The throttle switch is dead, Jim

One issue I am having is that when I decelerate to a stop, say I am coming to a stop sign, the car will stall. Just for fun, I decided to first check the throttle position switch and see if it is working. After all, it is just a matter of disconnecting it and checking for continuity at the two extremes. So, I pull the harness connector. It does look rather nasty:
The switch end is not very pretty either. I then test the switch pins. No sign of life here.
Well, it seems I should take it out of the car and take a better look at the switch. It is not as easy as a Volvo since it is buried under a few hoses (from left to right, the hose from the compressor bypass valve (or blowoff), a coolant hose, and one of the hoses that feed the idle control valve).
Let's take the idle control valve hose and see if that gives us enough room.
I tried to pry the hose by hand and it did not bulge. So, let it talk to Mr. Big Plier,
Ok, that did not work. How about taking the clamp completely out and then trying to brake the hose loose? Well, the clamp had a different idea of what it meant to be completely out:
I did wrote down on my list that I will need a new clamp. Next I used a skinny screwdriver to break loose the corrosion between the hose and the throttle body.
Which finally allowed me to remove the hose. Now I had more space, a wrench and a short 10mm socket were all I needed to remove the throttle body switch.

Now, why is it called a throttle switch instead of a throttle position sensor? Well, if we look inside it, we will see it has two switches: a white one on the right (throttle closed) and another one that looks like exposed copper strips on the left (throttle open). Now, if I am not mistaken, in this car (turbo LH 2.2) the open throttle switch is not used. But, it is there. If you press the little tab on the top of the white switch, you will hear the switch click. That is very important clue because it is used to adjust its position when it is back in the car. But, for now, we can see that it looks rather clean inside.
That is possibly due to the light oil that coated all the parts inside the switch. The connectors on the outside are a different story. So, I used a piece of fine sand paper -- Emory cloth would have been a better choice but I had none -- to clean the connectors until they were shiny again:
Also, between sandings, I used this contact cleaner to remove the goo.This time I got a good signal. So, I closed the switch and bolted it back. I started finger tightening the bolts, then using the 10mm socket between my fingers to get a bit more torque.
But, it has to be placed just right to work. If rotated too far one way, when you let go of the gas pedal it will stall because it would not click the closed throttle switch and go to idle mode. If you rotate it too far the other way, you will actually pull the throttle plate open some, making it idle high. In my case I did that and was idling at 1500RPM instead of 700. Very annoying.
This was th

Now we are slaving! II

So, it is finally time to replace the slave cylinder. After all, I put a new master and have made a new clutch line. It is probably a good idea to just do it and then know the entire clutch system is a known and reliable quantity. So, I bought a new slave cylinder:
I think I will also put my new clutch line while I am at it. So, let's get busy. I chose to begin by blocking the rubber hose that goes from the brake reservoir to the clutch. Reason is that we are going to have the clutch system opened; there is not point in wasting more brake fluid than necessary.
Next I thought on cleaning as much as I can around the slave cylinder. You know, I do like to have as little goo in my way as possible.
We need to remove the pin that goes from the slave cylinder through the clutch. As soon as I remember its name I will add it here. In any case, we have to pop the cover on the front of the transmission to slide the pin out. We will also need a proper instrument of persuasion:
After some persuasion, the pin is out:
Then, we need to remove the clutch line from the slave cylinder, which requires to first remove the bleeder valve. I really need to find a better way to do this, like make a special tool to disconnect the line or something. In any case, once the line is out, it is time to unbolt the slave cylinder itself. I found the best way to use it was to get a L-shaped 5mm Allen key. With a long L so it is easy to break the bolts loose. But, I have to say Allen bolts scare the hell out of me; I tend to round them off. I may replace them with more normal bolts later on...
Ok, slave cylinder is loose. Now we need to also loose the clutch itself. Reason is there is not enough space to remove the slave cylinder by itself; we have to remove it with the clutch. And, yes, the flywheel could use some cleaning.
Now it is a matter of walking the slave cylinder and the clutch out. It is a bit of herding cats, but it is doable. Just do not be in a hurry. That said, putting them back in will be much easier. More on that later.
Here is the clutch still sitting over the pressure plate. I thought on keeping them together so I do not get confused or lose anybody.
Here is the other side of the two, showing the clutch tool still holding the pressure plate fingers.
Now, let's make putting the new slave cylinder easier: zip tie it to the pressure plate. This way you have one less cat to herd.
Now, do not separate the slave cylinder from the pressure plate or install the pressure plate against the flywheel just yet. You need to be able to reach the clutch for the next step. Then we need to put the pin back in place. It is not as hard as it sounds. While the slave cylinder is still tied to the pressure plate, try to grab the clutch plate and line it up some. I did by pulling the pressure plate away from the flywheel and then lifted the clutch plate as I slid the pin through the transmission. You will know it went through the clutch plate because it will be about an inch or so out. After that you need some persuasion because it kinda has to pop into place. The same tool I used to take the pin out is the same one I am using to press it back in. All was need is a place to lever it.
Make sure the pressure plate is lined up with the flywheel's pins. This way we can only worry about the slave cylinder. Once the pressure plate is sitting on the pins, it would not hurt to run one of the bolts that hold it against the flywheel, so it will not fall out while worrying about the slave cylinder. After that, line up the slave cylinder, cut the zip ties, and bolt it in place.
Finally, it is a matter of bleeding it, putting the cover and the rest of the stuff back, and trying it out.

Now we are slaving!

Just a quick update: today I received the slave clutch I ordered to replace the one currently in the car. I will probably keep the one in the car around, now that I know how to take it apart, and rebuild it. But, I feel like I finally have all the items I need to put the clutch system to work. It seems that I have an appointment with the Saab this weekend. Wish me luck!

Clutch does not reply II

Ok, I have changed the clutch master cylinder but it still not working. So, I think it is time to change the slave cylinder in my Saab. To make my life easier, I broke down and bought the Saab special tool to hold the clutch fingers in place. Let me explain the tool by first explaining how the clutch is operated. If you look at the slave cylinder (green in the picture below) and pressure plate, you will see the slave cylinder disengages the clutch plate by pressing on the fingers (pink) on the pressure plate. On the top of each finger, on the outside, is a tab (blue) that probably is there so the fingers will not overextend.
Now, let's go back to the tool. It looks like a loop where one of the ends is turned perpendicular to the plane of the loop into a tab. It works by slipping between the fingers and the tab so that it keeps the fingers pressed and away from the slave cylinder.

Now that we know how the tool work, let's see if we can get it in place. At first I thought all I had to do was to line it up with the tabs and then press the clutch, but that did not do much; it felt like the slave cylinder would extend almost far enough to put the tool in place. But not just enough. So, time to unleash heavy weapondry.
In this case, the weapon of choice is an adjustable wrench. An orange one at that. And, it is the one that comes in the Saab tool kit. What I used it for is to gently persuade the tool to slide into place. It did the job rather nicely but it took a bit of time. I started at the end of the loop that did not have the tab and then pressed the exposed session of the clutch tool between two pressure plate tabs. After that I turned the flywheel, using a screwdriver, a bit so the next exposed tool session was lined up with where I could use wrench comfortably. And so it went.
That was not very fast but it had to be done. And, after turning the flywheel all the way around, I finally reached the end of the clutch tool with the tab. By then the tool was completely placed between the pressure plate's tabs and fingers.
Now we have some room!
In the next episode we will see about removing the slave cylinder.