruisin . Well last week we were taking a club cruise to a local town to go to a car shop and then stop at a hooters. Well on I-80 that day my friend who was one of the other 6 cars, was tapped from behind by a semitruck, thrown into he guard rail at 60 mph (it was raining) spun around, came back under the trailer by the rear wheels, got dragged, then the tires ran over the hood area, barely missing him from being crushed to death. So i decided from that day to keep my cougar just for sunday drives, save the miles on it, and get a safe reliable but nice looking car to replace as my daily driver. I think I found a fantastic car and so far everyone that I've talked to that owns one has been very friendly and very willing to help myself out with any questions.


Thanks for your time and I bet I'll be asking plenty more Q's.

Steve

 

[DougR]

Interesting story....I-80 can be a scary place. I actually bought a saab mainly for safety commuting as well. I see so many bad accidents on the parts of highway I travel, and people drive like such idiots, that I decided to get the saab. My other cars just don't cut it, and I didn't want an SUV. So with saab I got safety, performance, and decent gas mileage...it was a no brainer for me.

I don't know much about the various saab models yet, but is your model a turbo? If so, you must be picking up manual pretty fast. I honestly cannot imagine learning manual on a turbo car. I have been driving manuals for around 10 years now, but the saab has been a big adjustment because of the turbo, now when I go between my N/A cars and my turbo saab I notice a bit of adjustment time. The saab seems to take a lot more technique to make a smooth yet quick launch. In the beginning I either made a smooth launch and was slow as a snail, or took off like a rabbit riding the heck outta the clutch. Now I am getting a decent compromise in the middle without all the clutch riding, but I still have a tendency to dog it a bit after driving my NA cars.

 

[Jeremy R.]

What type of tool do I need to "unscrew" the unit from its place. I noticed, if i recall correctly, 4 tiny holes that I believe to be the place that you unscrew from.

Check Slaab4Life's post right above yours. :cheesy: The radio just clips in, and those holes are for DIN radio tools that release the clips. For someone like me that takes their radio out all the time, the real deal is a lot nicer than coat hangers.

 

[Slowpc]

http://www.genuinesaab.com/catalog/...ba6d17920181462

That is what you need pretty much. I will be ordering the kit myself this week... time to upgrade the OEM.

I went to my dealership to get some parts for the viggen and was informed i need to get the viggen on the TECh2 to devorce the headunit from the car.. is this true? Want to make sure the SID is still up and running.

Oh yea... and welcome to the SC.

 

[Slaab4life]

I went to my dealership to get some parts for the viggen and was informed i need to get the viggen on the TECh2 to devorce the headunit from the car.. is this true?

Since you have a new than '98 slowpc, I know in the case were if your original head unit were to die and you wanted to replace with another Saab head unit, you would need to divorce the old one and marry the new one to the system. I guess when removing the old head unit to replace with an aftermarket stereo, you have to do the divorce part.

Us pre-'99 (??) car owners don't have to worry about any of that.

 

[Slowpc]

Ok , if i run into a problem , the parts guy here should be able to help me out with that.