1989 9000i. Noisy brakes, central locking problems, missing toolkit.

[gremlynne]

As those of you who kindly answered my previous enquiries will know, I recently acquired my first Saab, a 1989 9000i 16v. Knowing nothing about these cars, I could do with some help on several points.

The car passed its MOT the day I bought it (two days ago), having had the brakes repaired to get it through the test. The car drives fine but there is a lot of noise, a kind of grating noise, coming from the front nearside wheel. I know it's not a bearing or CV joint problem because that would have been picked up in the MOT (I was present at the re-test the day I bought the car). My friend who sold me the car says it could just be the new brakes 'bedding in' and he's quite happy for his mechanic to look at it for me next weekend (free of charge, I hasten to add). In the meantime, does anyone have any suggestions as to a solution? The parts replaced were the front discs and pads and rear calipers and the noise is worst at low speds, such as when reversing onto my driveway.

Second minor irritation. Central locking works only on front doors and tailgate. Would I be right to assume each lock has its own motor and the failure of these would explain the non-functioning of the rear door locks? The lock buttons themselves seem a bit loose, as if someone has had them out to work on them before. Are the motors easy for someone with no knowledge of auto-electrics to replace?

And finally.....Surprise surprise, the drop down tool kit in the boot is missing. Can anyone tell me what tools are supposed to be in there and if I will have to go to a Saab dealer to replace them. I'm sure it's too much to hope that my local scrapyard will have one with an intact toolkit. Also, where can I get a Saab owner's manual, as the car came without one?

[john]

Hi gremlynne

To answer the questions that I can:
Brake grinding. First thought was severly worn pads - but you said the brakes were checked so that should have been noted and pads replaced. The other thought I have is that some debris - a small stone perhaps, has become caught b/w pad and disc - this will give grating sound when brakes applied and will probably score the disc. This is just a possibility. Can you get the wheel off to check?

C/L - There should be motors in rear doors too - on the classic 900 there is no motor in drivers door as this is door operated by key - may be/may not be same on 9000. If it is remote c/l then there should be a motor in drivers door aswell. Might be worth getting the door skins off to see if there is a problem with linkage rather than motors. I don;t know about this in detail - perhaps someone else can shed more light on this one?

Toolkit - sorry - can;t help on that one.

Owners Manuals - The Saab Owners Club has five copies of the 1989 9000 handbook. Price is a tenner incl P&P. You may be able to purchase online at http://www.saabclub.co.uk/ or contact Roger Hubbard, 99 Henley Ave, Sheffield, S8 8JJ

Good luck
/john

[john]

Hi gremlynne

I just found these details aswell. You can telephone 0114 235 9352 or shop@saabclub.co.uk

HTH /john

[chrisn]

Your toolkit should contain the following:
-black handled flat blade screwdriver
-matching black handled holder for-
-2 double ended torx bits
-wheelnut brace cum tommy bar for-
-box spanner for spark plugs *
-orange handled adjustable pipe grip type pliers
-pair natural colour cotton gloves (for wimps!)

With the spare wheel should be:
-jack and brace
-black plastic sack (for dirty wheel!)

Under panel behind "fasten belts" light:
-Z shaped allen key to close sunroof in emergency

Finally there should be a fuse removing tool in the main fusebox

* this spanner has another hexagon at the opposite end to the plug - what`s it for ?

Its worth trying the scrappy - I once got an entire toolkit from a rear ended 900

[gremlynne]

Thanks once again for all the very helpful replies. The mechanic who replaced the brakes is going to check them for me this afternoon - he suspects a loose backplate, whatever that might be. I subsequently noticed a front brake imbalance noted on the original MOT failure slip and this may have been overlooked on the re-test.

The usual Scottish summer weather will prevent me from scouring the scrappy for a tool kit today, but thanks for your very detailed reply, Chrisn - very useful.

[Derek]

Looks like you already have most of the answers. I'd agree about ta loose backplate being the probable cause of the noise. The backplate is the big dish-shaped cover behind the dish to keep the muck out. They sit quite close to the disc and even if not loose it may have been distorted slightly when the brake work was carried out. They don't need to make much contact to make a lot of noise.

To confirm what John says, there is no C/L motor in the driver's door, until the arrival of the CS models. The only difficult thing about changing the rear door actuators is getting the door trims back on. Watch out for the clips which hold the top of the trim to the bottom of the window frame.

[gremlynne]

Thanks for that info, Derek. The mechanic spent 5 minutes tightening the backplate and the result was a complete transformation, like driving a new car ! Now I know what the problem was, I can fix it myself if it occurs again. With regard to the C/L, the guy I bought the car from may be breaking an E reg 9000 turbo soon and says I'm welcome to strip any useful bits from it, so guess what I'll be doing this weekend !