Replacing Corroded Battery Cables for SL1 2000

Battery and Battery Cable Replacement.

I'm posting this here so that anyone else who might be searching for
answers with google can find it. When I searched, I found nothing, so
this might save someone some time. Good luck!

----

On Saturday evening, my car wouldn't start. I just heard a clicking
sound. I figured it was the battery, so Sunday morning I went and
picked one up. It was a fitting size 5 from Costco... I paid around
$40 for it.

When I got home, I started to remove the old battery. The black
connector came off fine, but the red connector was totally corroded.
Try as I might, I couldn't get the bolt off... I even hammered in a
small sized socket, and stripped the bolt with that too. It was
totally stuck.

The red wire connects to the car in two places... one wire goes to the
fuse box, and the other goes to the starter. I removed the wire from
the fuse box, and snipped the end going to the starter so I could
remove the battery. I recycled the battery, then went to Napa Auto
Parts to try to get another red connection wire. At Napa, they told
me the part was too new, and I would have to go to the dealership. The
dealership was closed on Sundays, so I was SOL. The red connection
wire is custom to Saturns... standard GM cables (6 gauge etc) won't
fit.

Monday morning I went to the dealership and got the connector. It
was $51. Connecting the wire to the fusebox was easy, but connecting
the to the starter was a bit more difficult. I lifted the car using a
sears 3 ton floor jack underneath the drivers side door. After
putting the holding jack underneath, I was able to crawl under. The
starter is found in the middle of the car, even with the door
hinge/wheel. The wire connected with just one bolt... I was able to
easily access the bolt, replace the wire, and remove the old one. It
was a little cramped, but not too bad... it should be fairly easy to
do after lifting just one side.

Anyhow, I realize this is a somewhat rambling narrative, but here's
what I learned:

1) The Saturn 2000 SL1 red battery connector is custom. You can't use
the standard GM connectors.
2) The red battery terminal connects in two places. If you decide to
replace it, be prepared to lift the car.
3) You need two types of wrenches/sockets. I used SAE and Metric... I
needed the 10mm and the 8mm, but most of the bolts were SAE (5/16
etc.)

I'm no expert, so feel free to reply with anything that I might
have misstated. As I was just under the car 2 hours ago, I'm pretty
sure about the details, but I may have forgotten or misstated
something. Like I said, I'm no expert, and this was my first time
changing out the battery and battery cables.

Cheers,

Chris Gutierrez
email: gcgutier (at) hotmail (dot) com
http://www.chrisgutierrez.org

 

<snip>

Ah, so GM is still pulling that, are they?
Many years ago, on a family vacation in the Orlando, Florida area, I
rented a Geo from Alamo Rental. Someone broke one of the headlight housings
while we were at one of the area attractions. "No problem," thinks I, "I've
replaced them before, I'll just pop in to a K-Mart and pick up a headlight
assembly and a cheap set of tools and replace it!" You've probably guessed
by now that the Geo headlight assembly was a custom size. I returned the
unit to the K-mart and went in search of a Geo dealer. The part was so new
that even the dealer didn't have one!
OT post-script: Alamo sent me a bill for some ungodly amount for labor
plus material to replace the headlight. I sent them two checks -- one for
the amount K-Mart charged for the normal-sized assembly and one for the
balance -- and a note telling them that if they ever wanted my business
again they would destroy the second check. They cashed both. I've never
been back to Alamo. Fortunately, we've always had good experiences with
Enterprise!

 

Oh yeah.

I *DREAD* the phrase 'Saturn only part, only the dealer has it, sir'.
it's basically a polite way of telling you to bend over and smile.

Pigtail for the IAT sensor - $26.
Lifters at $35 a pop.
$150+ for the stupid chain and guide assembly (ironically, $80 for it if
you buy the parts one by one)

Geos are rebadged Suzuki. Some Pontiacs were rebadged Daewoo. The
Chevy Aveo is a Suzuki, I'm not sure what the Cobalt is, but I'm
guessing it's nonstandard GM too. I'm guessing it'll suck, too. Why
can't GM make a decent sedan?

Then again, I was in a Blazer the other day. Nice hump on the passenger
side for the catalytic. They couldn't move it back 1 foot and put the
bump under the seat? And people BUY these things?