[Windsor]

From what I’m reading, a common fault in older Saab’s (mine is an ‘03) is high resistance in the battery cables causing a drop in voltage. A replacement cable ain’t cheep. Has anyone found where in the cable the resistance typically occurs? I’d like to do a repair if I can rather than a full replacement.

 

[mjollnir81]

I haven’t even begun to look at the cable situation in my Saab, but I know of this with my truck. The resistance of the cable doesn’t change per se, but the voltage carrying ability does. If one strand of copper in the cable is connected but the rest of them are broken-the cable will still read very low ohms.

If no one is making a new cable-the next best thing is a store or shop that makes audio cables for high power car stereos. They typically have gold plated connectors, high quality very thick cable. And can make it custom fit to length.

Next cheaper route is to go to something like Tractor supply and buy a spool of their 2 gauge cable and add your own connectors. Some stores have the ability to crimp on the terminal connectors.

What you wanna do before you get down this rabbit hole too far is do a voltage drop test on the cable itself. Go from the terminal to the end of the cable. Read voltage. Obviously it should be near zero but you’ll see it isn’t. If it’s above 1.2VDC, the cable is starting to fail.

 

[Windsor]

i have a volyage drop. That’s why I am wondering if there is a common hot spot.

 

[mjollnir81]

i have a volyage drop. That’s why I am wondering if there is a common hot spot.

Hot spots will always be at the connection points and any "flags" if Saab added them. If Saab used them, they would be on the negative cable attached to the body somewhere along the cable but not at the end. GM and Ford did this to get multiple ground points on the same cable. It will look like a metal bracket attached to the cable along the way and bolted to the body.

 

[unclemiltie]

From what I've seen in the past (not just Saab) it's right where the cable goes into the clamp for the battery connection. if you wiggle it you'll probably see some oxidation come out. replacement bolt-on terminals can solve the problem but there is very little extra wire on that cable so it might not work.

I took to picking one up for my car at a junkyard a long time ago just in case this happened to me. Still have it in my box of spares. You might want to head over to the for sale section and find someone dismantling a car.

 

[CJPeterborough]

Common for corrosion at the spur point to the starter motor and the end terminal to the alternator.
Easily confirmed by measuring the voltage (whilst running at idle) at both battery and alternator output.
Typically you loose up to a couple of volts due to the increased resistance and end up constantly undercharging the battery!
I made my own cables cheaply having purchased a crimp tool on Ebay..........this has happened on both the MK1 9-5's I have a 1999 and a 2001 but then I am in the UK and we have a wet climate and plenty of salt!

 

[Mimmi]

Easier is measure voltage between chassis (or engine) ground point and battery negative.