Hi guys & gals,

Can someone help me locate all the earth points in an '89 900 T8? So far,
I've found one down under the radiator near the turbo and another in the
inner wing near the APC box. Are there more?

Also, the earth point down under the radiator is fairly packed. Is it
advisable to split these up a bit? I have enough slack to put maybe three
separate earth points in. What'cha think?

Many thanks in anticipation,

Paul

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

Paul Halliday wrote:


Some 900s have one under the back seat. There's also one behind
the dash. I think there's also one under the boot floor, but
can't remember for sure (and can't be bothered to go look!).


I've never had any real problems with them, so have never
modified them. I keep the one under the rad well greased, that's
all.

The only earth problems I've had on a 900 have been alternator
earths.

--
Grunff

in article bkviav$6dl58$1 (AT) ID-152899 (DOT) news.uni-berlin.de, Grunff at
grunff232 (AT) ixxa (DOT) com wrote on 25/09/2003 21:13:

I think the one behind the dash is probably nowhere near as corroded as the
one I dealt with tonight - much improved now. I'll take a look under the
back seat and in the boot.

With Vaseline, or battery terminal grease, kind of thing? Sorry, I'm a bit
dumb about this - only just got the notion that a rusty earth point doesn't
help things

Okay. How/where does that earth? I've heard of people keeping some spare
wire handy for rigging up alternator earths at the side of the road. What's
involved here?

Thanks for the reply Grunff,

Paul

Paul Halliday wrote:

I'm a copper grease freak. I buy it in huge pots, and use it
liberally. Everything in my engine bay(s) has a coppery tinge. :-)

If you have corroded earths, undo the bolt, clean up the
terminals with a wire brush/emery paper, and reassemble with
generous lashings of copper grease.


Look at the alternator. Identify the balck wire that comes off
the back and bolts to the engine nearby. That's the alternator
earth. Check it. If it's falling apart, replace it. That's it -
pretty simple.


Anytime Paul.

--
Grunff

in article bkvje5$697u6$1 (AT) ID-152899 (DOT) news.uni-berlin.de, Grunff at
grunff232 (AT) ixxa (DOT) com wrote on 25/09/2003 21:32:

Okay. I'd not thought of that. I have probably enough for this job left over
in a small sachet from the last time I did the spark plugs.

The cross-member earth point looked pretty bad and on close inspection, one
of the wires had come loose from its hoop terminal. I unbolted the point
and cleaned up all the terminals with an emery board and some glass paper.
The earth point itself was actually pretty good once I got down to it and I
managed to polish up about a square inch of shiny bare metal.

I've put a washer at the bottom of the stack, then the battery negative,
another washer, then the larger wires, another washer, the smaller wires and
then another washer.

So, I take it I should take it all apart again and smear everything with
copper grease? Perhaps remove a couple of washers too - I probably went a
bit overboard One at the top should be plenty.

Right. I'll take a look tomorrow and rig up a couple of spares for the
emergency kit. My garage recently had the alternator out to replace the
bushings and the brushes. I doubt they've put it back with a dud wire, but
I'll have a look anyway.

Thanks again,

Paul

Paul Halliday wrote:

Naaah - save that for next time you take it apart. If it's
secure, just smear a load of grease on it.

Washers never do any harm.


Couple of spares?? Gees Paul, you're getting pessimistic in your
old age ;-)

I carry a fair number of spares (ecu, ignition amp, AMM, etc!),
but I don't carry pre-made alternator wires. Carry a load of
wire and a reel of gaffer (duct/Duck) tape around. You'll be fine.

--
Grunff

in article bkvm0p$6n10b$1 (AT) ID-152899 (DOT) news.uni-berlin.de, Grunff at
grunff232 (AT) ixxa (DOT) com wrote on 25/09/2003 22:16:

Fine. I'll leave it alone. My test drive this evening was a pleasure. I'm
sure the pick-up thought the lower gears and lower RPM bracket is improved,
but my Orca tends to drive better at night anyway. It just felt generally a
little better.

He he. I've got a bag full of fuses and relays, some vac pipe, a radiator
top hose, oil, anti-freeze, a generous bunch of jubilee clips and
cable-ties. I'll add Duck tape <--- got loads at work

It's after reading your list of potential stranding problems that got me
started on an emergency kit. Previously, I just kind of thought a spare
wheel/tyre and some water was enough! I've replaced the boxes of generic IT
junk in the boot with Saab parts

Anyway, now she's over 100,000 miles she gets trolleyed up and down the
country a bit more. A sub-100,000 mile C900 was a rare car and got driven a
little less for the longer journeys. Given the abysmal service I've
experienced from the major recovery services, I'd rather I was equipped to
deal with any problem myself.

Paul

Paul Halliday wrote:

Noooo! What if you need to deploy a network with a couple of
servers in an emergency??


Something which *will* fail sooner or later is the clutch master
or slave. Most of the 900s I've owned have had clutch cylinder
failures. The master is easy to do, the slave a little more
difficult, but still not bad. You should definitely have those
on the list of items to be replaced at some point.

--
Grunff

in article bkvmu1$64u8m$1 (AT) ID-152899 (DOT) news.uni-berlin.de, Grunff at
grunff232 (AT) ixxa (DOT) com wrote on 25/09/2003 22:31:

I've got monkeys^H^H^H^H^H^H^Htechnicians to do that