It's not just a mater of the lubricants hardening, but that the tolerances of the air control box were just to close, and after a tiny bit of goo, or debris got in there it would bind up. For a long time Saab’s official position was to take the heater box and grease it up and install a few shims. The belief was that these shims would relieve some of the binding pressure and help the box to operate correctly, I was the lucky buyer of a 1999 9-3 that had it's airbox greased and worked on 3 times (under warranty) the last as a courtesy to the original owner only 5000 miles before I bought the car. Saab would not cover any part of the replacement, or work as I was a second owner and there was no more warranty.

I also was lucky enough to have the dealer that did all the other work break other parts in there (the air recirculation control arm was broken)
They of course denied ever having done anything of the sort, and to the last day I talked to them, have stated that they have only ever replaced one heaterbox, and that it was due to them breaking it, and they still say that Saab’s official position is to just grease and shim.
Well I got a big middle finger high in the air for lighthouse Saab in NY, and their service manager.

Anyway, I took mine to dealer and it was just about $1000 CAN to get it fixed (replace the air control box). It sucks, but when the weather gets cold, you need the defroster so you don’t have much of a choice.


posted by 198.182.207...

• Air distribution boxes revisited, Elliott, Sun, 29 Dec 2002 23:42:37
  • It is me, the resident expert on this!!!, Eric Burr, Mon, 30 Dec 2002 16:12:30
    • Re: It is me, the resident expert on this!!!, Ivan Toper, Sun, 26 Aug 2007 03:55:38
    • Re: It is me, the resident expert on this!!!, Theo (Netherlands), Thu, 2 Jan 2003 07:09:26
      • Vent control knob, Jocelyn, Mon, 24 Sep 2007 11:29:13
        • Re: Vent control knob, JimBlake , Mon, 24 Sep 2007 20:28:45
      • Re: It is me, the resident expert on this!!!, Eric Burr, Fri, 3 Jan 2003 00:31:42
    • I need the resident ACC expert again. "shim fix"?, Elliott from Michigan, Tue, 31 Dec 2002 14:08:14
  • Re: Air distribution boxes revisited (long), Dennis/MA, Mon, 30 Dec 2002 10:41:27
    • Re: Air distribution boxes revisited, officeboy, Mon, 30 Dec 2002 13:25:38 <-- Viewing This Message
      • Re: Air distribution boxes revisited, Eric Burr, Mon, 30 Dec 2002 16:16:20
        • Re: Air distribution boxes revisited- ERIC, Tim Vickers, Tue, 31 Dec 2002 02:48:27
          • Re: Air distribution boxes revisited- ERIC, Eric Burr, Tue, 31 Dec 2002 21:27:24
            • Re: Air distribution boxes revisited- ERIC, Tim Vickers, Wed, 1 Jan 2003 11:01:08
              • Trust me, there is too much stuff behind there..., Eric Burr, Wed, 1 Jan 2003 20:26:00
  • Here's a link to Eric's discussion...Good Luck n/m, Doug P, Mon, 30 Dec 2002 00:23:19
    • that post doesn't refer to ACC n/m, Baldwin, Mon, 30 Dec 2002 03:04:34
      • meant to reply 2 Elliott sorry n/m, Baldwin, Mon, 30 Dec 2002 03:08:11
        • Saab 9-3 Air Distribution Knob, Marc Heimlich, Sun, 3 Jun 2007 13:25:12
          • Re: Saab 9-3 Air Distribution Knob, Chris Joyce, Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:05:37
          • **Saab 9-3 Air Distribution Knob - Product Defect**, Marc Heimlich, Sat, 16 Jun 2007 10:29:32
            • Re: **Saab 9-3 Air Distribution Knob - Product Defect**, budpaul, Tue, 22 Jan 2008 13:08:39
            • Re: **Saab 9-3 Air Distribution Knob - Product Defect**, shaun fuller, Wed, 5 Sep 2007 12:13:41
            • Re: **Saab 9-3 Air Distribution Knob - Product Defect**, dadtopes@optonline.net, Sun, 26 Aug 2007 04:03:36
    • Eric's discussion didn't answer the question, Elliott from Michigan, Mon, 30 Dec 2002 00:48:47
      • I don't have ACC see my reply to the original post nm, Eric Burr, Mon, 30 Dec 2002 16:18:36

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