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I will be providing links for the pictures, but basically, I need help to identify the parts in the pictures provided. I’ve never replaced a battery on a hybrid car before, and the dealership refuses to release factory service repair manuals for my 2007 saturn vue hybrid. I already bought the battery, and I would like to some tips to help me perform this surgery without too much trouble, like for instance without electrocuting myself.

The folder address of the pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/ninjanomad/2007SaturnVueHybrid#

My hypothesis is that battery has some kind of headpeice over it, and it has some wires over it that I shouldn’t touch. I’m thinking that I’m going to carefully unscrew the bolts and screws, lift the headpeice without touching any of the wires, disconnect the terminals, then proceed to unscrew the battery. They are shady, because they wired this thing like a jack in the box, so that only saturn certified mechanics could do this. As I have mentioned before, They have refused to realease repair information, obviously because they want you to come to the dealership to fix it. Why pay them to do something that I’m already qualified to do myself? I’ve replaced atleast 100 batteries, but this is my first hybrid. Any help or tips on how to do this safely would be very much apreciated.
It is a 12 volt battery that I am replacing, but the 3 different areas you see in some of the larger pictures are the only areas that the 12 volt battery might be. I was thinking it has to be under the pcm bracket, because the object shown under it, is the only object in the pictures that is even remotely similar to the size of the replacement battery. I’ve seen screws and bolts on batteries like the ones under the pcm bracket, I’m just not sure exactly how the operation is going to proceed. But if someone has done this before or could tell me what not to touch, or some other useful information like that, I would be very appreciative.
Also, as I’ve previously mentioned, my reasons for not dealing with the company, would be, I am a trained mechanic, and they’re acting shady, in which case I do not trust them. I did find the service manual, but I need to replace the battery asap and cannot wait for the arrival of it. It can’t be that hard. They don’t want you to know how to do stuff like this, which is why I seek help from other mechanics. If they just publish or let people publish normal service manuals, I would have already known all this, but I had to search high & dry on the internet to find it, it wasn’t easy to find at all.
I would also like to mention that this version of a hybrid vehicle, typically has two batteries, one in the front, which is a 12 volt, and one in the back, 36 volt. The 12 volt is the one I’m replacing and is supposed to be depicted somewhere in the picture, hidden under something.

You are correct in assuming there is something else there. The pictures you have shown are not of the battery but of the PCM (power train control module) You have yet to find the battery (could be under all that)
hybrid cars have the same battery as any flashlight. Positive and negative. First find the battery and then replace it without disrupting all the other multi-connectors too much.
Why, after only 1 and a bit years do you have to replace the battery? shouldn’t it be under warranty?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 at 8:52 pm and is filed under hybrid car information. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.