For 1990-2009 cars

# Identifying Battery Cables When Jump Starting - keywords A3360 accessories body booster CCA charge cold crank dead DIN draw engine electrical fuse generator inoperative no nocrank nopower open

Subject: | Identifying Battery Cables When Jump Starting

Models: | 2008 Saturn Astra

The following diagnosis might be helpful if the vehicle exhibits the symptom(s) described in this PI.

### Condition/Concern:

Some confusion may occur when attempting to jump start this vehicle due to the location and color of the battery cables.

### Recommendation/Instructions:

The Saturn Astra can prove difficult to identify the correct polarity of the battery cables, especially in low light conditions.

The (-) negative battery cable is BROWN/TAN and is located at the front of the vehicle/battery.

The (+) positive cable is RED (partially covered with black tape/shrink wrap) and is located to the rear of the vehicle/battery.

(1) Negative Cable

(2) Positive Cable (Black)

(3) Neg

(4) Pos (Black)

(5) Poitive Cable Appears Black

• | There are fill caps in the top of the battery that have a cross which appear to be a (+) symbol on the negative side of the battery. (These are partially hidden on the positive side by the cover) These crosses are used to remove/unscrew the caps for battery service.

• | The negative cables are not black, they are brown/tan in color.

• | The flap that covers the positive cable has a small (+) but it is black in color.

• | The positive cables have black tape/shrink wrap on them.

If a discharged battery is connected backwards while attempting to jump start, several fuses may open. These fuses include, but are not limited to the: 175 amp fusible link in the positive battery cable/harness, 80 amp fuse in the Under-hood Electrical Center (UEC) and the radio fuse on the back of the radio, beneath the harness connector. See SI Doc. 2032880 "B+ Bus 1 of 2" for the 175 and 80 amp fuses. The radio fuse is not currently listed in SI schematics, but will in the near future.

Note: The fusible link in the positive battery cable is not available separately and is part of the front engine harness.

Please follow this diagnostic or repair process thoroughly and complete each step. If the condition exhibited is resolved without completing every step, the remaining steps do not need to be performed.