How do you replace the positive battery cable on a Saab 93?

I recently replaced the positive

battery cable on my 1999 Saab 9-3 5 door hatchback that has the 185

hp engine. I thought I would share my experience to help others

decide if they want to do this themselves or have a professional do

it for them. This is for the model that ran from 1999-2002 (2003

for the convertible). While I don't know if all of the cars from

these years would follow these same instructions, I would think

that they would all be very close.

Summary: The positive battery cable

has two wires, a short wire and a long wire. The short wire is very

simple to work with, but the long wire proved to be much more

difficult. It took me about 3.5 hours to complete the entire

job.

Tools/equipment needed: 10 mm

socket, 12 mm socket, socket extension, socket driver, 13 mm box

end wrench, cable ties, floor jack

Step 1) Open the hood and

disconnect the negative battery terminal and then the positive

battery terminal using the 13 mm box end wrench.

Step 2) Remove the protective

battery cover.

Step 2) Remove the hold down bolt

clamp at the base of the front of the battery, then remove the

clamp and lift the battery out of the car.

Step 3) Disconnect the short wire

from the fuse box.

Follow the short wire from the

positive terminal cable to the cable termination point. You will

see that it feeds into a fuse box. Remove the black cover to the

fuse box and remove the nut holding the end of the cable in place.

Lift the end of the cable off the mounting screw.

Step 4) Begin removal of the long

end of the cable.

Note: The long cable is connected

electrically in two places, and physically in three (not counting

plastic wire ties). The electrical connections are to the starter

solenoid and to the alternator, each being held in place by a 12 mm

nut. The cable is also physically mounted by 3 clamps, 2 being held

down by 10 mm bolts and one being help down by a 12 mm nut.

Jack the car up (remember to place

jack stands for safety), crawl under the car, and locate the end of

the positive cable which is attached to the back of the alternator.

Using a 12 mm socket, remove the nut holding the end of the cable

in place. Note the angle that the cable is attached to the back of

the alternator, and lift the end of the cable off of the mounting

screw.

Step 5) Locate the nut mounting the

cable to the starter solenoid. Using a 12 mm socket, remove the nut

and then remove the cable from the mounting screw. Note that the 2

nuts are different sizes (the larger one is for the alternator and

the smaller one is for the starter solenoid).

Step 6) Cut and remove the cable

tie that is holding down the cable to the starter solenoid.

Step 7) Working from the top of the

engine, locate the 3 hold down clamps. If you follow the cable from

the battery connection, the 1st connection uses a 10 mm bolt. Using

a 10 mm socket and socket extension, remove the bolt.

Step 8) The second hold down clamp

uses a 12 mm nut. Locate the nut and remove using a 12 mm socket

and extension.

Step 9) The 3rd hold down clamp

uses a 10 mm bolt. Using a 10 mm socket and socket extension,

remove the bolt. Note that the engine coolant temperature sensor

wires will be very close to where you will be inserting the socket

extension. Make sure you do not disturb the wires.

Step 10) Remove the remaining cable

hold downs. There are 2 cable ties that hold down the short cable

and 1 or 2 more that hold down the long cable. There are also two

rubber guides that help keep the long cable in place. These can be

snapped open, although one of mine had completely disintegrated and

I did not bother to replace it as it didn't really seem

necessary.

Step 11) Carefully pull the long

cable out. After the cable has been removed, check to see if

anything has been disturbed. I found I had knocked off one vacuum

line located below the long cable.

Step 12) Remove the 3 clamps from

the old cable and reinstall on the new cable making sure that they

are placed back on using the same orientation as on the

original.

Step 13) Installation is the

reverse of the removal. I first installed the short cable to the

fuse box and replaced the cover. I then ran the long cable to the

alternator, replaced the larger 12 mm nut (make sure you have the

end of the cable rotated properly. There is a raised plastic guide

on the back of the alternator that helps keep the end spade angled

correctly. ) I then hooked up the cable to the starter solenoid and

reinstalled the smaller 12 mm nut and installed a new cable tie.

Then I re-mounted the cable clamps. I found this to be the most

challenging part, especially re-installing the 10 mm nut that is

located below the coolant temperature sensor. The last step is to

install new cable ties in the areas where they had been originally.

Then install the battery and battery hold down nut and clamp, the

battery cover, and attach the positive and negative terminals.

Start the car up and make sure that everything is working properly.

It is very easy to disturb other parts of the car, especially when

removing and installing the 3 cable clamps, so it is important to

make sure that all your gauges are working, etc.

Hope this helps!