new DIC reduced fuel consumption by 15%

[silver2u]

Since i recently replaced the DIC (2004 model, 95.000 km) i have noticed my fuel consumption is now much closer to what it should be ( 11 L/100km for town driving). previously it was closer to 13.5 L/100km. I havnt done much freeway driving lately, but i hope that will also drop significantly

anybody else have similar experiences ?

[vjkdigital]

Not everyone is going to know what a DIC is? And im not even sure I know.

[Mike Brennan]

Since i recently replaced the DIC (2004 model, 95.000 km) i have noticed my fuel consumption is now much closer to what it should be ( 11 L/100km for town driving). previously it was closer to 13.5 L/100km. I havnt done much freeway driving lately, but i hope that will also drop significantly

anybody else have similar experiences ?

Well, I tell ya. The DIC either works or it throws a code. Maybe a new one changed your miles that much, but it strikes me as odd. Maybe others have your results too. That would be interesting.

[Mike Brennan]

Not everyone is going to know what a DIC is? And im not even sure I know.

The black thing on top of your motor. Direct Ignition Cassette. They all fail sometimes. Around 200 USD and around 550 USDequivalent in Au. Which, is a lot.

[silver2u]

vjk,

its a rather expensive piece of electronics that sits on top of your spark plugs, it basically replaces the function done in older models by the coil and distributor/points (and adds some new electronic control of those, with other sensor functions). the units often last around 1000.000 km and can be rather expensive to replace (200 - 500 $)

from wiki: Saab Direct Ignition (DIC) is a capacitor discharge ignition system developed by Saab Automobile. It was first shown in 1985 and put into series production in the Saab 9000 in 1988. One of the first instances of using the system was for a Formula Three racing engine (on B202 basis) .The ignition system together with the ignition coils form a single transformer oil filled cassette (or two cassettes in the case of a V6 engine) which is placed directly on the spark plugs, without the need for a distributor. The system puts a low voltage over the spark plugs when they are not fired to measure ionization in the cylinders. The ionic current measurement is used to replace the ordinary cam phase sensor, knock sensor and misfire measurement function.

oops, Mike's post answered it also


Hi Mike,
i cant see any other reason for my recent fuel consumption improvement. the previous 6 months it had been rather high (13.5 L / 100km of town driving), and trying to drive more sedate did not have much beneficial effect on mileage. Since the DIC was replaced (and no other mechanical work was done in the same period) there was an immediate improvement in fuel consumption, which has been consistently the same ever since (even if i now use sports mode a bit more often ). unless there is now a new error in electronics of the SID, it now consistently reports 11 or 11.1 / 100km (which i think is around normal mileage for town driving ?)
i havnt done any long freeway runs recently, but i hope it might then drop to around 9 L/100km (instead of the 11.5 i had previously for freeway driving)

[Tom]

I recall changing my DIC and took the opportunity to change the spark plugs as well. I saw a similar improvement in fuel consumption.