QuestionQUESTION: My 1997 Saab 900SE turbo will not start. I stopped it but when I tried starting it an hour or two later it gave me the impression that the immobiliser was activated. I locked and unlocked the vehicle but it no longer attempts to fire. Any suggestions?
ANSWER: Graham:
I am sorry, but from your description, there are too many possible causes for the problem for me to address here..it DOES sound electrical, however. It will simply require some logical trouble shooting, signal/voltage tracing, etc. to get fixed.
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QUESTION: Update - I tried to start the engine again after it had been standing for a few days. After turning over a few times it started and seemed to run ok, idle and with some revs., but then stopped after 5 to 10 minutes. Subsequent attempts at starting had it firing briefly but would not run. Could this indicate something as simple as a blocked fuel filter? I did swap the fuel pump relay but I think it was a coincidece that it started after this.
Many thanks.
ANSWER: Graham:
It certainly does like a fuel supply problem..fuel filter blockages usually show up when the demand for fuel is greatest, i. e., on the highway or up a hill. Can you correlate the stoppages with hi fuel demand? If so, then the fuel filter would be a likely culprit.
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QUESTION: When I said I had started the vehicle after standing for a few days that is all I managed to do. The engine died again within a few minutes. Since the problem began the car has only started the one time for a few minutes so it has not been possible to relate to problem to any type of driving condition. I'll try the fuel filter first anyway. Thanks very much for your advice.
AnswerGraham:
The fuel filter is a good place to start...I think an investigation of the fuel pump and supporting circuitry would be a logical next step if the filter replacement doesn't help. I answered to a similar problem about two months ago in some detail..you may check the archives.
