Put some new plugs in. They maybe fouled from all of the sludge that's been running through the engine

 

You stated that it's a problem when it's hot. How hot? If your having a problem when it's over the 1/2 on the temp gauge, you can PM me for some modifications to keep the coolant temp under 1/2

 

I have the same problem. I have not recieved one reply and have given some useful help for others. My SL-2 does the exact thing. My first guess was the Cat Conv but the mechanic says no. I indicated that the knock sensor was replaced which makes absolute sense. Since the engine has electronic spark advance, it relies on the "knocking" sound to indicate the need to retard the spark timing. I personally believe this fixed the problem for one day and then the thing went out again. Anyway the mechanic states that the diagnostic indicated the MAF sensor was bad. This change affected no change and was a waste of money. New plugs did not help. The engine never overheats. The EGR is clean. Please let me know if you get it figured out!!

 

Did you pull the throttle body and take a look at the intake manifold?

 

Ok guys. Its been a little while but I have learned something new about my problem. It has nothing to do with being hot or cold. I was driving it home from school and I turned the car off at a red light. I started it and it drove great for a few minutes and went back to running like crap. It is really jerky between 2 and 3 thousand rpms. It bogs down sometimes in that rpm range.


I replaced my ECTS andspark plugs. I cleaned my throttle and intake I got some peppyness back but it still jerks.


Thanks for the info.


Scott

 

I was wrong it still drives better cold.


Please Help.

 

If your running OK at 1/4 on the temp gauge you can install a adjustable fan switch to keep your temp low. They're on ebay under pre-96 adjustable fan switch. It doesn't solve the under lying problem, but it's a way to get a round a temp problem

 

Wait a minute, if you've got a 96 engine in a 95 that's your problem. The temp sensor electronics for fuel mixture are different, All of the electronic wouldhave to be 96 including the PCM. The 95 has a separate temp gauge sensor and the 96 only has the ECTS which also controls the temp gauge. If the temp gauge has been spliced into the ECTS on the 95 electronics package it's going to run like crap. Cut loose the temp gauge if it's spliced in, see what happens.


Question; Do you have the single wire temp sensor and the two wire ECTS.Edited by: stevestar99

 

Scott, it sounds like you are dangerously close to locating the problem. Please keep me posted if you get to the bottom of it. I am at my wits end and am tired of giving a mechanic money for parts changing. I am pretty darn good in the shop myself and am frustrated with these computer problems keeping me from my cars running right. I can overhaul it and rebuild it, dissassemble it and put it back together but I can't troubleshoot properly because of the data inputs supplied by the ancillary devices like the MAF, ECG, water temp sensor data, etc, ect..

 

Scott, I just flashed on something out of the past. I use to have a 280zx that had a similar problem when you would try to accelerate it would bog down, loose power and would die if I didn't back off on the gas. It was the air mass meter, known on the Saturn as the throttle body. The throttle bodyis a variable resister.The air re-stricter plate is the wiper arm on thevariable resister. If you have a bad spot on the resister, the wiper arm loose the signal when it hits the bad spot and regains the signal once it pass it. Is the problem more related to the throttle position vs rpm?When you go up a steep hill, press way down on the gas peddle and see if it will run though the 2k-3k range ok. Like wise, going down a hill try to place the throttle in the same position as it would be on flat ground in respect to 2k-3k range. You should be running at a higher rpm down hill, with the flat ground 2k-3k position. If it's clunking out at a high rpm down hill, then thisindicates throttlebody could be a fault. Put the car in park andopen and close the TB and see if crapping out under no load in one particular spot.If you think you've got a TB problem, you can attach a ohm meter to the wiper arm lead of the TB and ground. Open and close the TB. You should have a linear sweep. For example if the TB is closed and your reading 0 ohms and wide open it reads 300 ohm. half should be at 150, 1/4 should be 75 and so on. If you sweep all the way through open and closed, and at some point it jumps from a normal reading of 45 ohms up to infinity and back down to 50 ohms as you sweep, then theinfinity reading is going to be the bad spot on the TB. I have no idea if this has anything to do with your problem, but is something to check if you're grasping at straws. This is a common failure with the old air mass meters. I don't know if Saturn's TB is fail proof.