[sieger007]

I thought I'd be a Happy Camper Texas Cowboy riding this 2000 9-5 5 speed Stallion, and now this is proving like riding a "stalled" "onion" with a host of crap I faced. Well.. I wont tell ya' the whole story of how many times it got sick and what medicines I gave it...cos of a lot of you folks are here & everyone has their own lil "Once upon a time when I drove that SAAB .."
So fate has it that I had to change from a happy home cowboy to an Eskimo.. I moved East where its -15`C.
So here's the problem
My coolant level is good. When keep the car on IDLE and wait for it "warm up".. I see the temperature needle kind of going up from 20% to 45% , depending on how much time I kept it like that. But then , you remember this is a manual ..right ? which means there ain'nt any remote start ... and that means that if I have to be "nice" about getting the car "Warmed up"... I have to freeze my *** out...which is not always a good proposition... but then I do take it when I can afford it ..like Leaving it on outside a gas station , while I run in for coffee or shop around at Target ( Lock the car w/ the other set of keys ) . NOW when I drive the car - I see it actually GO DOWN in cold instead of UP .
And what happens when I DONT really warm up the car ( like I said - I have to sometimes make that choice between keeping my *** warm or the car's ) ? Yeah.. that sucker lies low ... right at the bottom ...like its never worked before.
So my questions
<> Can I do away driving the car like this with the temp needle at the bottom.. what are the trade offs ,
<> WHY does the needle go DOWN when the car is moving as against stay at 40% when idle
<> My Drives side heater is WEAK and passenger heater is DEAD. Prolly a bend door- I ordered the parts and will open up or show it around , when they get here BUT Question is - is the heat from the heater anyways related to the car's temperature mechanism to keep warm and having dead right side heater can affect the car's ability to warm up ?

 

[win_k]

Your primary symptom of engine temps dropping when moving is a classic sign of a failed coolant thermostat.

 

[sieger007]

TY When I looked up the coolant thermostat I found 3 related things
-- thermostat . Is this what it should look like ( see pic attached )
-- Gasket
-- and coolant thermostat housing
Could this be attributed to ANY of the 3 or its the sensor for sure. HOW do I go about confirming..there is NO CEL . My Coolant is FULL . OH And on one occasion , on one of those -15 days , car would crank like its not really out o battery but will NOT start. Is this TOO a possible relation to this sensor thing. AFTER that touch wood it starts away .
So Now - does that help to short list or confirm further.

 

[uthan]

TY When I looked up the coolant thermostat I found 3 related things
-- thermostat . Is this what it should look like ( see pic attached )
-- Gasket
-- and coolant thermostat housing
Could this be attributed to ANY of the 3 or its the sensor for sure. HOW do I go about confirming..there is NO CEL . My Coolant is FULL . OH And on one occasion , on one of those -15 days , car would crank like its not really out o battery but will NOT start. Is this TOO a possible relation to this sensor thing. AFTER that touch wood it starts away .
So Now - does that help to short list or confirm further.

My recommendation (having also had some weirdness in this regard) would be just swap out the thermostat and the temp sensor. Do them both at the same time and you should be back on the road.

Assuming it's not something else like a head gasket, which is possible. You may not even see much coolant leak, but you may see things like the reservoir tank burping and other odd coolant behaviors.

But given that it's just not warming up, the replacement of the thermostat and temp sensor is not difficult or expensive. You'd also not see a CEL if either of those failed. If it's been a while since that was done (if ever) it's probably time anyway. I did both of mine at about 125k miles and it solved all temp related issues.

 

[French_Saab_Buff]

Two simple tests...

First one for the thermostat : put it in a cauldron of cold water and heat it up and see how it reacts. If it opens too early, then it could explain why the temperature remains low.

Second one : if after ten minutes of driving the car, there still is no heat coming out of the car heater, there is a problem, and it's not necessarily the thermostat. Check temperature controls in the car, fan, heater control doors, tubing feeding heater core...

 

[sieger007]

Well actually.... the heater has been out since ages ( I have ordered blend door repair kits for both sides and will open up that place once these items ordered arrive )The drivers side heater is weak and the passenger side is dead ( rear heat is linked to passenger side AFAIK so even that is dead ). from the ACC.
I get
Mostly
1-8(?... this 1...'m not sure about it). Rest of them are definitely
2 - 5
2 - 9
3 - 5
3 -9

I have not yet opened that place under the dash .... to see how things are . i Wonder What parts are indicated by these tests .... by just looking at this code combination.
Also another wonder..... can a non performing heater have an impact in the car's temperature regulation. In other words is the temperature regulation system using some of the heat from the heater to maintain temperature ? .... I hadn't imagine things were designed like that


Sent from my JY-S3 using Tapatalk

 

[French_Saab_Buff]

Short answer to your last question...

...about the impact of car heaters on motor temperature control : it's marginal, specially if your heater does not function well.

One suggestion made by car manufacturers for overheating cars in heavy traffic or going uphill is to turn the heater on at full blast. It will help control temperature but never for very long and you will slowly cook in your car.

 

[DevPts]

...My coolant level is good. When keep the car on IDLE and wait for it "warm up".. I see the temperature needle kind of going up from 20% to 45% [...snipped...] NOW when I drive the car - I see it actually GO DOWN in cold instead of UP.

Unequivocal, the coolant temp sensor has given up the ghost.
http://www.eeuroparts.com/Parts/4299/Engine-Coolant-Temperature-Sensor-15393755/
As long as you're in there, you may as well drop in another thermostat as they are not terribly expensive and it's only a few extra minutes of work.

Follow this link (http://saabworld.net/showthread.php?t=28199) for a list of ACC diagnostic codes. The ones you listed suggest a host of problems. However, until the coolant temp sensor is fixed, the ACC diagnostic codes aren't entirely trustworthy (except the blend door diagnostic - trust that) as the ECU is receiving a bad (or no) signal from the temp sensor.