1997 SC2 Ghost Revving

Hi all.

This is the third day in a row that this is happening. When idling in
neutral at an intersection, the engine will rev to 2000rpm for a few seconds
and then go back to around 1000rpm. This will happen once during a drive.

Today, this happened three times, with the engine revving to 3000rpm at one
occurrence. This seems to occur when the engine has not fully warmed up,
yet it doesn't occur at start-up. It occurs only after about five minutes
of driving.

Anybody have any idea as to what is going on?

Thanks.

Frank

128,000km

 

Man, I had this happen at an intersection. I still had the gear engaged and
was still rolling a little. All of a sudden, the car leapt forward. I could
barely stop it with the brakes. I finally shut off the engine. As I was
pulling to the side, I pumped the throttle because it felt stuck. You could
suddenly feel it give way. It scared the @!(&^# out of me. I almost went
into an intersection on a red. When I restarted the engine, it was fine. It
did it again two weeks later when I had the clutch engaged so it just revved
up. I took it to Saturn and they cleaned the clutch assembly - 75.00. They
said it was a common problem. Ouch!! Saturn could have a fun time explaining
sticking accelerators to someone who's gotten run over. At the time, my car
had about 75,000 miles on it. I have an SC1 '96.
Joe

 

My 98 sc2 did the exact same thing - took about 2 weeks to find out it was a
valve that was sticking and needed to be re-placed. i can't remember of hand
exactly what valve it was but i was lucky it was covered under warenty.
after they 'fixed' it it worked fine.

 

Sorry, I said something that wasn't right. It wasn't the clutch assembly, it
was the throttle arm/ cable assembly.
Joe

 

Turns out it was the coolant temp sensor was dead. I didn't notice until a
day later that the coolant temp needle would start at half way, then drop to
its lowest point and then back and forth a few times. Brought the car to
the dealer and he said the sensor and the housing was completely corroded.
Also had the engine mount changed and a loose tie rod replaced. All
totalled, $600.00. I now have some new found respect for the dealer.
Thanks to the new engine mount, car feels like new when driving. I thought
the vibrations I had been experiencing were normal for a car my age!

Frank
1997 SC2 129,000 km