[ozsaabo]

Hi,

I was wanting to get some different opinions on what could be the cause of my latest SAAB problem. I have a 1986 900 turbo, and its probably worth mentioning that within the last few weeks my SAAB mechanics (Swedish Prestige) for those of you here is Victoria, Australia; have done a lot of work repairing oil leaks and the like that involved removing the engine from the car. Just in case that joins the dots a little better.

Anyway I noticed that when i was driving home one night that the backlights for the Recirculation and AC switches was out, which I thought was odd. So when I arrived I checked and noticed that the fuse was blown; thought nothing of it and replaced it. Only to have it blow again and again and again. I thought it could be the relays and tried a few second hand ones at my local wrecker, to no avail; again the fuse kept blowing.

I ended up taking the car back the the mechanics for them to fix another problem and asked them to take a look at it. Initially they thought the second (left hand side) fan was drawing too much current, but that seemed okay. They concluded that the AC compressor clutch was drawing too much current and blowing the fuses as everytime they blew the clutch for the compressor engaged. So, they disconnected the clutch and I was going to get it replaced later down the track.

Which finally, brings me too today. This afternoon I decided to have a look at it myself. For one particular reason, the fuse was still blowing with the AC compressor disconnected. So I thought that maybe the fan was drawing too much current and the fan in conjunction with the compressor was enough to blow the fuse? With that in mind I tried to use my Digital amp meter to test how much current the fan was drawing, unfortunately, it really only can test upto 10A and the screen showed roughly 24A before I think i blew the fuse in the tester. Does anyone know roughly how much current the fan should be drawing? Or maybe easier to test, the resistance across the fan terminals?

I should also say that while i was testing it, with the car idling the AC/fans seemed to be working fine; compressor engaging, not blowing the fuse and cooling nicely. However, as soon as I left the driveway the fuse went.

So if anyone has any ideas of things to test or what they think could be causing this all of a sudden please post. I know its long thread but I assumed that more information was better than less.

Thanks in advance everyone


ozsaabo

 

[ozsaabo]

does anybody have any ideas? its such a pain not having it working and not knowing where the problem is

 

[eggsngrits]

Oz:

It sounds like the fan is a possibility, but you can never be sure about these things until you test it.

I would disconnect the fan and see if the fuse blows. If it doesn't, I think that you've found the issue.

If the fan is the problem, remove the fan and clean it out very well. Make sure that it spins freely and that the connectors and wiring are in good condition. Re-connect it to the circuit and test it again. If the system still blows a fuse, you need to replace the fan. Easy to get a used one for around US$25.

Post again if this isn't the issue.

PS: It is suspicious that this started after you've had the engine out. I'm guessing that there is a bare wire or slight problem when everything was reinstalled. Or, the fan was altered slighly (read: beat up a little) when everything was removed.

 

[ozsaabo]

thanks eggsngrits, i definately will try that. I am hoping that is the problem and its not a bare wire; i don;t know how on earth you would find a problem like that without inspecting the whole wiring loom, not a prospect i am looking forward to.

again thanks for the suggestion


ozsaabo