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I have found a bizarre situation in my 99 Saab 93. While trying to replace the plastic rod that links the duct control knob to the actual mechanism, I found a BRAKE PAD wedged in the Heater/A/C duct on the passenger side. Has anyone ever heard of this?
History
My wife just bought the car used from a Saab dealer with just under 55,000 miles, there were a couple of things they fixed after she took possession of the car, broken fog light and broken radio antenna. Five days after she had the car the control knob for the heating A/C duct (selects defroster, dash or feet for air flow) failed. When I took the car in for the repairs I explained about the knob. They fixed the fog light and radio antenna for free. The control fix was going to cost us $195.00. When I asked what the cost of the parts was they said $19.00. I declined the authorization to fix the knob until I had more info. They charged us $35.00 for the diagnosis. Which I paid.
Problem
It appears that this problem is well know to Saab see service bulletin 93 854-2205 http://www.townsendimports.com/Saab_TSB_Folder/Saab_TSB_pdfs/854_2205.PDF
And bulletin 93 870-2020
http://www.townsendimports.com/Saab_TSB_Folder/Saab_TSB_pdfs/870_2020.PDF
After some minor disassembly of the dash I found a white plastic control rod/shaft that connects the knob to the air blending box. One end of the shaft was broken.
Armed with this info, I returned to the dealer, talked with the service manager, and asked him to see if Saab would repair under warranty. He agreed to try, however because of the holidays it could be a week or so until he received an answer. I explained that the care was un-drivable in its current situation because we were unable to change the setting of the ducts from the broken position of directing all of the air to our feet as opposed to the defroster which is necessary in winter driving in Michigan. He agreed. I offered to replace the broken control rod myself but not attempt the bigger job of removing and repairing the cause of the stiffness that causes the rod to break. He agreed and gave me the part at no charge.
In the process of replacing the rod I discovered a part that moved when I touched it. As I moved the part it fell out of the A/C/heater duct on the passenger side. The portion I was touching was a tab on the end of a (used)disc brake pad.
Here are my questions; could the brake pad have been placed as some sort of undocumented “fix” that a technician thought would solve a problem?
OR
Was this sabotage, possibly for refusing to authorize the repair work?
If anyone has ever heard of a similar “fix” I would like to hear about it before I go “off” on the dealership.
Thanks for any help you can offer.
posted by 24.247.3...
, Sun, 29 Dec 2002 22:47:49
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