Saab 9000 Service Manual page 286

Handling control modules
TO
STATIC ELECTRICITY
All control modules are more or less sensitive to stat-
ic electricity or electrostatic discharges (ESD = Elec-
trostatic Discharge) and, if handled carelessly or in-
correctly, may be damaged so seriously that they no
longer work properly. A malfunction need not neces-
sarily show up right away and a damaged control
module can gradually deteriorate so that the fault will
not become apparent until much later. It is therefore
important to make sure that the following rules are
observed at all times and in all connections where the
control module has to be removed or replaced for any
reason.
• Avoid unplugging or removing the control module
unless absolutely necessary.
• Never touch the connector pins and never place
the control module in such a way that the connector
pins come into contact with foreign objects.
• Before unpacking a new control module, ground
· the packaging to the car body. Open the packaging
as shortly as possible before fitting the control
module in the car.
• When handling or working on control modules it is
important to ground yourself from time to time. This
is particularly important when you have been sitting
in the car, when changing your position, or when
moving round the car. It is even more important in
conditions of extremely dry air (such as during the
winter in cold-climate markets).
Fault
diagnosis
283
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• Avoid wearing clothes made of synthetic materials
(man-made fibres).
• Avoid wearing shoes with insulating rubber soles.
• Always handle control modules that are suspected
of being faulty in the same manner as a control
module in perfect working order. This will substan-
tially increase the possibility of determining the
cause of the fault.
Saab 9000
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