Saab 1987 900 Owner's Manual page 32

30 Starting and driving
Ignition and gear
selector lock
The ignition and gear lock key also fits a!l
other locks in the car. The key number IS
stamped into the plastic lug on the key ring.
Detach and keep the lug so that the serial
number is available if the key should be
lost.
The ignition and gear lever lock has four
positions:
Lock position. The gear
~~lector
lever
must be placed in reverse
pOSItI?~
(manual
transmission) or park (P) posItIon (auto-
matic transmission) before the key can be
turned into the L position.
In
this way both
the ignition and gear selector are locked
simultaneously. Parking and hazard war-
ning lamps may be activated.
Park position. All lights and radio can be
operated. Make sure that the ignition
switch is in the
"p "
or "L" position when the
engine is not running. Otherwise the igni-
tion coil may be damaged.
Running position. The entire electrical
system, including ignition, is operative.
Starting position. The switch is spring
loaded to return to Running position when
key is released. Should the engine stall or
fail to start the key must be turned to the P
position before the starter can again be
actuated. On autOlnatic transmission cars
the starter motor can be operated only
when the gear selector lever is in the N or P
positions.
NOTE!
To ensure that the car is not left
unlocked, a buzzer is activated ifthe left
front door is opened with the key in the
ignition lock.
Starting the engine
General
Do not operate the starter for more than 10-
15 seconds at a stretch; wait 20-30 seconds
to let the battery recover before attempting
to start the engine again. Avoid warming
the engine by idling at a standstill. Start dri-
ving as soon as the oil pressure light has
gone out to heat the engine up to its proper
working temperature as quickly as possi-
ble.
WARNING!
Do not start or let the engine run in a clo-
sed area. Exhaust gases contain carbon
monoxide which may be fatal ifinhaled.
Starting the engine
The engine has an automatic cold starting
enrichment system. Start as follows:
1 Apply the handbrake and put the gear
lever in neutral (manual transmission)
or select P or N (automatic transmis-