Hi Everyone,
Looking for some help here.... I just bought a nice looking 95 SC2 with just over 100k miles. It ran great when I test drove it and then for about two days....then it started jerking and bogging down... like we couldn't give it more than about 5% throttle or it would just die. The problem has been sporadic and sometimes is worse than others. Sometimes it'll take 15% throttle and the car will still be able to get up to 40-50 mph; sometimes it won't hardly run at all. I pulled the wires off the MAP sensor and it seemed to fix it, but only for a very short time. I've also pulled the wire off the MAF (or is it the TPS? a round three pin connector opposite the throttle cable). Changed the throttle response but didn't help. So tonight all wires are plugged back in and I pulled codes: got 22 and 34. Imagine that.

Thanks for reading all that. Any ideas??

John

 

moved to proper forum location

 

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Yeah, we're workin on stuff that's a little newer. I figured you guys are probably real experienced experts on keeping the old wheels running. So any guesses? I'm sure its not a spark thing or a fuel thing. Maybe a vacuum leak? or a sensor. Just not sure which one to buy first.

 

Before you go pissing money away on sensors, why not just give it a tune up first? If you don't know the history or time of the last one, it could be that simple. I'd recommend new plugs, wires, pcv valve, air filter and a good throttle body cleaning. You could also have a restriction in the exhaust. Get under it with a rubber mallet and tap the cat con and muffler. If you hear rattling in either one, then that's a likely culprit too. If all else fails, it might possibly be the ECTS. I don't know for sure, because I'm not a mechanic by trade. Just an old shade tree.

 

If you do decide to swap out the ECTS, make sure you replace the electrical pigtail connection for it as well. Total parts cost about $45usd if you use OEM materials, and I can't stress enough the need for OEM here. Oh yeah, also make sure the sensor is the metal-tipped one

 

As an old guy who has been here for a long time and drive OLD cars of a variety of years and some makes most older than my Saturn. Which is the 2nd newest car I own. I would say that randomly disconnecting things to see if it fixes something is not the best approach. But spending $30.00 to by a Chilton or Mitchels svc manual is a hell of a good way to get information on your car.
And if you are determined to arbitrarily change something the Engine Temperature Sensot ETS on the end of the cylinder head on the drivers side is a good candidate. It seems to have the biggest single influence on how well the little beasty runs. And while I am not one to say go to a dealer for things.
If you do not buy the proper GM parts as already recommended you might as well just park the car and save your money because that part if not correct will do you no good if it is not the right part and the on in the car is defective.
Where to go to find a dealer?
Try something GM first and ask at the parts counter.
Because Saturn dealers have closed the doors and are gone.

 

Hi Guys,
Thanks for all the tips and such... I got back to it last night and was still mystified.... well after another trip down the driveway and back, it flat died and wouldn't re-start except after a pretty long crank. Well then I checked codes again and got a 34 - TPS low voltage. So today I pulled all that apart, cleaned the throttle body and such and started measuring across the pins on the TPS. Totally open on all counts. Dead. Got a new one and she's purr'n just like a kitten. Woohoo!! Thank you Lord, that the sensor finally died completely. In my experience, there's nothing worse than a sensor that's intermittent or just reading wrong but not quite dead yet. They make all kinds of crazy things happen.

 

Glad to hear you got it fixed. Now stick around, because if you have other questions and don't post regularly, you'll be shut down. Just the way this forum works. Participate or get bumped off.

 

Hurrah on the fix -- now, go and enjoy your "new/old" ride ...