We began having problems with the engine stalling and upon recommendation of our mechanic we looked to see if there was a recall or any information out there for this vehicle. I contacted saab USA and there was a valid open recall notice for this vehicle. We arraigned to take the vehicle to heritage saab in morrow, ga and according to their tech's they completed the replacement of the idm in accordance to the recall notice, but in a matter of a couple of weeks the problem returned. Now we can't even crank the vehicle due to it cutting off as soon as you crank it. It will appear to be running, but the engine has stalled and it sometimes will not recrank until after a few minutes has gone by.
2001 Saab 9-5 electrical complaints
Page 2 of 3: complaints 11 to 40 of 56, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl*the contact owns a 2001 saab 9-5. The contact stated that the check engine light illuminated intermittently. The dealer stated that the di cassette was the cause of the failure, which is the same as the ignition discharge module. Currently, the vehicle is at the dealer waiting to be repaired. The VIN was invalid. The current and failure mileages were 55,000. The consumer stated there was a recall issued for this vehicle, however the manufacturer stated the VIN was not included in the recall. Updated 12/12/07
Digital instrumentation panel failed in the first 20,000 miles and now again before 50,000 miles. Others I have spoken to with the same model have experienced the same problem.
I own a saab 2001 95 4dr sedan with 58k miles and the car just shuts down while driving or doesn't start up initially. My wife was in traffic when this problem occurred and almost had an accident. A local repair service indicated a electrical problem and suggested we get in contact with saab motor co.
Tl* - the contact owns a 2000 saab 9-5. The contact stated that when he called the toll free number noted on the safety recall #05v399000 for the electrical system:ignition:module, and provided the VIN he was told that someone would get back to him. The contact believed that he could have been told whether or not the safety recall applied to this vehicle at that time. The recall stated that stalling may occur. Recently the vehicle stalled while he was driving at 5 - 10 miles, and that the vehicle had only stalled once. The weather on 02/06 was chilly, but clear. The failure and current mileage were both 102467. *ak consumer states manufacturer is not willing to honor recall. Update *4/23/07
2001 saab sid display. The lines disappear and the display will not show anything that is happening to the car. This displays is vital to the operation. It failed with less than 50,00 miles and is a known problem with the saab's.
Driving on thruway,cruise went off sudden loss of speed,ck engine light on. Engine stalled would only idle and shake wouldn't move. Had it towed to shop cleared code ran 1/2 day ok then ck light came back on, pulled it back into my shop. I searched internet for solutions pointed to faulty throttle body. I"m a certified for 34 year motorcycle technician so I took it off and disassembled it as I wanted to get to the bottom as it"s reason for failure. I discovered everything was ok except all of the wire insulation within the internal area of the throttle body had failed and peeled away causing a electrical short or spike. This is due to the use of inferior wire insulation not designed for it"s application. Dlr had new $457.00 part in stock. I installed it,worked fine dlr inspected it. I left the old part with them for possible special warranty consideration with saab USA.saab declined warranty 01/02/07, I now have the old part. This car has also had 12 ign switch problems where 6 times it was replaced,the last one was 11/17/06 covered by warranty,also 6 headlights & 6tail lightbulbs replaced & counting not warranty. I have all work orders.
Dt*: the contact stated the recall work for the federal safety agency recall # 05v399000, pertaining to the electrical system ignition module was performed unsatisfactorily. The dealer service manager was contacted, who determined a second repair would not be done without charge. The manufacturer was also contacted on several occasions, however there was no return calls provided.
Dt*: the contact stated while driving there was a noticeable loss of power. The vehicle was taken the service dealer where a 24 point inspection was preformed and the throttle body was cleaned. While traveling at 35 MPH., on the interstate highway, on a clear, dry day, there was loss of all power. The vehicle was towed to the service dealer where the contact was informed the engine suffered a complete engine failure and needed to be rebuilt. The manufacturer offered to cover $2,000.00 of the estimated repair cost however the contact was unable to proceed with the repair work. Since then a recall notice (05v399000) was received regarding the ignition discharge module (saab recall # 05087). The contact believed that the recall defect was responsible for the engine failure.
2001 saab 9-5, consumer has not received reimbursement for the recall work done on the vehicle. *kb the consumer received a recall letter in the mail one month later, after the repairs were already paid for. When the consumer called to inquire about her refund, she was told by the manufacturer, that they didn't have all of the paperwork and also they didn't have her address. Nine months later, the consumer still has not received reimbursement. The catalytic converter was replaced.
Idm (ignition cassette) failure 1st occurrence: 10/11/2005 (48,000 miles) 2nd occurrence: 4/10/2006 (54,000 miles).
2001 saab 9-5 runs rough the consumer had to replace the idm due to failure. *ts ***nar*** after the idm repairs were made the consumer received a recall notice which referenced the problem the consumer had repaired. The consumer submitted a claim requesting reimbursement.
I own a 2001 saab 95 se v6. Was driving down the nj tpk and the car lost power and had a small electrical like fire under the hood. Had to get the car towed from the nj turnpike off and then again to my place in bensalem pa. Total cost $77 + 66. Found out that the di cassette burned out, cost me approx $600 to fix. A day later the cat converter fails (check engine light came on again). This is certainly due to di cassette burning out. Very frustrating for a car with only 60k miles on it.
Ignition module failed while driving, leading to loss of power making vehicle inoperable. Catalytic converter was damaged and it and the ignition module needed to be replaced. Second time was after ignition module replace in 10/05.
I was driving vehicle 2001 saab 9-5 se (v6 engine) wagon at 45-50 MPH when it suddenly lost power and decelerated. I knew about di cassettes failure and stopped immediately. No warning lights illuminated prior or after this episode. Vehicle was towed to local saab dealer. Problem was diagnosed as a faulty direct ignition cassette and replaced with a new part for free due to future recall (di cassett only). The catalytic converter was damaged due failure of the idm too, but it does not covered and it was replaced at cost of $2026.48. +10 days I was wating for parts. This car has had other "small" electrical problems like multiple light bulb burn outs, loss of pixels on the sid display, sudden increase brightness of all lights, failure of rear seats heater.
I have a 2001 saab aero 9-5. I have taken this vehicle into the saab service department over 15 times trying to fix my problem. My vehicle shuts down while driving and many times will not restart. I have also had many electrical issues with my vehicle including but not limited to the electrical modules for the heat and air conditioning, heated and air conditioned seats not working and many other electrical modules going out.
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.
Direct ignition cassette failed on two separate occasions, causing car to lose power and stop. Vehicle is a saab 95, 2001, v6, se wagon, date of second incident is below.
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.
Dt:the owner had problems with saab beginning in june. While driving 30 MPH the car shut down. The car had no electrical power or power steering. The owner got off the main road and got onto shoulder. The owner's car ended up at saab pacific, the owner found out that her friend had a similar problem. The mechanic told her that parts failed on every 1995 saab. Manufacturer knew about it but were not doing anything right now. The mechanic determined that the failed part was an ignition discharge problem. The part was replaced. There was another electric system problem in july. While driving windshield wipers and mirrors failed the car was taken to a dealer who diagnosed that the owner needed to replace the dice cassette. The dealership spent 3 days finding a dice cassette, and owner decided not to replace the dice cassette. The owner went back to mechanic who replaced a relay fuse. This corrected the problems with the electrical system. The vehicle was regularly serviced and the records were available.
I have an '01 9-5 and have had the di cassettes fail twice, once causing damage to the catalytic converter. The first dic failure was on 8/19/2003 at 62,453 miles without warning. I was driving 45 MPH and the vehicle stalled without warning and would not restart. I had one di cassette and 6 spark plugs replaced on 8/20/2003. On 12/22/2003 (4 months later) with 64,080 miles on the vehicle, while driving 60 MPH on the highway, the engine light came on and suddenly I was only able to travel around 20-30 MPH with much shaking to the vehicle. This dic failure caused the catalytic converter to burn up. The technician said that both di cassettes have to be replaced when one fails or you run the risk of recurrence. I had two di cassette, one catalytic converter, one thermostat, and spark plugs replaced on 12/23/2003 (one dic was credited because of the previous work on 8/20/2003). I was advised on 7/22/2005 that I do not have the latest saab 9-5 trionic update that includes changes to protect against di cassette failures. Perhaps there were errors in the old code that were causing all the dic failures, or perhaps this is an update to add fail-safes to minimize the change of dic failures.
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.
While driving my 2001 95 saab at approximately 40 MPH the engine abruptly died in traffic , this I found out was due to the di module , it appears that many saabs are having this issue according to my dealer, they have had many failures recently with no warning(s) to the driver. Fortunatley I was able to pull to the side of the rod to avoid any collision. I strongly feel that this should be investigated as a safety hazard and a recall for all saab 9-5 vehicles be generated , as I am sure many of these instances are not reported
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.
My car has only 50,000 miles. No warning, no escalation, just sudden. Sid l.c.d. Display is missing dots and lines causing unreadable display. Checked several "saab" discussion forums and apperantly this is a very common problem which damages the value of a $40,000+ car. I am afraid to find out how much this is going to cost to repair after seeing how many 9-5 owners have posted "home remedy" repair methods for this. Upper radiator hose- third one in fifty thousand miles from myself and the previous owner whom I knew. They all burst in the same place. Pressure relief cap tested ok. There is no aftermarket manufacturer of this hose that I know of to fall back on for a possibly more reliable product. And also, I again after searching through discussion forums discovered I am not the only one with this problem. Hood badge. Enamel cracked and flacked off of the hood badge on this garage kept car. Luckily I hear (because I'm not the only one) that these are cheap. My car has lost value to no fault of mine and I am going to have to have these things repaired (although they should not need to be) to regain that lost value.
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.
Add yet another direct ignition cassette failure to this list of complaints!! Driving home from the grocery store the car quit in the middle of a very busy intersection. Smoke and fire ensued. Where is the recall??!?!?!?
Dt: vehicle stalled on the highway. Driving at about 50 MPH ,and the vehicle just stalled and stopped. Vehicle was towed to the dealer, and dealer reported that the ignition discharge module was defective.
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.
This is a failure of the direct ignition casette in a 2001 saab 9-5 wagon with the 2.3 4 cylinder engine. I was in the passing lane of a highway when the car stalled without warning. It needed to be pushed to the side of the road and towed to a dealer. The direct ignition cassette had failed and was replaced.
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