I have a 96 Saturn SL which I have had for over four years with no problems. A few months ago I was driving and the car cut off. I pulled to the side and the car started back up. This problem has gotten increasingly worse and now I can't drive it anywhere for fear of being stuck.

I have checked and replaced all of the usual suspects, i.e and in order... fuel pump and filter, spark plugs, control module, coil packs, crank sensor (twice) coolant temp sensor, checked all fuses and relays.

I drove the car the other day and it cut off 10 plus times in less than 5 miles, it was very hard to start it back up but it finally started and made it to the parts store. It seemed like there was no spark and at the time I did not know how to test the coils so I just replaced them both with the module.

Feeling like the master mechanic that I am "in my mind" I jumped on the freeway and drove the car home 60 plus miles in over 80 degree weather. the car drove perfectly, never cut off. I am the man...

The next day I decided I was going to drive the car back the other direction just to confirm that the coils and module were the culprits.

I got in and started the car up fine, wife gets in closes the passenger door and the car dies. I tried to start it back two, three maybe four times but nothing. I went to Autozone and picked up a crank sensor and coolant sensor because that is what most of the blogs I have read by others with the same problems have done. Got home changed parts, checked for spark and fuel, everything checks out o.k..

I get in the car and tell my son to close the hood and the car dies out. Open the hood check for spark, we got spark like its the 4th of July oh yeah it is... put the plug wires back on and it starts right up. drop the hood closed and the car shuts off again. Now I am on to something, I feel better because it must be a short and that's simple enough and probably wont cost much to fix.

I check every ground, cable connector and wire with the car running and nothing it just keeps running, scratching my head, I decide to use a rubber mallet to simulate the hood being closed. I tap the car lightly and nothing, I tap a little harder on the driver's shock tower and the car idles down and dies out.

Check the fuse box and battery connections again with the car running and nothing.

I go into the passenger compartment and tap the steering wheel with my fist and car dies. Try to start it back and it just turns over. Move the steering wheel up and down and the car starts. Ok. it must be a bad ignition switch.

Now I unplug the ignition and "hot wire" the car, it starts up I tap the column and the car dies... nope, not the ignition... must be the PCM, start the car back up and tap the PCM car stays running, tap the metal near the radio and the car dies out. Move the steering wheel and the car starts back up tap the PCM harder and nothing... tap the dash and it cuts off.

by now it's 1:30am no more fireworks just me and my SL starting and stopping. Has anyone ever heard of this problem before? I am almost positive it is a short somewhere but can't figure it out. I have wiggled the wires under the dash but really no change only the mild thump of my fist, the mallet or the bumps on the road have made it cut off.

I really apologize for the long story but I wanted to give as much detail so that maybe someone can help me on this, I am truly stumped. Thanks for any help or ideas on this one.

 

My memory seems to be jogged by this. More than a few people have had problems at times with loose fuses. Something wiggling or banging causes the fuse to loose connection. Anyway, try these.
In the UNDER HOOD JUNCTION BLOCK
Ignition #3, Ignition $4 and IP Batt, all 3 are 30 amp
PCMB, 5A, PCM Fuse 5A, Injector fuse 10AMP and in the WP Junction Block, body fuse 10 AMP
And if you have not got anything better to do, try them all one at a time, pull it out check the silver connection thingies, (a technical term) and the sockets they fit in for corrosion or something and then plug them back in.
Don't know if you will fix it that way, but it will keep you out of trouble for a while.

 

I was looking back through some of the threads -- something about an internally defective underhood junction block .... didn't find it, but need to look some more