Saab 9-3 Aero Anniv 2.0 T (1997) - Starting problem

Saab 9-3 Aero Anniv 2.0 T (1997) - Starting problem

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Rich1974

Original Poster:

2 posts

88 months

Sunday 29th January 2017
quotequote all
Hi,

Wonder if I can ask for some help from the experts on this forum please?

I have the above car and it has been running fine, albiet it on very high mileage (250,000 miles now). Yesterday I drove the car home without problem. This morning I went to start the car and it wouldnt start.

The key turns as normal in the ignition and the engine turns over finebut doesnt fire. After doing this a couple of times I can well a small amount of fuel so I presume the fuel pump os working fine?

Any help/Advise/suggestions really appreciated.

Thankyou in advance

Pvapour

8,981 posts

254 months

Sunday 29th January 2017
quotequote all
9/10 its the ignition cassette that sits on top of the plugs, other big one is the crank sensor.

sploosh

822 posts

209 months

Sunday 29th January 2017
quotequote all
Ignition cassette failure is often accompanied by an electrical burning smell when you lift the bonnet. Very easy fix, albeit not a cheap one! Buy another one and plug it in. S/H are around £100, new ones quite a bit more. Somewhere like Neo Bros will sort you out or try a scrappy. Avoid cheaper aftermarket ones.

Crankshaft position sensor (CPS) are usually hit and miss, more likey to fail from hot starting than cold. Cheap fix - £15 ish but can be fiddly to fit.

I agree these are most likely failures on this car.... but could be something else!

Lots of advice about both these faults on-line.

paulmakin

663 posts

142 months

Monday 30th January 2017
quotequote all
given the year this is a B207 is it? the 207 has individual DI coils which you can get at considerably less cost than having to replace the entire cartridge (£70 ish each).

i'd have thought it would fire up on 3 though, possibly even on 2 if it's garaged/mild outdoors. my b205 is currently quite capable of firing up and running on 3 whilst awaiting parts (see final paragraph).

cps is usually a hot start thing but total failure can happen

it's a bit speculative but you need to establish if you do indeed have fuel and spark. if you have fuel, keep testing for sparks. if you have sparks, keep looking for fuel. if you have both, test compression?

a tech 2 session will not necessarily identify the problem unless you have stored codes. my own aero (B205) has recently been a total non-start following a period of misfiring (approx half a mile). tech 2 showed nothing until i managed to get it running again. i had 3 separate faults, although presumably related (in a chain reaction type of way). 2 of the faults were readily identified on visual inspection. in my case, though, it was #1 injector open circuit that was the initial failure but tech2 didn't pick it up until the car was running again.

paul

Rich1974

Original Poster:

2 posts

88 months

Tuesday 31st January 2017
quotequote all
Thankyou so much everyone for the advise. Luckily for me this was a much easier fix than first thought.

Basically on checking the battery had dropped below 12 volts (11.7) and apparently the car wont fire if it drops below this level. A simple bit of extra charge and hey presto!

Had a friend run all the diagnostic software on the car and no errors found

Thankyou all once again