Car was running great. Drove it one day, left it sit for about 3 hours, came back and it wouldn't start. It cranked, we could hear the fuel pump kick in, it just wouldn't start. Keep at it intermittenly for about 45 minutes, and miraculously, it started (fortunately before the battery died). For the next couple of days it was on and off. Sometimes it would start right up, other times we would have to try and try before it would start. Finally one day on my way home from work, I crested a hill and stopped at the stop sign and it just shut off. I got it pushed off to a parking spot and have been working with it since, but it has refused to start.


I can hear the fuel pump, so I know that's working, but we checked the fuel rail and all seems well. Pulled the ignition module, and had Auto Zone test the coil packs, and all tested well. Pulled the wires and we're getting good, steady spark (leading me to believe that it is not the CPS). Had the suggestion that maybe the timing had "jumped". I thought it was unlikely, but you never know, so I pulled the valve covers, and all seems well.


If you listen closely, you can hear the "put put" out the exhaust of the car trying to fire, but something seems to be stoping the combustion process. Is there another sensor that could be doing it that I am missing? I am about at my wits end with this thing, and I have to get it figured out soon. Being down to one car is driving us nuts, and my wife says pretty soon she is going to stop chauffering me around [img]smileys/smiley1.gif[/img]. While I am not the greateset mechanic, I am pretty mechanically inclined and have had my 97 SC2 apart more times than I would have liked. We both love our Saturns, and this is the first major problem that we have had that we have been unable to fix. I would much prefer to figure this out than to have to pay for towing to a garage to find out that it is something simple.


Any thoughts, ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks


Jim

 

1-Have you replaced the engine coolant temperature sensor (ECTS)? Its a two-wire sensor that cracks and corrodes the connector too. Replace the sensor with the brass one and the connector from the junk yard air intake temperature sensor connector or the dealer's $30 part. It usually fails enriching the air/fuel mixture and may flood the engine with too many starting attempts at one time. The cure for the flooding is to floor the throttle completely that shuts off the injectors but allows the cylinders to dy out and then a start-up. If you can, have a look at the spark plugs and clean them up if they're fouled for re-use especially if you find the coolant sensor cracked.


2-The ignition coils may be corroded from the bases and bolts so removal for wirebrushing the bare metal and bolts that ground the coils, Scotch-Brite the coil towers, and coating exposed metal with a coating of dielectric grease prevents future corrosion. The plug wires may need replacing if in the dark of night a water spray over the wires reveals arcing across the insulation indicating a breakdown of the insulation.

 

also did you check your plugs, and are the injectors working? Id toss a new set of plugs in, then pull the Fuel pump fuse and crank it for about 30 -60 seconds. Then plug it back in and try.

 

Hello again,
Thanks for the suggestions. I did make a stop at the car last night with a friend of mine who is a mechanic. When we cranked it over, he said it sounds like there is no compression. We pulled the valve covers off and the cams seem to be lined up properly, but we have not yet had time to pull the timing chain cover to check the crank shaft. Unfortunately, I can't get a compression tester to take out until sometime next week.


We did plug in the OBD, and it came back with 4 codes. 2 for the Coolant Temp Sensor, and 2 for the Transmission Temp Sensor. While the sensors may have been the original problem, I don't believe that they would prevent me from having compression. (By all means correct my if I am wrong). I would much prefer to solve the problem with a sensor that have to pull that timing chain cover off. While timing is pretty simple to set on these, it is just such a hassle to get that cover off.


We did put new plugs in almost right away, hoping the culprit would be that simple (of course not, what was I thinking). When we had the coils off, they tested fine, and there was no sign of corrosion.


These have been very helpful suggestions so far. I think I have another ECTS around (it's only a plastic one, but I guess I could try it for now and put in brass later), so I can give that a try. Any thoughts on the compression would be greatly appreciated though.


Thanks again,
Jim

 

Timing chains rarely jump unless something spectacular occurred, I wouldn't look there. By all means, if you have a spare coolant sensor use it even if its the old style plastic one. You will have removed the original one to begin with to examine if its cracked but either way, if there's a definite improvement because of replacing the sensor with another plastic one you're only setting yourself up later for a recurrence. Be sure to use the permanent brass replacement along with possibly replacing the two-wire connector if corroded from leaking coolant.


There may be auto stores that will loan out a compression tester if you don't feel like buying one. Its good to eliminate the possibility of lost compression if something went wrong and there's low compression. Hope you've kept up the oil level.


It would have been better to post the DTC codes as they're easy to interpret w/o leaving anyone to wonder what they are. It may point to a specific area that no one has addressed yet here.