Calling my Saab brethren

I have a 2004 Saab 9-5 and I cannot figure out my long crank problem. I can crank it for 10 seconds and nothing then turn ignition off then on crank for another 5 and then it hesitates and starts. What I have done in the last 10k miles

Crank sensor(did today to no avail) Plugs Fuel pump check valve Cleaned maf, map, and throttle body Coolant sensor with new pigtail Thermostat Turbo bpc ... I am out of ideas. I think it's the DIC but I just don't want to replace it!(400$) anyone have anything I'm missing

which engine are we talking about here?

Sorry 2.3l HOT tdo4 5 speed

It could very well be the DIC. It usually causes the engine to die, crank but no starts, and lots of misfires as it goes

I have no misfires no codes or history or pebding just no start/hard start checked fuel pressure, pump volume, and check valves too

If you hangout on SaabNet or SaabCentral you can pick up very lightly used, known good DICs for within $150. Worth a shot, and then you have a spare just in case. Or find a local member and borrow it for five minutes just to see, it's not like they're hard to swap.

Hmm. Both my DIC failures were pretty instant, no hard starting. How does it run once it starts?

I was going to say crank position sensor, but you already covered that.

My personal experiences with DIC failure is that it is good, dead, or has a predictable, steady misfire.

I would suggest checking the fuel pressure at the rail next. Maybe your pump is getting ready to quit.

Also, I'm pretty sure that you can get a new DIC for way less than $400 on eEuroparts.com

In reply to t25torx:

Runs great after it starts

In reply to happyandy:

In my experience only the oem saab DI is worth the money I have gotten the proparts sweden variety From worldpac for several customers and they Seem to fail in about 10-15 k miles

correct me if I am wrong.. but the DIC is nothing more than 4 individual coils connected by some wiring and bolted together into a cassette. When they get too hot over time, they boil out their cooling oil and die.. The reason some give misfires is only 1 coil might be going at first.

Seems to me it should be easy to find out which coil is going bad and be able to take the thing apart to replace it?

Have you put a fuel pressure gauge on it?

I had a 300ZX do something like this before. Would never cold start on the first crank no matter how long you held the starter down. But the second crank would fire right up. It had a fuel pressure regulator go bad up near the fuel rail.

Thanks for all the replys! I have already replaced the fuel pressure regulator about 8k ago and the di cassette is nonservaceable

I am not a Saab owner but if any car did that I would listen for the pre-start fuel pump run. If it is not working it would cause your symptoms in most engines. In the old days it was caused by the ignition not turned on when the ignition switch was in start position. It would only start when you released the key. A bad ignition switch was the cause.

I can hear and feel the fuel ump with the key on engine off. Doesn't mean it's on its last legs though... Getting fuel pressure gauge tomorrow will update

Fellow 9-5 Aero owner here (first post back at GRM after a long absence) My extremely non-expert guess would be DIC or CPS. On my 9000's I had a few DIC failures that would die a slow prolonged death rather than instant failure, but they usually started with misfires under boost. I'm remember seeing a thread somewhere about CPS causing prolonged cranking, but can't find it right now.

Probably worth your while to go over to Saabnet and search their forum as well.

It sounds just like mine before the fuel pump died.