I love this car. I bought this car early last year 2006. I really never had any major problems with it. I've maintained it very well. Until just recently about 2 weeks ago.
I went home for lunch from work. The car was working perfectly fine at this point. Then, as I'm leaving to go back to work, it doesn't want to turn on (I didn't leave any lights on in the car at all, nothing left open etc). I get a jump and right away it starts like normal. Didn't think nothing of it. No more problems, so I thought, until 2 days later.
My car wouldn't start unless I got a jump, so I did and now my car shut off as I was driving. That happened twice. I got it towed, also twice that day.
The place I took it to get checked out, swore it was the battery. Got a new battery and nope, not the problem, because the exact same thing is still happening. I asked if it could be anything else fuel system etc. they said they checked everything, whole electrical system and everything looked good.
So now my car is sitting at home and I have no idea what the problem can be. I want to take it to the Saab dealership, but I know that's going to cost me an arm & a leg. If anyone else has any idea what this problem may be, please contact me asap. Email: nioce1120@yahoo.com
Maybe check the alternator?.. if the battery is new.
Definately check the Alternator. If you can remove it yourself, you can take it in and have it tested for free at some auto supply stores like Advance Auto, Oreillys, Pepboys, It sounds to me like the alternator!!!
Mine is a 1999 with 108k on it. The exact same thing happen to my car a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was the battery, so I put in a new one. One week later, the battery died. I took it to my mechanic, and he didn't see anything wrong with it and the alternator is charging fine. He asked me to leave the car with him for a few days for a thorough check up. I need the car everyday, so haven't done it yet. In the meantime, I use a battery booster to jump start the car. Once it starts, it runs for a few days. I am trying to research this issue online to get an idea. If I find out anything that sounds right, I will come back and post it. Good luck.
The bearings on the pulleys might be going bad, causing the belt to slip and therefore not recharging your battery while you are driving. I had this issue on my 95 SE Turbo, until on of the pulleys failed completely and caused a belt failure.
I am unfamiliar with a saab - just looking in to getting one... but I did have a similar problem with my old Toyota Celica. It would shut off at random while I was driving it - especially in the rain!! Nobody could figure it out (new battery, new alternator) they wanted to run all kinds of expensive diagnostic tests. A buddy of mine suggested I get a new "z-coil" (or maybe c-coil I don't know it was a long time ago). Anyway, that did the trick! I drove the Celica for an additional 60,000 miles! Hope that helps?
Same problem w/2000 Saab SE Turbo convertible. Fuel line and DIC replaced on recall. Since then; intermitting not starting with no apparent reason. Alternator replaced, turbo boost pressure valve, idle control valve and vacuum lines. Third trip to dealer for repairs in 30 days, this time by tow truck. The Service Department has not called today; but let me guess, it started and they could not locate any problem.
Oh, I almost forgot, a new battery just before replacing the alternator.
I have a 1999 Saab 9-3 as well, and a similar problem. I took it to the dealer after my regular car guys couldn't fix it (they said the battery and alternator checked out fine and something else was draining the system while it's off). The dealer is of course charging me an inordinate amount of money and said they needed to put "a good battery" in before they can even perform more tests...
I'll see what they say tomorrow.
I had a similar problem with my Toyota Celica and Honda Accord. It ended up being the coolant temperature sensor. One big clue of that though is if you are getting horrible gas mileage. What it does is reads the temperature of the engine to see if your car needs to run rich (which it does when its cold). If the sensor is broken it will think that it is constantly cold and will constantly run rich, which causes the engine to shut off.
Not saying this is the answer, but it's happened to me more than once.
Try checking the Alarm/security system, this happened to a past car of mine and fixed the problem immediately.
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