I thought my starter had gone bad and since I have a warranty, I took it to the dealer. Well....they say I have battery cables that need to be replaced. What do you know, NOT COVERED. Thats how it goes.

Anyway, they say its gonna cost $750 to replace em. $150 part and a whole hell of a lot of labor. What do y'all think about that quote?

They said something about it wrapping around the engine and stuff so could a novice fix it himself? If so..how long would it take me?

They said something about the studs on the battery being too shallow as well. Isnt it possible that if so, that could be the whole problem anyway?

Help please, I can't afford this. Im a full time student, I may have to take a loan from my parents to pay that kind of $$.

Moe B

On my Eldo, the positive (red) cable shoots under the engine and to the other side (drivers side) where it hooks to all the electrical and electronic stuff there (the PCM, etc). It looks complicated, but not a six hour job...

Is the Seville different?

Plus, $150 bucks for a set of cables seems exhorbitant as well.

Check to make sure it's not just the terminals in the battery - mine cracked and the pos cable kept shimmering loose and giving me no spark. Replaced battery, cleaned terminal ends, covered 'em with Woody Wax and all is good ever since.

IF (that's a BIG if) the cables need replacing you should be able to do it yourself. The cable to the starter runs under the intake but it's a dry intake...no leaking coolant if you take it off, and the gasket is reusable.

You probably don't need new ones. Cleaning and special grease should fix and at less than $750.

I have seen the hole in the terminal being a little shallow, so the bolt bottoms just before the cable is really tight. Don't overtighten, add a washer under the head of the bolt or file a little of the thread off.

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