[martinx71]

I purchased a 1999 9-3SE which runs quite well, but the blower motor in the acc does not work. I pulled the whole system apart and tested the blower and it works fine, and the only logical reasoning I can come up with is that there are missing wires leading into the resistor. The connection I'm referring to is this one

Mine only has a brown and an orange wire leading in, while this one pictured has several other wires coming in, and while they (the ones in mine) do yield 12 volts together, and it does not seem like there were wires there in the first place, It's the only thing I can come up with... is there anything else that could possibly be wrong?

 

[jakejm79]

The ACC model will only have two wires (the fan speed controller will take care of sending the variable signal over said two wires, with the MCC system each position of the fan speed knob corresponds to a different wire). Check the fan speed controller. Some good reading here: http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121710

 

[Flashheart]

Blower resistor - as Jake says....soooooo common a problem - they go and presto - no fan.

 

['97 Saab SE Turbo]

Jake said that the ACC has a fan speed controller located in the left-side passenger (LHD car) foot well. The controller provides 10 fan speeds electronically (like a speed controller on an RC car or boat), while the MCC has a rotary switch that provides 3 or 4 fan speeds through various resistors... Ron

 

[Flashheart]

Well technically it is a resistor with a MOSFET in it - that if you really want to have fun you can disassemble and solder in a new one....but yeah - it does 10 speeds and tends to go - poor cooling design.

 

[4th_Saab]

Well technically it is a resistor with a MOSFET in it - that if you really want to have fun you can disassemble and solder in a new one....but yeah - it does 10 speeds and tends to go - poor cooling design.

The MOSFET is the resistor...

I had my controller replaced a year or so ago and asked for the old parts. Finally got around to taking it apart and suspect that a poor solder joint caused the connection to the MOSFET to get hot and burn the MOSFET out.

Ironically, the ballast resistor in our former '92 9000S (with no ACC) failed (the thermal cutoff (thermal fuse) opened because there was a bad connection between it and the resistor wire). Over the years I kept replacing the thermal cutoff when it would open up.