Goodbye Old Radio.

"Berang" (berang) 02/03/2016 at 21:29 • Filed to: saab 96, diy

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While attemping to fix the dome light in the 96, I ended up going on quite a tangent under the dashboard.

The dome light has not worked since I got the car, and it’s on the same circuit as the dash clock, which also hasn’t worked since I got the car. In order to get to the wiring for the clock, I needed to remove the fresh air vents, which also had a dead radio mounted to them. So I removed the radio, as well as a large collection of leaves which had accumulated inside the ventilation system.

While I was in there I re-glued this strip of foam to the flap that shuts off air to the vents. It must have come loose years ago, and caused a small constant draft of cold air to enter the car. Not a good thing in the winter.

Then I got to the clock. As it turned out the clock was getting electricity, it just wasn’t working and the bulb was burnt out. So I got a new bulb and opened up the clock. These VDO clocks all seem to die for the same reason. A little solder plug that acts like a fuse melts or breaks or comes loose and the clock stops working. That was the problem with this one too.

Cover back on. The sticker tells me I voided the warranty by opening the case.

And back in the dash. This clock is really interesting, mechanically. It uses a normal clockwork mechanism, and is wound up by a solenoid. Every four or five minutes you’ll hear the twang of the solenoid flicking on and winding the clock. The clock, being a normal clock, ticks like real clocks do. It makes sense that such a thing would have come from Germany.

In any event, the dome light still doesn’t work, but at least the dash is cleaner and more functional now.

DrJohannVegas > Berang 02/03/2016 at 21:36

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The pre-quartz era electronic clocks are a hoot.

Übel > Berang 02/03/2016 at 22:09

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I’m really glad you posted this, because my VDO clock is also not working and according to Google this issue also applies to me.

Berang > Übel 02/04/2016 at 06:53

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Yeah, from what I understand it’s a near universal problem. What happens is people park their old car, the battery runs down, then the solenoid gets stuck and sucks power until the solder melts - so pretty much every car with these clocks ends up with the same issue.

I was lucky enough that there was still a big blob of solder in there so I just re-melted it. Supposedly it has a very low melting point, I think it might actually be pewter rather than lead. Other people use a new solder and put an inline fuse to the clock.