2001 Saab 9-5: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed Sep 26, 2005 · Electrical · 68,500 miles · IA

On a 2001 saab 9-5 se (v6 engine) stationwagon while driving on an interstate highway, the car suddenly lost power and the check engine light started flashing. As I pulled the car off the highway onto an exit ramp (within less than a minute of the malfunction), the car stalled and a burning smell was detected inside the car after which the car was turned off and parked. The car was towed to the local saab dealer where the ignition discharge module on the rear cylinder bank was determined to have failed. Failure of the idm on only 3 out of 6 cylinders caused unburned gas to be discharged into the exhaust where it reacted in the catalytic converter, clogging the converter and stalling the engine. The catalytic converter was ruined which caused the burning smell. No fire was detected. The idm and catalytic converter were replaced.

Filed Aug 8, 2005 · Electrical · 65,000 miles · OH

Ignition cassette failed while driving car. Car speed was appx 40 MPH, check engine light flashed and I lost engine power. Pulled car over and found black smoke coming out of ignition cassette. Cassette was very hot and I was concerned it would catch on fire. Car would not start thereafter.

Filed Jul 1, 2005 · Electrical · 63,500 miles · PA

I was driving vehicle at approximately 30 MPH when it suddenly lost power and decelerated to 3-5 MPH. Vehicle stalled about 30 seconds later and could not be restarted. No warning lights illuminated prior to this problem and the car seemed fine immediately before power loss. I observed heavy smoke coming from engine compartment and detected a strong burning odor. Vehicle was towed from scene to local saab dealer. Problem was diagonosed as a faulty direct ignition cassete and replaced with a new part at a cost of $500. Damaged part is available.

Filed Jun 8, 2005 · Electrical · 91,899 miles · MI

Add my 2001 saab 9-5 wagon, 6 cyl, to the list of those with di cassette failure. Traveling at about 50 MPH on a beautiful june morning the engine suddenly lost power. When I pulled off the road, a puff of smoke came from under the hood and there was a distinct burnt electrical smell when I raised the hood. My mechanic believes the faulty di cassette may have been the cause for the 2 previous catalytic converter failures. The car has had other electrical idiosyncracies, including frequent light bulb burn outs, loss of pixels on the main display screen, sudden extreme brightness of all display screens, and sporadic traction control and ABS failure warnings on starting. The latter generally goes away when the car is restarted. The saab dealer in flint and the dealer rep have been unresponsive to the point of negligence on the cat failures, luckily I have a good and honest local saab mechanic at rallye imports in midland. Saab should recall for the di cassette and should reimburse for replacement of the display screen. In 40 years of driving, this is the most unreliable car I've ever owned.

Filed May 21, 2005 · Electrical · 61,000 miles · NH · fire

1. Driving at approximately 40mph, complete engine failure with out any warning. 2. Car could break but power assisted steering was non funtional, steering functioned with out power assistance, but very hard to safely steer vehicle. 3. Was able to move car off road into grass ditch away from rear traffic. 4. Black smoke came from drivers side of engine with smell of burnt plastic and rubber. 5. Certified saab mechanic diagnosed car and found that the ignition cassette failed and burned from within. Replaced ignition cassette at a cost of $500. 6. There are two ignition cassettes in the saab 95. The remaining unit has 60,000 miles on it. 7. If this failure took place on a highway in fast moving traffic, a tragic accident could result. There is no warning of the failure. I had three children in the vehicle. 8. There was some minor smoke damage in the vehicle compartment, the fire was internal to the failed unit and did not spread. However toxic like fumes from the burning plastic existed in the passenger compartment causing passengers to cough. 9. Saab USA knows of this problem. After the incident I reviewed many saab websites and found other incidents of complete engine falure due to this problem. It is an expensive problem to fix. It also poses a major safety issue that could result in tragic consequences. 10. Saab USA should fix this problem at no cost to the consumer.

Filed Apr 16, 2005 · Electrical, Engine · 23,000 miles · TX

Driving at 65mph in far left lane of highway and sudden loss of speed--could only go 20-30 MPH for a few minutes before burning smell. Was able to come to right shoulder while dodging highway traffic. Direct ignition cassette (dic) failure 1 of 2 dic's in 6 cylinder engine). Second visit required for check engine light--was catalytic converter. Third visit for another cel for second dic failure.

Filed Dec 3, 2002 · Engine · MA

Consumer state while traveling at 30 MPH without any indication vehicle stall consumer pull vehicle over and notice smoke coming from engine soon after engine was on fire in result of total lost of vehicle. Please provide further information. Ts