1997 SL2, tough start, rough idle, stalls.

Hello Everyone,


I was wondering if anyone can help us on this one. This has been
going on for years. Every so often, my saturn will not start at
first. Cranks, first but fails to continue running. After a few
attempts, it then starts but runs rough and idles like crap. Have to
hold the gas pedal to keep if from stalling.

I've been back and forth to the dealer for YEARS now with this, but
they can't find what causes it. The find the code for the actual
stall, but not for the cause. The car wasn't on the fuel pump recall,
or anyother lists ( which btw scares me from ever buying another
saturn, if this saturn is the best they made, oh doomed). The car
only intermittently does this, maybe 2-3 times a year, but at the
worst times. Like wifey driving at night, on very-very cold days, or
very very hot days.

Any suggestions on how to 'fix' this problem?

thanks

tom

 

Heres one idea...Stop going to that dealer and find a real shop that
actually knows how to diagnose a car. Knowing how well things have been
kept up on your car would be helpful. Not much we can do other than
throw out guesses here.

 

|> Hello Everyone,
|>
|>
|> I was wondering if anyone can help us on this one. This has been
|> going on for years. Every so often, my saturn will not start at
|> first. Cranks, first but fails to continue running. After a few
|> attempts, it then starts but runs rough and idles like crap. Have to
|> hold the gas pedal to keep if from stalling.
|>
|> I've been back and forth to the dealer for YEARS now with this, but
|> they can't find what causes it. The find the code for the actual
|> stall, but not for the cause. The car wasn't on the fuel pump recall,
|> or anyother lists ( which btw scares me from ever buying another
|> saturn, if this saturn is the best they made, oh doomed). The car
|> only intermittently does this, maybe 2-3 times a year, but at the
|> worst times. Like wifey driving at night, on very-very cold days, or
|> very very hot days.

This is a long shot. I have a 1994 SW2 that showed the same symptoms,
except in my case it was continuous, and not intermittant. My car
showed no codes of any kind. Its data interface is OBD-I, whereas your
car, being 1997, should be OBD-II. An OBD-II car SHOULD be have more
extensive tests for bad sensors.

Anyway, on my car (maybe not on yours), there are two temperature
sensors in the driver's end of the cylinder head. The upper/forward
one is the coolant temperature sensor, and is fully described in the
factory service manual and wiring diagrams. The lower/rear one (about
3 inches away) is NOT mentioned in the factory service manual! This
second sensor was the one that caused the problems: running rich,
full-scale O2 sensor output, unstable idle speed, stalling at idle
when hot and on acceleration, and hot starts requiring pedal on floor
(flooded start procedure). After a local shop found the problem and
replaced the sensor it, the car is running well again. Credit to
them: they did not have to replace anything else.

--
NOTE: to reply, remove all punctuation from email name field

Ned Forrester 508-289-2226
Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering Dept.
Oceanographic Systems Lab http://adcp.whoi.edu/
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA

 

Sad thing about this......

It's been happening so long, and I've moved several times, that three
seperate dealers have not found the problem. Each dealer is 50+ miles
from one another.

 

Start by replacing the coolant temp sensor in the head. This is
generally the cause of poor cold starting.

Note your idle speed when the car starts and runs. I bet it's high,
like over 1,000 rpm. That's a hint the CTS is bad - it also regulates
idle speed - the hotter the car, the lower. If the car thinks it's warm
or hot, the mixture leans out. Not good for cold starting.

You're not saying where you are or what very very cold or very very hot
is, but if you have normal weather most of the time, you might not
noticed this and itcan go on a long time - this won't throw up a trouble
code if the sensor is somewhat working.

Temperature extremes is the clue here. Start with the CTS.

Oh yeah, and as always, take a peek at the throttle body and see if it's
clean of ront. Should have shiny plates and little carbon buildup. If
it's carbony, goopy, or has a lot of junk, clean it out while you're
replacing the sensor - it's cheap, easy, fun, and can help too. Just
pull it out, take off the sensor and IAC, and use throttle body cleaner
and an old toothbrush to get everything out. Then wipe the IAC off, put
it all back together, and bolt back on (watch the gasket position).

 

Typically any time I start the car, it's intial idle is over 1000rpm
for the first few mins. Isn't this normal?

Now Pennsylvania.

A few years ago, I pushed for a real check on the system and I was
told a temp switch was 'out of band' but wasn't causing any codes.
They replaced it at my request, and the car ran very well for a long
time. Now we are getting the intermittent failed starts and rough
idles and stalls. Might be a pattern here.

As for carboning up the throttle body, this seems to be a major
complaint from most SL owners.

thanks for your reply it helps.

Tom @ www.URLBee.com

 

Yeah, that is. But, if it stays up there, or very quickly drops down,
or such, that's a bit bad.

I'm betting on the CTS. Some aftermarket or non OEM ones tend to be a
bit flaky. Then again, so do some genuine Saturn ones...

Not a huge problem, but it does lead to sticky operation and weird
things happening. And it's pretty easy to clean anyway.