2002 Saturn L200 problems starting after short stop

We purchased a used 2002 Saturn L200 in December. It has been running
great all winter. The weather has recently been getting into the upper
60's and twice within the past week my wife has had problems starting
the car after a short stop.

The first time was when she stopped to get gas. It wouldn't start so I
drove over to the station. She had been trying to start it on my way
there with no luck. I tried too ... it sounded like it was making a
half-hearted attempt to start but nothing. After letting it set a
little we were going to push it over to the side but I decided to try
one more time. It started right away!

The next time she went to drop something off at church. She shut off
the car, went inside for a few minutes then when she tried to start it
again it wouldn't start. When she called me I said to try letting it
sit for 10 minutes and try it again. It started this time.

Do these "symptoms" suggest any thing? Are there some simple things I
can check? Oddly I just ordered the "Haynes Saturn L-Series Repair
Manual 2000-2004" the day before the first problem. Hope it arrives
soon!

Thanks
Rich

 

I hate to sound like a broken record but have you tried to read out the
fault codes?
Try opening the gas cap and see if there is any vacuum before starting the
engine. There should not be any vacuum at that point. Make sure that the gas
cap is on tightly or it will throw a code.

news:...

 

Also possible that since this happened when wife stopped for gas, that there
was water in the fuel. This plugs the fuel filter and makes operation
erratic. Try some drygas and/or change the fuel filter.

Thanks for reminding me about the Haynes manual. I have the 2001 lw300 and
had gotten the Saturn shop manual directly through the dealer. The Haynes
manual was not available yet for the L series last year at this time. Since
the Saturn shop manual is so poorly organized, I was hoping that the Haynes
manual would help to put things in perspective. Not to mention that the
Haynes tech manuals are great.

 

Here's an issue that sounds somewhat similar, also on the '02 L200 --

Fuel tank at less than 1/4 full, car warmed up, parking on a slight hill
where the back of the car is lower than the front. Car will totally refuse
to start - no fuel.

Issue is fuel drains back into the tank, Don't know why, I thought the
newer systems had a check valve in the line to prevent this. Apparently,
after the fuel pump has reached age two or more, the fuel pump can not
provide enough pressure. Replacing the pump will fix it, but be ready to do
it again in a couple of years.