UKSaabs

NGjohn wrote:Cheers johno,

My SID is becoming unreadable. It is either fix or replace costing £166.

Will try and fix now I have decent instructions.

Send it away via Ebay, I did, happy with results.

GRENDAL wrote:It looks like you have to remove the brass strip that links the plastic bulb holder to the circuit board.

No, No Wayne, no need for that matey, no no no Sir, Ive found an easy way to do it & the pressure fix with sticky pads works on the ACC display too! WOOO HOOO

Right then, here we go,

Step 1, remove Acc unit from car, blah blah blah!
Step 2, undo the 4 outer case screws, using a T6 torx bit thingy. 2 of the screws are very long & the other 2 are tiny & fix the PCB to the outer case.
Step 3, with the outer case removed you should have something that looks like this!



Step 4, now you need to remove the 3 little T6 torx screws from the PCB/bulb holder & pull the whole innards away from the front plastic pannel. Which will then look like this,



Step 5, pull the smaller PCB/bulb holder away from the main PCB, this just pulls off.
Step 6, on the main PCB there are 2 small T6 screws that need to be removed, these along with 2 clips hold the white plastic screen holder to the PCB, now, this is where Wayne was stuck. You do not need to touch the copper bulb holder strips that are clipped along the rear of the screen holder, (see next pic) leave that well alone.




Step 7, right Wayne, here it is, un clip the main screen from the white retaining clips on the screen holder & let the screen flop down, now bend the screen holder upwards, this will not damage the copper bulb contacts & it will give you enough room to fix your sticky pads to the screen ribbon & the PCB.





One layer of sticky pads was enough to sort out this ACC unit, this works the same as the SID fix by using pressure against the ribbon & the white plastic screen holder when its bent back into position & screwed to the main PCB.
Step 8, clean the screen, whack some new bulbs in if needed & put it all back together again...........Bingo, thats it.

So, here it is fitted back into the car,





So, there we have it guys, perfect pixles on the SID & the ACC control pannel on a 10 year old 9-5 & the total cost was less than a packet of fags!
I have left my repaired ACC unit in the car & kept the new one I bought from Neo Bros in the shed for now as a spare.

Well done that chap!

I've got to give the car a good wash and a couple of layers of wax on saturday - I'll sort this out then.

Well done that man.

Another entry into the Knowledge Database for Johno........

GRENDAL wrote:Another entry into the Knowledge Database for Johno........

Thats not the only database Im in!
Cheers Wayne, this one is eaiser than the SID to be honest, took about half an hour tops!
I would say that there is just about enough room for two layers of sticky pads under the white screen holder but mine's working fine with just the one for now.

I can vouch for the ACC fix working - like Johnno, I fixed mine whilst the new one was on it's way, and never needed it. The fix out-lasted the car, which has gone to the great PX shop in the sky (or West London, anyway).

So, if this doesn't work for anybody, and you want a new ACC control unit, just let me know

Dick

Thanks Johno,

The description and the pics. in your original post made me go for it and fix the pesky display (missing centreline pixels) in the wife's car. SID 2 was extracted, operated on and reinstalled within 30 minutes and the patient is well with all pixels responding.

I went for the biro first just to keep the adhesive under pressure so to speak... then used a long foam pad across the ribbon with only the far ends stuck to the Printed Circuit Board so as not to gum up the back of the ribbon for possible future explorations. Then noticing the silly desperate single piece of grey foam the manufacturer stuck to the other side of the board, (where you refer adding pads on the other side of the board in step 9). I took a good look at the profile of the board and could see a possible design error causing the problems with these.

The screws are at either end of the board, the board bows between them and the centre is visibly distorted upwards - hence (possibly) the reason they put the wee bit of grey foam in the centre which obviously is not man enough for the job. I used 4 layers of foam tape along 2 inches at the centre and then pulled the casing back to allow sliding the board back into the housing and keeps the board under good pressure. If I had been in the design house on this project I would have provided a centre screw-fix (plastic moulding) between the two boards, the layout of the circuitry would certainly have accommodated it! Guess it's just another common fault not subject to recall 'cause it don't affect safety etc.

Don't think that this particular SID will need an re-operation anytime soon, thanks again.

A quick update as it was just over a year ago when I did this little fix.
Pixels still 100% after 13 months.









Just wish a few stickey pads would fix my sick engine!

Did the BIRO and STICKY PAD fix on my SID display today

Works lovely now!

Cheers Johno

Great stuff Mr Demonbiker Sir.
Mine's still working 100%, hope your fix lasts too.

Just got myself a half decent 2001 9-5 Aero 2 weeks ago,now the problem solving begins.Saw this repair so I'm going to give it a go,let you know how I get on.Sump drop tomorrow(can't wait )

My SID 2 had most of the pixels missing. I tried the biro job, but only got a 50 percent recovery. Took it to work, and using a cooled off soldering iron contact spray and double sided foam, 100 percent. There's a link on here.
http://www.saab9-5.com/howto/sidrepair.htm
Just be really careful when separating the the display from the print. Pull it too hard and you've got to join the flat cable back up to the pcb. Thats a .

where's the best place to get replacement SID bulbs from??

I got mine from ebay. Usually one or two sellers on there.

For anyone who's interested, after fixing mine over a year ago, it's still going strong.

Hi, great to see this thread just at the right time as I am about to have a go at my SID on a 2000 95 aero.
Replacing the bulbs at the same time sounds a good idea, ? what type of bulbs are they, it would be nice to have them to hand when i take the unit apart.

Hi, Thanks for all the info. Will have a go at sorting my SID on 95 aero. Replacing bulbs at same time would make sense, What type are they? it would be nice to have everything to hand once I've got the unit apart. Think I'll have a go at the biro/iron and sticky pad trick.

Tried lots of these methods without success. Sent it off to Simon. He fixed it for £50, gave me a guarantee and replaced the dodgy stuff with brand new parts. To me it was worth the money because I was pee'd off with the hassle of a dodgy SID. Yes you can fix it yourself....but it could go wrong again tomorrow!

Chris1200 wrote:Sent it off to Simon. He fixed it for £50. Yes you can fix it yourself....but it could go wrong again tomorrow!

Depends how well you fix it mate.
Its not a job to be rushed, its dead easy but if the ribbon has come away from the PCB then it needs to be re-attached perfectly or it wont work.
Mines still 100% after god knows how long now so Ive saved myself about 45 quid.
If youve had a go at fixing it & failed then sending it away to be repaired is fair enough.
However this thread is about DIY, as are most 'How To' threads.
We know Simon is good & also offers a lifetime guarantee, but theres tons on info on him & his services on UKS, I did this thread for those who want to have a go at fixing the problem & saving a few quid, not sending it off to someone else.

Not having a pop, but theres not much point in posting 'How To' threads if all members want to do is advise sending parts away to be fixed by someone else insted.
Ive no problem with people spreading the word but thats why there are banner ads & coffee bar threads praising & or recomending outside parties.
Just my opinion you understand.

OK firstly can someone tell me where to find or what is the biro method so i can have ago at the above. I have just bought a 2002 9-3 and its lost 98% of it's pixels, can i still run the the car with the SID unconnected or is it a fundamental part of the car in anyway. I would like to remove it and do the fix but use the car meantime.
Thanks in advance for any help.

Wouldnt bother with just the biro fix Mr Brown Sir, it will only fail at a later date, so using the sticky pad & or warm iron fix as well is a much better bet.
It really is a half hour job so doing it in the evening after youve had your tea wont cause you too many problems.

The glue that holds the ribbon to the PCB loses its sticky & the ribbon doesnt make a good contact with the PCB, all the biro fix does is re stick the ribbon where its come loose by running the biro along the length of the ribbon pressing it back in place.
If you are going to this effort you may as well stick a couple of rows of sticky pads along its length to keep the pressure against the ribbon & it should be ok.
Hope this helps.

your a star thanks for that i thought i had to do the biro thing aswell in which case as soon as ive got me sticky tabs and worked out how to remove SID ill have a go.