UKSaabs

Right did the fix but no joy unfortunately so i presume my SID is buggered. How do i identify which one will fit my car (part number etc) as mine makes the odd noise and my fan/temp display changes to show a 0 , so i really could do with seeing whats going on. The car is a 2002 registered 9-3 2ltr turbo auto if that makes any difference. Any help much appreciated as i really would like to get this sorted.
Thanks in advance chaps
Dave

sid 2 has a + and - on it a sid 1 doesn't.the acc display is the same on all climate controlled 93 from your year,get in touch with simon who fixes the displays,with new looms etc and give a lifetime warrenty,sid is about £50 to exchange for working one c/c is a bit more,but both are way cheaper than new ones,the funny noise might be the c/c air temp fan its in the dash next to were the heated seat switches are(if fitted) looks like a little dart board in black,inside is a small(very)fan that stays live and rotating for about 5mins after the ing is turned off,you can turn the unit upside down or adjust the fan "balance" by inserting a tooth pick while its running,its not an exact art,just if it goes silent then bingo job done

I have a SID 2 unit but it is nothing like the one used in this how-to (screws in different places, different plug, etc). Anyhow I followed this as closely as I could, I have managed to get nearly all pixels on the top 50% of the screen to work, but nothing on the bottom, would that suggest part of the ribbon is FUBAR'd? All bulbs seem to be ok

Hi Yuri.
If Im not mistaken you car is a MY98 9-3 so yes, the SID's are totally different.
This guide was done using a Saab 9-5 SID2.

Ive not messed about with any 9-3's, but I would think they all work allong the same lines.
It could be that your ribbon is ripped or torn, then your best bet would be to send it off to one of the repair guys on here.

That said I had the same thing happen on a 9-5 SID1, I used two rows of sticky pads & only got about 70% of the pixels to work.
I added an extra row of sticky pads along the ribbons length & this sorted the problem.
There is room for three rows of sticky pads on a 9-5 SID, Ive no idea about the 9-3 SID though.

Sorry I cant be of more help to you matey, I would say to take it apart again & have a good look for damage to the ribbon, see if another row of sticky pads can be added & try that, if all else fails you might need to send it away to one of the experts for a new ribbon.

Thanks mate, ye that is my car. I thought a SID2 would be a SID2 regardless of what it was fitted to, didn't relise it changed between models! I have got 3 layers of fairly thick pads on one side (caused the PCB to bulge when screwed back into the screen) and I've now tried to counter that with 2 layers on the reverse side. Will plug it in once I've done the ACC and see if there's any improvement. If not I'll follow your advice and send it off after xmas

Fitted them both this morning... the final extra bit of padding i added to the SID has undone the good work of the previous 2 layers. And the ACC does not work at all (the ribbon has seen better days). So in conclusion, I think I'm going to send mine off

hi, I tried a 9-3 ACC pixel repair but forgot how short the ribbon is! Anyone got any ideas about putting it back on? Have tried heating the original adhesive which seemed to work well but nothing on the screen now at all. Thanks, Guy

I'd tried all of the previously mentioned fixes on here, iron, biro's, sticky pads, etc, and all made little difference on my 2001 9-3 2.2 diesel. Having thought about it and with nothing to really lose (the display was barley readable) i thought i'd try this

As with any of these fixes you try it at your own risk and please don't complain if it doesn't work after you've tried it, if you want a risk free way of getting it working send it somewhere and pay for it

Took the SID out and apart as described in previous posts. My thinking was that may be there was some muck/dirt under the ribbon i.e. between the ribbon and PCB therefore blocking any decent contact.

very carefully peel the ribbon back off the PCB (not completley but just enough to get a cotton bud or similar in to clean. If its anything like mine was then then the glue may be clummped and/orst not very clean looking. Using something suitable such as electrical cleaner (i used turps cos that's all i had to hand) carefully clean between the ribbon and PCB, removing all the gunked up and old adhesive. Then follow previous instructions using sticky foam pads. I used 3 layers of the type of stuff you use to insulate around doors, i also put this on before i peeled back the ribbon as it helped to keep it in place and stop it from slipping.
Put it all back together again and hopefully it will work.

I went from around 20% of my display working to 100% by using the above method, its basically the same as the foam strip method but just adds a bit by cleaning the old glue from between the ribbon and PCB.

madassmax wrote:I'd tried all of the previously mentioned fixes on here, iron, biro's, sticky pads, etc, and all made little difference on my 2001 9-3 2.2 diesel. Having thought about it and with nothing to really lose (the display was barley readable) i thought i'd try this

As with any of these fixes you try it at your own risk and please don't complain if it doesn't work after you've tried it, if you want a risk free way of getting it working send it somewhere and pay for it

Took the SID out and apart as described in previous posts. My thinking was that may be there was some muck/dirt under the ribbon i.e. between the ribbon and PCB therefore blocking any decent contact.

very carefully peel the ribbon back off the PCB (not completley but just enough to get a cotton bud or similar in to clean. If its anything like mine was then then the glue may be clummped and/orst not very clean looking. Using something suitable such as electrical cleaner (i used turps cos that's all i had to hand) carefully clean between the ribbon and PCB, removing all the gunked up and old adhesive. Then follow previous instructions using sticky foam pads. I used 3 layers of the type of stuff you use to insulate around doors, i also put this on before i peeled back the ribbon as it helped to keep it in place and stop it from slipping.
Put it all back together again and hopefully it will work.

I went from around 20% of my display working to 100% by using the above method, its basically the same as the foam strip method but just adds a bit by cleaning the old glue from between the ribbon and PCB.

Forgot to mention, when i put the sticky foam on i deliberatley made sure that it overlaped over the edges of the ribbon, this with the pressure of the display being screwed down on top of it should stop it moving anywhere and losing contact with the PCB.

madassmax wrote:I went from around 20% of my display working to 100%

Thats good news, well done matey.
Like Ive said above Ive not done this on a 9-3 SID, only on the 9-5 & looking at the comments it looked like 9-3 owners were having trouble with the cheap fix.
I thought perhaps the screws in the 9-3 SID might have been spaced out different so the outer case didnt sandwich the PCB & ribbon quite as well as it does on the 9-5.
But as youve sorted yours then the 9-3 SID is dooable too.

Good work Max & thanks for posting up your results.

.

With 3 strips of foam on the PCB does bow alot in the middle as theres too much space between the screws at either end, not a problem when new but a design fault as time passes by. I think the glue must just deteriorate over time and block contact as i had tried the foam trick prior to cleaning so it must have been the cleaning that cured it. It wouldn't surprise me if it worked on its own without using the foam?

I'd just like to say thanks to you Johno, I just followed your ACC how to and I now have a fully functioning display! I had a number of parts of the display that were failing, now all is back as it should be... another satisfied 'customer'! Cheers again!

Well done Phil, good job matey.
Hope it lasts, mines still 100% after 26 months, this fix does seem to work better on the 9-5's though.
A few 9-3 owners still having pixel problems........Should have bought a proper Saab!



Im kidding Im kidding, just my little joke.

i tried this on my sid 1 but now the display disappears now and again so might have to take it apart again.

I`m going to try this on my 51 9-3 there`s maybe around 20-30% failure on the sid ( SID2 i think )..

After reading through this thread, seems like a combo of Madassmax`s cleaning the contact surface, the biro and Johno`s securing it is the way to go..

Cheers for the info. Read this earlier and had a bash when I got home

Just did our MY1999 9-3 Verti and it worked a treat.

Slid a blunt knife in the rhs and the SID unit popped out easy

Pretty much the same as the 9-5 with only a couple of slight changes to the design

Cleaned it with cotton bud running the length of the connection.

Connected it back up and while there was a vast improvement there were still some pixelation.

In for a penny and all that so I booted up the laptop to go over the instructions again a wee bit more thoroughly and realised I'd only cleaned the side connecting to the display and not the pcb.

Removed the pcb connected at a right angle housing the bulbs and exposed the ribbon completely

Cleaned as before and also heated it with the iron and then ran the cotton bud down it again.

Found some sticky pads and stuck one layer on the pcb side and x3 on the reverse.

Popped it all back together and yah dancer!

Two things.

1. Where do you get the bulbs to replace those burnt ones?
2. Managed to work out how to set the time, even tried pressing both buttons and got an RDS time thing up but now the SID display is fully functional, the date is stuck on the 1st January so now need to find out how to change that.

Couldn't see that corner before. . . . . .

Couple questions
My local dealer doesn´t have ACC bulbs, what are their specs? Just to change them as well as I fix the ACC
@johno Those red sticky pads you used (1st page) are just one-side-sticky? More useful than double sided adhesive for keeping the ribbon "sticked" to the PCB or not?
Thanks

Found
http://www.ehow.com/how_7799394_replace ... -saab.html

Thought I would add my experience (frustration) to this Had a go trying to fix my 9-3 ACC display. As it was only showing the temp I felt I couldn't loose much if it went wrong.

If you're doing this be very careful to push the screen as you remove the PCB since the ribbon cable is not very long!

The ribbon cable was lifting up slightly on one half so I first tried sticking it back and putting some tape across it. No luck. For the second attempt I bought some contact cleaner, carefully removed the ribbon from the board and tried to clean it up. Stuck it back down, a tiny improvement but still only the temp showing.

The part I don't recommend doing >>> Plugged the board in without the case to see if pushing anywhere on the ribbon connection helped. Very little again! So I've given up . The contacts on the ribbon look pretty dull, probably corroded further into the ribbon.

Has anyone tried buying a new ribbon from somewhere? The people that refurbish these must buy them from somewhere ...

Also I can't see a way of putting more pressure on the screen with some sticky pads like the SID. There isn't anything that sits on top of the contact strip on the 9-3 display.

Excellent, will try this next week. Found a guy on ebay selling instructions for £7, I guess the same as this. Just bought my 9-5 SE estate with the SID faulty.