When I think of an issue of Motor Age with a European theme, I tend to think we’ll focus on brands like BMW, Volkswagen, Audi or Mercedes Benz. And that’s unfair, as I think you’ll agree, as I share the stories of another European marquee you may or may not have turned a wrench on yet – Saab. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. They don’t build Saabs anymore. Well, you’d be mistaken on that point and while new models are no longer arriving on American shores, there is a large fleet of existing customers that are still in need of service.
Born from jets
If you’re old enough, you may remember the Saab commercials of the early 2000s, bragging that the same engineers that designed fighter aircraft designed their cars. In fact, Saab was born as an aircraft company to meet Sweden’s need for a modern air force to defend against the German Luftwaffe.
In the mid 1930s, Adolph Hitler was preparing his nation for war and neighboring countries, even though many kept smiles on their faces and an open hand outstretched to the German chancellor, were preparing to defend their borders. The Swedish air force consisted of craft that met the needs of World War I but were now woefully outdated and no match for the modern aircraft the Germans were building. Sweden’s Prime Minister knew it would be faster and easier to buy aircraft from other countries but insisted instead on developing his own nation’s aircraft industry to avoid dependence on others for his nation’s defense.
Hence, the birth of SAAB in 1937. The company name in English, roughly translated, means “Swedish Aircraft Corporation”. To speed up the learning curve, the first SAAB aircraft were licensed from existing planes that were considered outdated. But it didn’t take the engineers long to learn what they liked about the planes they were copying and what they didn’t like, and soon they gave birth to the first Swedish design, the SAAB 17, with help from American aircraft technicians. The all metal aircraft made its maiden flight in May of 1940. Shortly after, in 1942, the SAAB 18 was introduced. This twin-engine bomber was one of the fastest in the world, a major achievement for a relatively young company. Following the bomber in 1945, the SAAB 21 was their first fighter aircraft, featuring a twin tail, “pusher” prop design that would eventually lead to their first fighter jet, the SAAB 21R, taking to the skies in 1947.
As the war drew to an end, SAAB knew that the market for military hardware would shrink and shifted efforts into commercial aircraft design. Even that, though, was not enough to keep them going or to keep their employees working. So a new market was entered – automobiles - and Saab Automobile AB was born in 1945. The first prototype built was the Saab Ursaab (“Ursaab” roughly translated means “original Saab”), also known as the 92001 and was one of four prototypes produced. The engineers charged with the design and build of the prototypes had no real car experience, and according to some sources, only two even had driver’s licenses! The first mockup was actually made of alder wood and painted black using shoe polish!
The first production car was the Saab 92, rolling off the assembly lines in 1949. Since that initial birth, Saab has been responsible for many industry firsts. One I’m sure most of you are familiar with is the ignition relocation to the center console. It was a safety design change, helping to prevent knee injuries to occupants that would hit the column-mounted ignition switch assembly in an accident. Here’s a few more that stand out:
1963 – first to offer diagonally split dual hydraulic brake circuits
1970 – first to offer headlamp wipers and washers
1976 - first to produce a turbo engine with wastegate to control boost
1978 – first to offer a cabin air filter
1985 – first to pioneer direct ignition, eliminating distributor and plug wires
And that’s just a few. Here’s another. Did you know that Saab was also a pioneer in developing Variable Compression Ratio engine designs? Their system works by actually tilting the cylinder head in relation to the pistons!
Not Without Struggles
Saab entered the U.S. market in 1957 with sales of less than 1500 units. Their customers, however, were typically affluent buyers and the manufacturer earned high praises for their product. In 1969, parent company Saab AB merged with Swedish commercial vehicle maker, Scania-Vabis AB to form Saab-Scania AB. Saab entered into an agreement with Fiat in 1978 to sell a rebadged Lancia Delta as the Saab 600 and jointly develop a new platform. The agreement yielded 1985's Saab 9000, sister to the Alfa Romeo 164, Fiat Croma and Lancia Thema. The 9000 was Saab's first luxury car offering but failed to achieve the planned sales volume. 1978 also was the first year for the 99's replacement: the Saab 900. Nearly one million 900s would be produced, making it Saab's best-selling and most iconic model. Even today, the "classic 900" retains a cult following.
In 1989, the automotive division was established as an independent company with U.S. automaker, General Motors, owning a 50% stake with an option to buy the remainder within 10 years. A new model 900 was introduced in 1994 and allowed Saab to post it’s first profits in over seven years. The model, however, never met the mark set by the 900 for owner loyalty or overall quality.
1997 marked Saab’s 50th anniversary and with it came a new model, the 9-5. The older 900 received an upgrade and was rebadged the 9-3. In 2000, GM exercised its option and made Saab a wholly-owned subsidiary. It introduced new models, the 9-2x (based on the Subaru Impreza) and the 9-7x (based on the Chevrolet Trailblazer), both of which turned out to be utter commercial failures. Later in 2008, with GM’s businesses struggling and facing bankruptcy, it was announced that the Saab division was “under review” by GM executives and was later put on the chopping block and offered up for sale.
Several offers and deals came and crumbled before GM sold the once iconic brand to Spyker. General Motors would continue to supply Saab with engines and transmissions, and also completed vehicles in the shape of the new Saab 9-4x from GM's Mexican factory. The deal included a loan from the European Investment Bank, guaranteed by the Swedish government. But it didn’t take long for Spyker to figure out that running a major automaker was an expensive proposition, and it filed for bankruptcy in 2011 after GM blocked an attempt to sell the company to a Chinese concern, saying that it would not continue its licenses to GM patents and technology to Saab, stating that the new owner's use of the technology was not in the best interest of GM investors.
In 2012, the main assets of Saab Automobile AB and its subsidiaries (Saab Automobile Powertrain AB and Saab Automobile Tools AB) as well as the Saab factory had been acquired by a Chinese consortium called National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS). The intent of the new company was to build electric vehicles for sale in China and continue to refine and build gas-powered 9-3s for sale in both the Chinese and Swedish markets.
The Death Of A Brand?
For all intent and purposes, though, Saab in the United States is dead and may never return again. At the time of the bankruptcy, it was estimated that over half a million Saab owners (with the exception of those sold under GM ownership) were going to be left high and dry. How will you take care of those customers? Check out a company called “Orio”. Saab Automobile Parts was not a Saab subsidiary included in the NEVS deal and was renamed Orio AB in 2013. It holds the licenses to produce original equipment parts for Saab models and is expanding into offerings for other makes as well. They are also a tech support source for independent shops still taking care of Saab customers, and you can register to be a part of their authorized Saab service network by emailing the company at [email protected] or visiting their website at www.orio.com/us.
A Few Personal Saab Stories
Living in the deep South as I do, I don’t see designer cars very often. And that’s the niche that Saab truly filled. In their latter years and before the homogenization that GM laid on the brand, the cars were of high quality and were unique in many ways. I recall doing a lot of convertible top hydraulic actuator replacements (they used hydraulic solenoids rather than electric motors to operate the mechanisms) most of the work was relatively routine. Here is a tale or two that I did think were interesting enough to share.
The first story is about a Saab 9-5 our shop had for sale. Prior to putting it on the lot, my boss wanted me to repair the missing back up lamp he said it had. So I turned on the key, and put it in reverse. Sure enough, there was no light lit on the left rear. No sweat, likely a bulb...so I pop the trunk, access the bulb and remove the old one for a visual. Looks OK, but I've been fooled before so what the heck...let's throw one in.
Light still doesn't work.
OK, so it won't be easy. I grabbed my PowerProbe 3 out of the toolbox and hook up to the battery. With the right rear still on, I look for power and ground at the left rear socket. No power at either wire. I'd seen this before on a BMW I had had the week before. The problem there had been a break in the wiring right where the lid harness passes out of the lid, through a rubber shield, and into the body.
I tested to see if there was power on that wire on the body side of the harness. Hmmm, no power there either? Oh well, guess I have to pull the schematic now.
Interesting! The schematic only shows one back up lamp on this model! Wonder what the bulb I had in my hand was for? Come to think of it, the lens on this side IS pretty red for a back up lens.
And it does work with the right switch turned on.
It turns out that the left rear bulb is a "rear fog lamp", and has its own switch just below the main lighting switch on the dash. I guess it allows one bright light to stay on in the back in heavy weather/fog to improve the vehicle's visibility. That makes sense considering the weather conditions that Swedish drivers often face. But it was a new one on me!
Being the thorough tech that I am, I made sure to check the operation of ALL the lights while I had the car. Lo and behold, the left front high beam was not working either. Should be a simple repair, right? The right side was working on both beams, the left only on low. Likely a bulb, but there are enough cars on the road using separate fuses for the headlights that I started there…with a quick check of the fuses. The PowerProbe was still connected, and it is an excellent tool for this purpose.
All the fuses tested either fine, or at 0.0 volts - not unusual since some fuses aren’t “hot” unless the system they power is turned on. So, I put a bulb in. Did you guess, yet?
Right, not working.
OK, let’s pull the schematic and do this right. Checking for voltage at the headlight with the key and high beams on ended up with nothing. According to the schematic, the two headlights did indeed have separate fuses, so that was the next stop. One of the fuses that had no power on the first pass was also the one that was supposed to power the headlight that was inoperative.
The next stop was a component labeled the “Front Filament Module”. This device looks a lot like a relay, but actually monitors current flow to the headlights. If no flow is detected, it sends a signal to the Driver’s Information display to let him know that a bulb is out. Removing the module, I looked for power on the battery side and was rewarded with a “high” beep from the PowerProbe. Last step to verify the problem? Use the PP3 to power the left headlight side of the path. The light came on, and I knew the path to the bulb was OK. The module was the only thing left that could be at fault.
Another Saab, A Different Dilemma
This Saab 9-5 customer was complaining of an erratic fuel gauge reading. No sweat - 9 times out of 10 it’s the sending unit and this vehicle was old enough to make that a likely suspect. But just to be sure, I decided to pull it out and take a look.
This pump is accessed under the rear passenger seat, and is pretty easy to remove. With the pump out, I hooked up my ohmmeter and moved the sending unit arm through its full range while watching the resistance change. Seeing some drop outs in the reading after doing this 3 or 4 times convinced me that the sending unit was faulty, so a replacement was ordered and installed. The car was returned to the customer.
And returned a week later.
But you guessed that already, didn’t you? After all, if there weren’t something else going on this would be a boring story!
Had I done something wrong? I had read the service information, and there was a specific note on how to install the pump to make sure the sending unit operated properly. I didn’t bother to question the information at the time, but now my curiosity was aroused. I removed the pump, and peered into the tank and could see that there was a depression designed for the base of the pump module and off to the side was an additional recess for the sending unit arm. If the pump were positioned improperly, the arm would stop “high” on the lip of the depression instead of being able to move to its lowest point of travel. But, I thought, that would make the gauge read partially full even when the tank was empty, and that didn’t jive with the complaint…erratic readings, that changed while driving.
Then I noticed something white and plastic floating in the fuel. I removed the tank for a better look.
Apparently, the plastic I was looking at was a baffle that should be fixed to the base of the tank. A call confirmed that this baffle sits in front of the fuel pump module to prevent normal “slosh” from getting to the pump. Now I'm thinking that the floating debris was hitting the float arm and causing the erratic readings the customer was complaining about. Since the one I had was in pieces, a new tank had to be ordered.
Another lesson learned the hard way…hopefully now you won't have to!
