Vac hose/heater probs. 1984 T16 Saloon

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Mike P - 27 Jul 2004 22:39 GMT

Won't go into too much detail...

Heater stuck on hot, temperature dial totally loose and feels disconnected.
Hissing noise in dash (vacuum?) when throttle is shut.
Car performs normally, even the cruise works...

What should be the first thing I look at here? Am I looking at a nightmare
of hoses and wires behind the dash coming out and having a fun weekend?

Thanks for any help!
Mike

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Grunff - 27 Jul 2004 22:47 GMT

> Heater stuck on hot, temperature dial totally loose and feels disconnected.
> Hissing noise in dash (vacuum?) when throttle is shut.
> Car performs normally, even the cruise works...

Have you been messing about with the dash? Sounds like you've
disconnected the control rod, which links the hot/cold knob to the
heater valve. Remove left side speaker grille and take a look.

Hissing hose is unrelated to heat, but may have been disturbed at the
same time.

Signature

Grunff

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Dave Hinz - 27 Jul 2004 22:49 GMT

>> Heater stuck on hot, temperature dial totally loose and feels disconnected.
>> Hissing noise in dash (vacuum?) when throttle is shut.
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> Hissing hose is unrelated to heat, but may have been disturbed at the
> same time.

Yes, there's a hose on the back of the air-switch which controls
which vents the fan blows through, which is easy to pull off
and leave unnoticed. I'd put money on the dashboard panel having
been recently taken out.

Dave Hinz

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Mike P - 27 Jul 2004 22:55 GMT

> >> Heater stuck on hot, temperature dial totally loose and feels disconnected.
> >> Hissing noise in dash (vacuum?) when throttle is shut.
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> and leave unnoticed. I'd put money on the dashboard panel having
> been recently taken out.

Thanks Dave - the previous owner has just taken the radio out.. maybe that's
got something to do with it..

cheers
Mike

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Grunff - 27 Jul 2004 23:00 GMT

> Thanks Dave - the previous owner has just taken the radio out.. maybe that's
> got something to do with it..

Bingo! Every time.

Signature

Grunff

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Dave Hinz - 27 Jul 2004 23:02 GMT

>> Yes, there's a hose on the back of the air-switch which controls
>> which vents the fan blows through, which is easy to pull off
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> Thanks Dave - the previous owner has just taken the radio out.. maybe that's
> got something to do with it..

I guarantee it does, explains both problems. I recognize these so readily
because, er, well, nevermind why.

Dave Hinz

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Paul Halliday - 27 Jul 2004 23:17 GMT

>>> Yes, there's a hose on the back of the air-switch which controls
>>> which vents the fan blows through, which is easy to pull off
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> I guarantee it does, explains both problems. I recognize these so readily
> because, er, well, nevermind why.

You lot never told me that removing the speakers made these kind of jobs so
much easier. I fumbled with the temperature control arm for about half an
hour when I'd pulled the damn thing off the other end that's way inside the
dash ... If I'd known it fitted on just under the LHS speaker I'd not have
sworn so much! Dave gave me some useful words after that - to paraphase, he
said that if you're finding maintenance on a SAAB difficult, you're probably
doing it wrong. He's right!

Paul

1989 900 Turbo S
http://saab.go.dyndns.org/

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Dave Hinz - 28 Jul 2004 02:04 GMT

>> I guarantee it does, explains both problems. I recognize these so readily
>> because, er, well, nevermind why.
>
> Dave gave me some useful words after that - to paraphase, he
> said that if you're finding maintenance on a SAAB difficult, you're probably
> doing it wrong. He's right!

I don't remember writing that, but it _very much_ sounds like me.
I miss having a c900.

Dave Hinz

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Paul Halliday - 28 Jul 2004 21:44 GMT

>>> I guarantee it does, explains both problems. I recognize these so readily
>>> because, er, well, nevermind why.
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> I don't remember writing that, but it _very much_ sounds like me.
> I miss having a c900.

It was you, believe me :)

I know the Sonetts and the 95s/96s are lovely and superb cars, but as time
goes on even the 99 becomes too old a car to be a workable classic. The 900
spanned so much time that an old 8V model is a classic where a 16V of the
same year is just an old car. I Iove the T8s for the sound. I've looked at
facelift T16s and thought well, they're nice but they're just old cars. I
love the old(er) ones - the old T8s are the ones for me ... Great growl. The
old (pre-facelift) T16s are really nice as well, but I like other people
owning those, if you see what I mean.

Go on Dave, Getchaself a nice 8 valve injection. They're great in snow!

Paul

1989 900 Turbo S
http://saab.go.dyndns.org/

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Paul Halliday - 27 Jul 2004 23:13 GMT

>>> Heater stuck on hot, temperature dial totally loose and feels disconnected.
>>> Hissing noise in dash (vacuum?) when throttle is shut.
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> and leave unnoticed. I'd put money on the dashboard panel having
> been recently taken out.

Hmmm! I replaced a broken '89 model dash fascia with an '85 model fascia and
had this problem - it was hole number 7 IIRC. That's the one on the rubber
"multi-plug" with the copper ring that fits onto the vent selector dial. My
fix was to take the vent selector off the later model fascia and fit to me
newly fitted earlier model fascia.

I'm not certain about the specifics of moving a later dash onto and earlier
model, but it would be worth popping off and taking a look. Retro fitting
the correct vent selector to the "behind the scenes" workings worked for me.

Happy hunting,

Paul

1989 900 Turbo S
http://saab.go.dyndns.org/

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Mike P - 27 Jul 2004 22:50 GMT

> > Heater stuck on hot, temperature dial totally loose and feels disconnected.
> > Hissing noise in dash (vacuum?) when throttle is shut.
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> Hissing hose is unrelated to heat, but may have been disturbed at the
> same time.

No, only got the car an hour or so ago. Noticed that heater extremely hot
on way round M25. Turned knob, it's totally free. I'll have look tomorrow if
anythings disconnected.

What's the hissing hose then? The APC gauge seems to be working, the cruise
works - I presume there's a loose pipe on the heater controls then?

Thanks as always
Mike

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Mike P - 28 Jul 2004 21:41 GMT

> > Heater stuck on hot, temperature dial totally loose and feels disconnected.
> > Hissing noise in dash (vacuum?) when throttle is shut.
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> disconnected the control rod, which links the hot/cold knob to the
> heater valve. Remove left side speaker grille and take a look.

Haven't had a chance to take the grille off yet, but I stuck my hand down
there and there is a metal
rod, about 8" long with plastic ends that obviously clip to some sort of
control. This rod is just lying in the
wires, not connected to anything - is this what I'm looking for?

thanks
mike

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Dave Hinz - 28 Jul 2004 21:53 GMT

> Haven't had a chance to take the grille off yet, but I stuck my hand down
> there and there is a metal
> rod, about 8" long with plastic ends that obviously clip to some sort of
> control. This rod is just lying in the
> wires, not connected to anything - is this what I'm looking for?

Sure is. Don't forget about the hose for the back of the air switch
while you're in there, as well.

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