08 Saturn Aura XE no power, Will not start, not dead battery!

[MadMaxGT]

Ok, I had a problem with drivers seat belt, so pulled it and sent it out for repair. Started car every few days while waiting for belt to return.
Today I removed the negative terminal and reinstalled the seatbelt. Replaced the terminal, car is dead? No power no interior light, no dash lights, no sounds completely dead nothing!

Tried to jump, still nothing, "and I mean nothing dead"???

Purchased brand new Battery, stumped as to what's wrong? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Max

[shorod]

I assume you mean even after installing the new battery the car is still dead.

I've heard about several years of Saturns having fuse issues that seem to get loose in their contacts, even experienced this on my wife's first car, a 1995 Saturn. Her's would stall randomly when turning on the rear defrost. Nice feature. Either drive somewhat unsafely because she can't see out the back or risk the engine stalling in traffic. There was another newer Saturn that I heard had a fuse box issue but I don't recall the specifics. A co-worker has experienced several issues with their 2009(?) Outlook and it's wiring, both for the fuel pump driver module and headlights.

If you haven't done so already, I'd suggest you search the Aura forum for folks that have had similar issues and see if anyone's resolved them.

-Rod

[Scrapper]

if it wont turn over at all i would check and see if it's got a good ground to the moter and also check positive wire to starter after you do that and it wont turn over i would listen to show rod.

good luck...

[MadMaxGT]

Originally Posted by Scrapper

if it wont turn over at all i would check and see if it's got a good ground to the moter and also check positive wire to starter after you do that and it wont turn over i would listen to show rod.

good luck...

Thanks for the replies, I really did take the time to closely examine both cables. The positive side has two lines, so i also used a test light to confirm I have power down at the starter and over to the terminal connection at the top of the fuse box. All fuses inside and out are OK! No power anywhere else!

I am a decent shade tree mechanic, but I never dealt with a complete power loss like this!!!

[Scrapper]

Originally Posted by MadMaxGT

Thanks for the replies, I really did take the time to closely examine both cables. The positive side has two lines, so i also used a test light to confirm I have power down at the starter and over to the terminal connection at the top of the fuse box. All fuses inside and out are OK! No power anywhere else!

I am a decent shade tree mechanic, but I never dealt with a complete power loss like this!!!

me either on coplete dead? like if you took neg cable off and go back to hook it up is there any spark when you first touch neg cable to battery? only other thing i can think of a bad switch or broken wire or your missing a fuse you cant find?

[Transmaster]

always remove the positive term first. reverse when hook back up.. negative first when you install! sounds like a fusable link or pcm fuse or ignition fuse. Another possibility is a wireing issue under and behind the radio.. common prob with the saturn also may be anti theft issue.. open ur manual and look up security. always spend time to see if there is a pre repair section in ur manual.. the newer the car the more likely security procedure involved... sometimes its as simple as 7using the key to unlock door.. get in close door .. insert key depress brake and try to start..good luck

[shorod]

It's a better idea to remove the ground cable first. Since the chassis is grounded, if you attempt to remove the positive cable first and happen to swing your wrench too far and hit grounded metal, now you have a buss bar welded between your battery positive terminal and the chassis, making it nearly impossible to remove the short until you remove the negative cable. This is the same logic as connecting the positive cable first when using jumper cables. Once the first vehicle is connected to both cables, if you connect the negative first and drop the positive cable on something metal of the car, instant fireworks. Even though several panels on a typical Saturn are plastic, there is still a lot of grounded metal under the hood. With the Aura being based on an Opel, I'm not sure if it still uses plastic panels either.

Since there are no interior lights or radio, I don't think the issue will be related to the security modules within the car.

-Rod