sensors and non-crank
55

Asked by purdyboyfloyd Sep 08, 2009 at 12:33 PM about the 2003 Saab 9-3 SE Convertible

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Before I spend alot of trial and error money that does not fix the problem... can anyone tell me why (a scenario)  I'm at the gas station, car's been running beautifully for weeks, turn it off, and after just a shor time, it will not restart.  Magically it starts after 10 or 15 mins of waiting for help to come and presumably jump it... it is clicking like a bad alternator... ...  It's very expensive to go in the grocery store and leave it idling.  At 80K miles, is there anything I should do as basic maint. so no surprises???   

1 Answer
725

Gordon answered 12 years ago

Hi there, Well, if that is the case, it could be due to your neutral safety switch being faulty.(ebay sells some used ones) I used to have this problem on my 2001 9-3 Intermittent no start problem - you turn the key to start, all of your interior/exterior lights work fine but nothing happens. 5, 10, 30 minutes pass and then it starts. The neutral safety switch sits onto the top of your transmission and lets the car know if it is in park, neutral, etc. If it doesn't think you are in either P or N, then guess what, no electricity gets to the starter. Try cycling your gear selector a bunch of times to see if you can then get it to start in either P or N. Chances are it may work some times. But it gets real frustrating, especailly when you are in a hurry. And believe me that's when it relly won't start. Another trick I learn't and with much sucess is to pour water over the neutral safety switch and then get in and start your engine, it'll surely fire. I do hope this will help you. Cheers.

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