2004 SAAB 9-3 steering

36 SafetyAirbag warning lamp Servicing the airbag system
The airbag system must be inspected as
part of the normal service program but oth-
erwise may be regarded as maintenance-
free.
Scrapping or working on airbag and
belt pretensioners
WARNING
 If the airbag readiness light stays on
after you start your vehicle, it means
the airbag system may not be working
properly. See page 77.
 The airbags in your vehicle may not
inflate in a crash, or they could even
inflate without a crash.
 To help avoid injury to yourself or
others, have your vehicle serviced
right away if the airbag readiness light
stays on after you start your vehicle.
WARNING
 Under no circumstances should any
modifications be made that affect the
steering wheel or the airbag’s electri-
cal circuitry.
 During any welding, both battery
cables must be disconnected and
covered.
 Before quick drying paint in the vicinity
of the electronic control module, the
module’s grounding points and wiring
must be covered.
 Airbags and safety belt pretensioners
must be deployed under controlled
conditions before the car is scrapped
or any of the system’s components are
removed. Airbags or belt pretension-
ers that have been deployed as a
result of a crash must be replaced by
new ones.
 Airbag-system components must
never be transferred for use in another
vehicle.
 All work involving the scrapping or
replacement of airbags or belt preten-
sioners must be carried out by autho-
rized personnel only.
ProCarManuals.com

37 Safety
Frequently asked questions on
function of the airbagDo you still need to wear a safety belt if air-
bags are fitted?Yes, always! The airbag system compo-
nents merely supplement the car’s normal
safety system. Moreover, the front airbags
will only be actuated in a moderate to severe
frontal, or near-frontal crash, which means,
of course, that they provide no protection in
minor frontal crashes, major rear- or side-
crashes or if the car rolls over.
The safety belts help to reduce the sideway
movement of the body in a crash.
But they also ensure that, if a crash occurs
in which the airbags are inflated, the airbag
will make the optimum contact with the
occupant, i.e. square on from the front. If the
occupant meets the airbag in an offset posi-
tion, the protection afforded will be reduced.In addition, airbags provide no protection
against a secondary impact occurring in the
same incident. So there is no doubt about
the benefit of wearing safety belts at all
times.
Do not sit too close to the airbag: it needs
room to inflate.
The airbag inflates very quickly and power-
fully in order to protect an adult, before they
are thrown forward, in a serious frontal
crash.
How do I position the seat to leave room for
the airbag to inflate?Don’t have your seat too far forward.
Recline the seat back to increase the dis-
tance between you and the airbag. For short
drivers, special accessory pedal extensions
are available through your Saab dealer.
Airbags inflate extremely rapidly and with
great force – to be fast enough to protect an
adult in the seat.
When do the airbags in the steering wheel
and passenger side of the dash board
inflate? The airbag will only be inflated under certain
predetermined conditions in a moderate to
severe frontal, or near-frontal crash,
depending on such factors as the force and
angle of the impact, the speed of the car on
impact, and the resistance to deformation of
the impacting object.
The airbag can only be activated once in the
same incident.
Do not attempt to drive the car after an
airbag has been inflated, even if it is possi-
ble.What won’t trigger the airbag? The airbag will not be activated in all frontal
crashes. For instance, if the car has hit
something relatively soft and yielding (e.g. a
snow drift or a hedge) or a solid object at a
low impact speed, the airbag will not neces-
sarily be triggered.
ProCarManuals.com

42 SecurityLocking/unlocking the carRemote locking and unlocking also control
the car alarm.
Remote locking
Press the button once: all doors and
the trunk lid locked.
The hazard warning lights will flash once to
confirm.Remote unlocking
Pressing the button once: the driver´s
door is unlocked. Press a second time to
unlock the rest of the doors and enable the
trunk lid switch.
The hazard warning lights will flash twice to
confirm.
If a fault arises in the locking system, the
Saab Information Display (SID) will display:
Saab Information Display (SID), see page
83.
Intermittent malfunctioning
Equipment in the vicinity of the car that uses
the same frequency as the remote control
may cause interference to the remote con-
trol signal. In this case, retry from another
angle and aim at the receiver located by the
steering wheel.If remote unlocking should fail to work
1 Remove the traditional key from the
remote control by pressing the emblem
on the reverse of the remote control.
(This key only fits the front left-hand
door.)
2 Carefully remove the cover plate from
the keyhole in the door.
3 Unlock the door with the key.
The car alarm will be tripped. To silence the
alarm, insert the remote control into the igni-
tion switch.
WARNING
Leaving children or pets unattended in a
locked car is dangerous. It is also danger-
ous to leave children in a vehicle with the
ignition key. A child or others could be
badly injured or even killed.
Never lock anyone in the car.
Lock system failure.
Contact Saab dealer.
Locking/unlocking the front left-hand door
with the traditional key1 Lock
2 Unlock
ProCarManuals.com

43 Security
Locking a car with dead batteryThe steering wheel lock requires sufficient
battery voltage to lock and unlock. If the bat-
tery voltage drops below a certain level
while the remote control is in the ignition
switch, you will not be able to remove the
remote control.
If you must leave the car, proceed as
follows:
1 Lock the car by pressing down the lock
buttons on the doors.
2 Lock the front left door from outside with
the traditional key (see page 42). The
car is now locked but the car alarm will
remain inactive.
Trunk lidOpening
The trunk lid is unlocked and slightly opened
when the button on the remote control
or on the inside of the driver’s door is
pressed once.
The hazard warning lights will flash three
times to confirm.
Closing
The trunk lid is locked when closed.
If the doors are locked when the trunk lid is
closed it is armed and the movement sensor
in the cabin will be armed.
Opening button on driver’s door
ProCarManuals.com

92 Instruments and controlsHigh/low beamTo switch between high and low beam, pull
the control stalk all the way towards the
steering wheel. (Headlight switch must be
ON.)
The symbol on the main instrument
panel shows when the high beam is on.Headlight flasherTo flash your headlights, pull the control
stalk half-way towards the steering wheel.
The high beam will remain on until you
release the stalk.
Courtesy Headlamp FeatureA delay function allows the low beam head-
lights and back-up lights to remain on for
about 30 seconds after the driver’s door has
been closed.
To activate this function:
1 After turning off the engine, remove the
remote control.
2 Open the driver’s door.
3 Pull the control stalk all the way towards
the steering wheel.
The low beam headlights and reversing
lights will come on and remain on for
30 seconds when the door is closed.
Instrument lightingThe brightness of the instrument lighting
can be adjusted by pressing the button (+ or
- signs on the button above the NIGHT-
PANEL button).
Dipswitch1 Headlight flasher
2 High/low beam
Adjusting instrument illumination
ProCarManuals.com

93 Instruments and controls
Front fog lights (certain variants
only)The front fog lights should be used in poor
visibility.
These are automatically turned off when the
engine is switched off. When the car is next
started, the fog lights will have to be
switched back on manually by pressing the
fog light switch. If the engine is restarted
within 30 seconds, the front fog lights will
remain on.
Acquaint yourself with the legal provi-
sions governing the use of front fog
lights.
Rear fog lightTo turn on the rear fog light, press the rear
fog light button on the instrument panel. The
headlights or front fog lights must be on.
The rear fog light is automatically turned off
when the engine is switched off. When the
car is next started, the rear fog light will have
to be switched back on manually by press-
ing the rear fog light switch. If the engine is
restarted within 30 seconds, the rear fog
light will remain on.
Acquaint yourself with the legal provi-
sions governing the use of rear fog light.
Turn signal & lane change indicatorsThe stalk switch has an intermediate,
spring-loaded position that is useful for sig-
nalling when changing lanes or passing.
The stalk switch also has fixed positions for
indicating a right or left turn, that are can-
celled automatically when the steering
wheel is centered.
If an indicator bulb breaks, the frequency
with which the indicators flash will be
doubled.
This frequency is also doubled if a trailer is
being towed and one of its indicator bulbs
breaks.
Front fog light switch
Rear fog light switch
Turn signal & lane change indicators1 Right
2 Left
ProCarManuals.com

95 Instruments and controls
Wipers and washersWindshield wipersPosition 1 is a spring-loaded position that
will produce a single sweep of the wipers.
In position 2 you can set the delay period for
intermittent wiping using the thumbwheel on
the stalk switch. There are 5 delay periods
from which to choose, ranging from 2 to
15 seconds.
The wipers always return to their home posi-
tion when the ignition is turned off.
To leave the wipers positioned vertically on
the windshield, proceed as follows:
1 Switch off the engine and remove the
remote control.
2 Activate the wipers within the next
16 seconds by pressing the stalk switch
down.
When the ignition is next switched on the
wipers will return to their home position.
WashersActivate the washers by pulling the stalk
switch towards the steering wheel.
When the washers are operated, the wipers
will make 3, 4 or 5 sweeps, depending on
how long the washers were kept on. If
the speed of the car is less than 12 mph
(20 km/h), the wipers will make an addi-
tional sweep after roughly 8 seconds.
When the washer fluid level drops below
1 quart (1 litre), the headlight washers are
deactivated. This is in order to prioritize the
windshield. The following message is dis-
played on the SID:
To prevent the smell of washer fluid from
entering the car, recirculation can be acti-
vated automatically while the windshield is
washed. The recirculation symbol will how-
ever not light up. This function is optional;
contact a Saab dealer. This automatic recir-
culation is the factory default setting as long
as the system is working in full "AUTO"
mode with no customized settings.
Headlight washers (certain variants
only)The headlights are washed at the same time
as the windshield if the headlights are on.
The headlights are washed every fifth time
the windshield washers are used or if two
(2) minutes have elapsed since the wind-
shield was last washed.
The headlight washers are not activated at
speeds in excess of 125 mph (200 km/h). Washer fluid level low.
Refill.Windshield wipers0OFF
1 Single sweep
2 Intermittent wiping
3 Low speed
4 High speed
5 Windshield and headlight washing (certain
variants only)
ProCarManuals.com

115 Interior equipment
Steering wheel
adjustment _________ 116
Electric windows ______ 117
Sunroof (optional) _____ 120
Interior lighting _______ 123
Cup holder ___________ 124
Power Outlet _________ 126
Storage compartments _ 126
Rearview mirrors______ 128
Trunk _______________ 134
Interior equipment
ProCarManuals.com