Printable View
Thanks Wulf, i figured it out and got it to turn on. Im having problems with programming the pac-swc-rc. It gets power and i hold the button before turning the key on. It stays ony and then goes off. I press the button to set it but the light doesnt flash after i click it
#443 can be found at http://saabworld.net/showthread.php?...ll=1#post76875
DAB radio basically worked OK with the antenna glued to the 9-5's front window
but reception failed in particular locations with low signal strength.
Since I had a problem with receiving DAB radio inside the house as well I
suspected bad coverage and had the Federal Network Agency come in to check the
problems.
They appeared with a vehicle full of measuring devices and revealed that at my
place the signal strength of the DAB stations criticized indeed did reach only
90% of the strength defined to be the minimum. But the agency's engineers said
this wouldn't explain the interferences my receivers were suffering from.
Next they checked the Saab 9-5 and the culprit was found in less than five minutes.
The harness below the right front door was emitting quite a bunch of radiation
as soon as the ignition was turned on - towards the window antenna's direction
interfering with low signal strength DAB stations.
The engineers said I could forget about trying to shield the harness and the
only solution would be to decouple the source of interference and the antenna,
say I was advised to mount a suitable antenna at the car roof's rear end for
problem-free DAB reception.
They were right. After mounting this antenna
https://www.atbb.eu/atbb-produktdate...m-dab-band-iii
all DAB problems (on the car) were gone !
An equivalent one of a different brand will do the trick as well.
And to solve the puzzle with DAB reception problems inside the house...
A cheap LED spot sent out interfering radiation. Replaced it with a quality
LED spot and... no more DAB problems.
I just (almost) finished installing an Android head unit. I still need to install some GLIs to eliminate the pop noise most other people have had, but otherwise it works good and I'm happy with it.
I also painted the dash black since the silver was gone in several areas from wear or chemical contact and ive never been a fan of the silver anyway.
I also turned the useless Onstar button into a dual USB connection for the head unit.
Attachment 17437Attachment 17438
This thread has so much info in it! Thanks to all who have posted here. I came up with a little mod for the Steering Wheel Controls so that you can use them for a new in dash deck that requires passive SWC controls without using a PAC SWRI-RC.
The SID places 5 volts on pin 22 and a ground on pin 9 which are then connected to the SWC to sense the different states of the SWC switches. If you leave these lines connected to the SID and connect them to the deck lines too this can mess up an aftermarket deck's SWC sensing and the SID's sensing of the SWC as well. If you disconnect the SWC lines going to the SID and connect them to the deck only you lose your paddle shifters for manual mode transmission shifting with the automatic and you lose your horn on the steering wheel.
I recently installed a Eonon GA2180A Android deck in my MY03 95.
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B08...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I drew up this little mod so when I want to I can switch the SWC between the deck and the SID and still have a horn when the SWC is connected to the deck and paddle shifters and normal horn action on the steering wheel when the SWC is connected to the SID.
I know about using an adapter like a PAC SWRI-RC for this connection to the SWC. I have one installed with a JVC Navi deck in my MY02 95. I wanted to see if it is possible to connect the new Eonon deck SWC wires Key1 and Key2 straight to the SWC wires coming from the steering wheel and not need a PAC SWRI-RC at all. This is one reason I went this route rather than using a PAC SWRI-RC. The other reason is I'm cheap and don't like to spend more than I have to. To achieve a desired result.
I also tried using the line outputs from the Eonon deck to drive the inputs on the stock Harmon Kardon amp but no matter what I tried ie balanced transformers (GLI) or single ended connection. It sounded like crap because of an impedance mismatch between the deck and the amp. This is why I decided to use the speaker outs on the deck to drive the Harmon Kardon amp. I have been a Pro Audio Engineer for many years so I can be a little picky on what my gear sounds like. :cool:
I came up with a way to make this connection between the deck speaker outs and the Harmon Kardon amp line ins with a simple H Pad circuit. This allows me to be able to connect the speaker outputs on the deck to the line level inputs on the Harmon Kardon amp in my car. This circuit does a good job of impedance matching and provides enough attenuation to the speaker level output on the deck so that the Harmon Kardon amp can accept these inputs with no problems and the volume level is normal at mid volume on the deck. Again, I know there are speaker out to line in converters available for sale but..... I'm cheap.
It's good for up to 50 Watts RMS with 1/2 watt resistors and doesn't get warm even at high volumes. You will need 4 of these little circuits, one each for the FL, FR, RL, RR speaker outputs from the deck.
The best part of connecting the deck to the amp this way is any deck with speaker outs only can be installed with no need to buy speaker out to line in converters at all and much cheaper to boot.
The last picture shows the switch I installed for the horn when the SWC is connected to the deck and the mode switch for the SWC to switch between the deck and the SID
I have included the schematics for my mods and pictures of my finished install. I hope this info is helpful.
Attachment 17452Attachment 17455Attachment 17453Attachment 17454
Its an interesting way you connected the steering wheel controls and the speaker level outputs to the amp.
I went through 5 different head units trying to get one with good sound quality. All of them sounded awful when connected via the RCA outputs using GLIs. I eventually figured out the GLI was the cause, but I couldnt tolerate the pop noise on shutdown or mute without them. In a fit of frustration, I connected the speaker level outputs directly to the amp. The sound quality is great now save for some low level hiss when the volume is down low. My Joying unit has a built in amp level control and by setting it to a little over half, the volme is good too.
I wonder if your H pad circuits would eliminate the hiss.
I connected my steering controls directly to the android headunit with no switching device at all so the switches are parallel connected to SID and the head unit at the same time. I found that if the steering wheel controls are learned to the head unit with the ignition on, everything functions perfectly in SID, the head unit, and sentronic. The only thing the doesnt work is that the NEXT button refused to learn on all the head units, but since i only really care about volume and the ∆ V controls, i can live with it.
Thanks,
The H pads probably won't get rid of the hiss. I still have a very small amount but I don't really notice it anymore.
Not using the H pads means that if your deck ever reboots after a long power failure it may lose your internal volume settings and come up full volume from the deck.
I blew up one rear door speaker during my install because that happened to me.
I put the H pads in so that would never happen again and the amp would never see that high of an input signal which could damage its inputs.
I created this SWC mod circuit because I was worried that the 5 volts that is on one of the SWC lines from the SID when the key is on might hurt the new deck. I never tried hooking up straight to the SID SWC lines. Adding the switch and relays was a cheap solution for me. Instead of finding out the hard way that it hurts the deck and I lose any chance of SWC to the deck. The other thing I realized was I could use the paddle shifters as extra buttons to control more functions on the deck.
I don't use the paddles all that often to shift the tranny but when I want to I can with a flip of the switch.
I also realized that I would lose the horn on the steering wheel but that was an easy fix too.
It also keeps me from frustrated honks because I've got to think about which state the SWC controls are in if I really want to honk the horn and then reach for the little white push button on the dash.
My NEXT button works. I use it as a back button for my android screen.
The fact that the SID is connected to the SWC lines is probably why your deck can't see the NEXT button to program it and that you had to have the key on when you programmed the SWC to the deck. It sounds to me that you are happy with your install which in my books is why we do this stuff anyway, ;)
In spring of 2021 I started investigating and looking at the possibility to replace the SAAB stock head unit (Prestige AS3) for a more modern 2 DIN head unit with touch display, GPS and an option to connect a rear-view camera for better parking assistance.
It came to be a very long journey with many hours in front of the computer and internet to understand and prepare for the replacement.
I would never have done this replacement without all the good forums and information found on internet.
Problem is that everything can’t be found in just one place/site and often threads are very long and cumbersome to follow so I decided to give back some and therefore I created this extensive PDF guide (41 pages) and hope it will be of benefit to many others who also are thinking of replacing the SAAB stock unit.
Keep in mind that this guide is made specifically for a SAAB 9-5 MY2002 with manual gearbox but it may also be helpful for those of you who have who have a SAAB 9-5 but different model year and automatic gearbox or even a 9-3!
A guide to replace the head unit in a SAAB 95 MY2002
Attachment 17579
Enjoy and good luck!
Very impressive guide Jokkohama. :thumbsup: And thanks for the kind words but the entire community deserves credit for all the information and help they provided.
It is good to see this 12 year old thread is still a good source for information and inspiration for Saab 9-5 owners. It certainly has been one of the most visited threads on our site and you guide is another good source of information for the Saab 9-5 community.