[oldmaven]

The climate control on my '04 Arc works fine for the driver position, but the passenger side and back seat sometimes deliver heat when cooling is needed, and vice versa. I think it once briefly sent heat to the back seat and AC to the passenger seat, but I'm not sure.

My dealer originally said it was a bad stepper motor, but replacing that did not change anything. Now they say it's a broken vane inside a box, and thaat fixing it will cost several hundred dollars and involve taking the dash apart.

Has anyone else had this problem, and if so, what fixed it?

 

[Jeremy R.]

Start by running the diagnostics on your ACC and report back with the error code(s). The display will tell you the number of error codes on the left, and the actual codes will appear on the right. The most common problems are a broken stepper motor (which you've had addressed), a broken blend door stop arm, and a broken blend door shaft. Repair kits are available for the latter two problems for less than $30.

Google "Saab 9-5 blend door repair" and you'll find a few sites that detail the problems and how they're fixed.

Here's my input on the fixes: If the shaft is broken, Saab makes a plastic repair sleeve that slides over the broken part inside the heater box. I like Saab's solution more than the aluminum repair sleeves that other companies make because the aluminum ones press on very tightly. Saab's just slips over the broken part, which makes installation very easy. You'll also want to replace the stop arm, whether it's broken or not. You can get aluminum versions of just the arm from eBay. They'll snap over Saab's repair sleeve, or over the original arm if it's still intact. I have one 9-5 that had the blend door shafts break on both sides, and another 9-5 that just had the stop arms break on both sides.

 

[oldmaven]

How ado I get and interpret the ACC codes?

 

[Mimmi]

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Rb-dlL91dFk

 

[oldmaven]

I got error codes 8 and 11. #8 is stepping motor; air-mixing flap, LH - no mechanical contact with flap. #11 is the same, but RH.

Puzzling, as the left side works fine.

 

[oldmaven]

Repairing the flap seems the way to go, but I'm not in a position to do the work myself, and my dealer feels the solution is to replace the entire heater box, for >$2500. How do I find a good, independent Saab mechanic in NJ? I'm near Westfield.

 

[swisssaabist]

it's simple and complicated ...no way for changing the heater box that's just profit or more. you have broken lever in the heater box, every skilled mechanical could do it for max 300$, everyone could confirm or not my estimated US price.