I was just curious, i have an 86 9000 and was changing the fuses then i saw the heated seats fuse, i looked in the manual and it kinda lead me to believe that all 86 9000s had it. Any clear way to tell? There are 2 large plugs under the drivers seat that lead to nothing and i dont know what they are.
Heated Seats?
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A dead giveaway would be two roller switches with pics of seats on them to the right of the steering wheel and below the clock.
Not on an 86 which had the last single setting automatically controlled heated seats. The three level switch controls (for rare, medium, and well done...I defy anyone to tolerate the "Hi" or "3" setting for long unless you have a pretty thick coat on!) first appeared on the 87 model and have been standard ever since. Frankly, the automatic version which originally appeared on the driver's seat only of the 99 for its safety advantages! Fighter pilot seats were heated and apparently SAAB had studies to show that it increased operator alertness in the first stages of driving. Now everybody and his dog, including Volvo, has these nifty heaters and not just for the driver. My Alfa Romeo 164 has them in four seating positions, none of which work of course.
These were standard on all 86 9000. It is possible they were not included on some warm climate market cars but I think this kind of "delete" option only came later.
The dead giveaway is that warm, slightly odd feeling in the seat of your pants whenever the temperature of the inside of the car is below about 50 F when the engine is first started. Actually, it is the area of the seat where the thermostatic switch is located that has to be at this temperature. If the seats aren't working, this method doesn't work. The front passenger seat also has a heater and it is rare for both to fail simultaneously, though if you don't know how long they haven't been working then this is no help. The passenger seat heater has a seat "pressure" switch to prevent the heater switching on if no one is sitting in the seat. if you look under that seat you should see an odd looking coiled spring switch on a pair of strings. When the seat is unoccupied the strings compress the spring and open the circuit. As soon as sufficient weight is placed on the seat cushion the strings relax and the coil spring closes the contacts to activate the seat heater. Driver's seat doesn't have one of these for obvious reasons.
To check for heated seats when they aren't functioning you simply run your fingertip over the seat cushion in the vicinity of the front left padding, about where the front of your left buttock would rest on the seat. There should be a hard, round object on top of the foam padding but just under the seat cover, about the size of a nickel. This is the thermostatic switch. This is harder to detect under a leather seat cover. Even the three position switch versions also use this automatic shut off feature.
These heater pads frequently fail because people kneel on the seat and break the heater wires. Occasionally the thermostatic switch fails and these can be replaced. The heater wires can also be repaired, but the pads aren't that expensive.
More than you ever wanted to know about heated seats in your SAAB. If the weather gets nippy in your area I highly recommend repairing this feature. I routinely drive my SAAB, in my regular business suit or street clothes no winter coat, from my heated garage (kept at 10 C or 50F which is how I know what temperature the seat has to be to switch on!) at home to my heated garage at work all winter even when the outside temperature is below minus 25 C (minus 13 F) or even lower. The heated seats keep you warm enough until the heater starts working, then they automatically switch off.
These were standard on all 86 9000. It is possible they were not included on some warm climate market cars but I think this kind of "delete" option only came later.
The dead giveaway is that warm, slightly odd feeling in the seat of your pants whenever the temperature of the inside of the car is below about 50 F when the engine is first started. Actually, it is the area of the seat where the thermostatic switch is located that has to be at this temperature. If the seats aren't working, this method doesn't work. The front passenger seat also has a heater and it is rare for both to fail simultaneously, though if you don't know how long they haven't been working then this is no help. The passenger seat heater has a seat "pressure" switch to prevent the heater switching on if no one is sitting in the seat. if you look under that seat you should see an odd looking coiled spring switch on a pair of strings. When the seat is unoccupied the strings compress the spring and open the circuit. As soon as sufficient weight is placed on the seat cushion the strings relax and the coil spring closes the contacts to activate the seat heater. Driver's seat doesn't have one of these for obvious reasons.
To check for heated seats when they aren't functioning you simply run your fingertip over the seat cushion in the vicinity of the front left padding, about where the front of your left buttock would rest on the seat. There should be a hard, round object on top of the foam padding but just under the seat cover, about the size of a nickel. This is the thermostatic switch. This is harder to detect under a leather seat cover. Even the three position switch versions also use this automatic shut off feature.
These heater pads frequently fail because people kneel on the seat and break the heater wires. Occasionally the thermostatic switch fails and these can be replaced. The heater wires can also be repaired, but the pads aren't that expensive.
More than you ever wanted to know about heated seats in your SAAB. If the weather gets nippy in your area I highly recommend repairing this feature. I routinely drive my SAAB, in my regular business suit or street clothes no winter coat, from my heated garage (kept at 10 C or 50F which is how I know what temperature the seat has to be to switch on!) at home to my heated garage at work all winter even when the outside temperature is below minus 25 C (minus 13 F) or even lower. The heated seats keep you warm enough until the heater starts working, then they automatically switch off.
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