Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 14:40:56 -0800 From: Justin VanAbrahams <jvanabranopsamnet> Subject: Re: 900S Ignition Noise on AM
Sam wrote: > > Ken, > I'm using the wires that came with the car when I bought it used. > At this point the car had 115 k on it. That was about 4 years ago. > I must assume they are the stock wires, but who knows. It's in the > shop right know, so I can't check them. > I am curious to know why the 900 series seems to have such a > problem with ignition noise. We must assume that they do not come out > of the factory with this problem. That being the case, we must assume > that something has deteriorated with time. If this is true, replacing > the offending components with stock Saab parts should cure the > problem, should it not? Theoretically, but the thing to remember is that there's hundreds of feet of wiring in a car and all that insulation is in there decaying and getting ready to betray you - and fixing it is unlikely. :) What generally happens, in my experience, is people replace both plugs and wires with non-stock components and this results in all sorts of problems. People start using AutoLite spark plugs instead of the recommend Bosch or NGK ones (I prefer NGK, BTW) and people use Bosch wires instead of the stock Bougicord wires (the Bosch wires are half as much an 1/4 as good). These two items alone create all sorts of ignition noise. Also, changing spark plugs every 25k and wires ever 60k is not a bad idea - in terms of noise and performance... Generally people wait until the wires start having issues before replacing them, but an $80 item like that (for Magnecor or Bougicord) is worth taking care of at recommended intervals. > I wonder it chassis grounds deteriorate. OTOH, from your and > Justin's testimony, it seems that some combo of plugs/wires may do the > trick. That happens as well. It's not a bad idea to get a wire brush and clean the contact point of the main chassis ground which is located right at the base of the radiator... with the battery out it's pretty easy to get to... Most of them get pretty yucky, and they're complete exposed to the outside world of grit and grime... -Justin
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