[SAABotaged900S]

My 87 900 is equipped with a 5 speed, but I don't have a shift light. The owners manual for my car says there is a light, and the fuseblock is empty where the shift light is supposed to be. I also took a flashlight and illuminated the images and there is no shift up light on the cluster.

Has this happened to anyone else here?

 

[Lloyd]

Well I think they make generic manuals... my car doesnt have a shift light, I dont really see that it would be very usefull anyway.

 

[jerrys]

hey,

i have a shift up symbol thing on my dash, but since ive had the car, ive never seen it on! i didnt know there was a fuse box for it either...where abouts is that located? maybe thats why its never been illuminated? Im just curious to see it work, not that i would be paying attention to it...

 

[Jezzadee]

Your car may have been imported from Europe. Only North America ever got the shift up light. Why anyone would want one is beyond me.

 

[92-Vert]

Only there to let you know that you’re driving a Saab.

I've never seen or heard of it before I got my Saab. When it first came on I thought that I was doing something wrong. Than I got used to it and now ignore it and I am somewhat annoyed by it. So if it doesn't work I would leave it that way.

But in some way if we all did shift up when it said to our tranies would probably last much longer. But it wouldn't be as much fun than would it?

 

[SAABotaged900S]

hey,

i have a shift up symbol thing on my dash, but since ive had the car, ive never seen it on! i didnt know there was a fuse box for it either...where abouts is that located? maybe thats why its never been illuminated? Im just curious to see it work, not that i would be paying attention to it...

I'm sorry, gotta clear up what I meant. Theres a relay in the fusebox under the hood. According to my cars owners manual, it is relay "F" on the diagram, and is part number 8591729.

However, when I rev high enough, my "Check Engine" light comes on briefly. The whole shift light thing really doesn't bother me, I was just curious about it, I thought it would be cool for my passengers (they already think the car is cool in the sense its different than anything else out there). Plus "the shift light tells you when you can get better fuel economy by shifting to a higher gear." Quoted from owners manual

Its a fuel economy thing. Then again there is the ECON range on the tach.

 

[Marcos]

Only there to let you know that you’re driving a Saab.

I've never seen or heard of it before I got my Saab. When it first came on I thought that I was doing something wrong. Than I got used to it and now ignore it and I am somewhat annoyed by it.

Aha! Not true! I was introduced to this particular version of the idiot light by a VW Jetta (85 Wolfsburgh, only car I ever bought new) with similar results to my psyche. My '78 Saab 99 didn't have one, and ... never mind, my 900 is auto.

I wonder what's the point of such a device... when I learned to drive it was either by feel/sound (grandpa's Studebaker) or by the tachometer (uncle's Peugeot.)

 

[SAABotaged900S]

Your car may have been imported from Europe. Only North America ever got the shift up light. Why anyone would want one is beyond me.

Weren't all the Saabs imported from Europe? :lol: (I'm sorry I just had to say it)

I guess it would make sense to have a light to assist us to tell us when to shift. My friends who are competent enough to get the car into first gear and not stall tend to redline each gear. And its not to be fast or sound cool, theyre just idiots... (is this where the term idiot light came from? :lol:, the shift up light was a light for idiots?)

Someone was saying that my car actually was a European model that was specially imported into the States. Unfortunately the guy who said that moved out west. He said of all the c900s he owned, he never saw one like mine.

 

[900t]

Your car may have been imported from Europe. Only North America ever got the shift up light. Why anyone would want one is beyond me.

Only USA ever got the light. Canadian market are free of them. However with the NG900 we got the shift up light in Canada also but nowhere else.

The point of it is so EPA testers shift up and create a better mpg rating.

 

[jerrys]

I'm sorry, gotta clear up what I meant. Theres a relay in the fusebox under the hood. According to my cars owners manual, it is relay "F" on the diagram, and is part number 8591729.

However, when I rev high enough, my "Check Engine" light comes on briefly. The whole shift light thing really doesn't bother me, I was just curious about it, I thought it would be cool for my passengers (they already think the car is cool in the sense its different than anything else out there). Plus "the shift light tells you when you can get better fuel economy by shifting to a higher gear." Quoted from owners manual

My car does the same thing, my idiot light does not work but if i rev high enough, the check engine light flashes and and then goes away when i shift or let off the gas. I always wondered if the engine is knocking or if theres something wrong....only happens once and a while too. The engine light also seems to come on if ive been driving around for a while on the highway and then i drop my speed to 125-130km/h and then it flickers as well, but then goes away if i drop to 120 or go higher than 130km/h...weird? or is this a big problem? As for being a cool car, for some reason, everyone loves my car! its unique and different, and hey , all the girls like it for some reason! can't complain!

 

[koeyjay]

My Canadian market 91 900 turbo convertible has a shift light in it. I cannot WAIT to crack the dash open and rip that bulb out and put it under the tire and then take the shards and throw them into the ocean. Usually I just put a piece of electrical tape over these things but this car is too nice. I'm pretty sure I could successfully change gears without it.

 

[Lloyd]

then i drop my speed to 125-130km/h

Drop to 130? :lol: I envy you, the highest speed limit in Australia is 110, and thats hardly anywhere

 

[skucera]

Just pull the fuse

My '88 has a working Shift Up light. It is a little annoying. It is a frightfully simple mechanism. It is a simple intake vacuum switch, so when vacuum gets too high the light comes on to tell you to shift to the next higher gear. There is a threshold value for engine braking that turns it off while decellerating (sometimes). There is also an electrical switch on the shifter to turn it off in 5th gear (since you can't shift up from 5th). When I drive with verve, it stays off. When I drive gently, it nags me, and shifting up doesn't really slow me down, so I'm experimenting with following its advice this week.

Why is it there at all? It is a simple hack to boost City economy test results for the EPA's CAFE mileage rules. The government is required to shift up when the car tells the driver to shift up when doing fuel economy testing. It added 10-15% to the City economy values used years ago, which is why Volkswagen, Saab, Honda, and a few others used upshift lights. Honda still uses one on the Insight. It's been so long since I last drove a new VW that I don't know if they still put their big amber arrow in the middle of the instruments anymore.

On my car the upshift light's fuse is clearly marked on the fuse box cover. I think it is #4 on mine. Pulling this fuse has no adverse impact on any other system, as far as I can tell.

Scott

 

[GearHead]

130 km/h is like 75 mph right...so what is 120 mph?becuase I have taken my saab to that speed(way not legal)


edit a shift light would be kinda nice for a while to get better millage but I usally just keep the tach in the ECON range...for some reason the car likes it better when it goes into the 3.5K-5.5K range...just seems happier,or is that just me?

 

[Jezzadee]

Most cars are entering their torque 'sweet spot' when the rev counter is pointing vertically upwards. On ours that is anything from 3000 rpm up to 4500 rpm. On mine maximum torque is produced at 3100 rpm. On a twisty road I leave it in 3rd from 2500 rpm, which is when the turbo kicks in, to about 4000 rpm. If it gets over 4500 it's fine but not as efficient in terms of torque so I tend to change up then. Obviously anything over 3000 rpm means worse fuel consumption, and over 4500 rpm I can visibly watch the fuel gauge go down.

 

[alexis]

Your car may have been imported from Europe. Only North America ever got the shift up light. Why anyone would want one is beyond me.

Well without one auto-box loving americans would require boat loads of new boxes every year.:cheesy:

 

[Marcos]

130 km/h is like 75 mph right...so what is 120 mph?becuase I have taken my saab to that speed(way not legal) <snip>

120 MPH = 216KPH (1 mile = 1.8 Kmeters)

I've topped 120MPH only once, while in England on a rental Ford Orion! :cheesy:
I was, of course, driving on the wrong side of the road and was flashed by a Ford Capri that passed me as if I were a road sign.

Well without one auto-box loving americans would require boat loads of new boxes every year. :cheesy:

Mind you, friend, it's more of a market thing than a driver thing... I don't buy new cars, so almost always I'm stuck with an auto. My friend buys only sticks, and has to special order every time he buys one and wait anywhere from 30 to 90 days for delivery. For those of you outside the states, the auto-box is an option, but you can't get a car of the lot without one.

 

[900t]

130 km/h is like 75 mph right...so what is 120 mph?becuase I have taken my saab to that speed(way not legal)


edit a shift light would be kinda nice for a while to get better millage but I usally just keep the tach in the ECON range...for some reason the car likes it better when it goes into the 3.5K-5.5K range...just seems happier,or is that just me?

130km/h is approximately 81mi/h.

The highest speed limit in Ontario and Quebec is only 100km/h! (62 1/2mi/h)

Doesn't mean you can't go 200km/h though.

 

[MSOEMiller]

For those of you wanting to turn the "shift-up" light OFF.

The location of the "sensor" is on the right side, about 4 inches back from the front of the engine, about 4 inches from the bottom of the engine.

If that direction was confusing . . . it's the electrical connection forward of the gearbox filler tube.

You can just unplug it.

 

[muhawalter]

Shift light?

I have a shift light relay and a shift light fuse, but I have never seen the shift light turn on in my dash. I don't know what that shift light is supposed be for (I am assuming it tells you when to shift?). Does anybody know what this light is exactly for and when it is supposed to turn on.