95 Saturn mysterious shut-downs

I just bought this car used. The owner said this event occurs (described
below) & i have found the event to be true.

Problem event:
Sometimes just traveling down the road, the car starts to sputter & then
suddenly quits running. However, i can quickly restart the engine & all
seems to be well.
This same thing may happen 1, 2, or 3 times a day, or only once a week
(or once every 2 weeks).
It's a 95 Saturn SOHC 1.9 Engine, 5 speed Manual with air.

Opinions needed:
What do you think the problem is?

S_H

 

(Semi Head) typed until their fingers bled, and came
up with:

It could be several things. the 1st thing I'd check is all the battery
& ground connections. The next thing I'd check would be to see if there
are any trouble codes. in '95, you can do it with a paperclip. the 1st
2 tech atricles here will help you do that:

http://www.differentracing.com/tech_articles/index.html

good luck, and let us know if you need more help.

 

I have a similar problem on my 95 SW2. The dealer tells me that it is
the EGR valve malfunctioning. I can turn everything off and get a good
restart -- usually happens within 5 -10 minutes of initial startup for
the day. (cold engine)

 

Originally (Semi Head) wrote:

I just bought this car used. The owner said this event occurs (described
below) & i have found the event to be true.
Problem event:
Sometimes just traveling down the road, the car starts to sputter & then
suddenly quits running.
Opinions needed:
What do you think the problem is?

-----------------------------------------------

1st response:

Kevin M. Keller" <>
wrote:

It could be several things. the 1st thing I'd check is all the battery &
ground connections. The next thing I'd check would be to see if there
are any trouble codes. in '95, you can do it with a paperclip. the 1st 2
tech articles here will help you do that:

http://www.differentracing.com/tech_articles/index.html

good luck, and let us know if you need more help.

----------------------------------------------
2nd response:

From: (Orval Fairbairn)

I have a similar problem on my 95 SW2. The dealer tells me that it is
the EGR valve malfunctioning. I can turn everything off and get a good
restart -- usually happens within 5 -10 minutes of initial startup for
the day. (cold engine)

----------------------------------------------

Thank you all for those ideas & suggestions, Hopefully some others might
offer their thoughts too.

What kind of scanner tool do i need to buy?
Cheap, i hope! LOL

Could it be a failing fuel pump?
or a failing primary coil?

How would you go about diagnosing (method) this problem

S_H

 

(Semi Head) typed until their fingers bled, and came up
with:

on a '95, you can use a paperclip. the links I posted before should show
you how to do it.

 

If you havent tripped codes you wont find much use for a scanner. If you
are setting codes you can try AutoZone if you have one in your region,
they read codes at no charge but like to upsell parts you dont need.
Fuel pump is likely. A fuel pressure guage cost about 30 dollars and is
a good tool to have.

 

In my case, my 98 SL SOHC manual was doing a similar thing when the
crankshaft position sensor went out. It would start fine cold, but as soon
as it got to normal running temp, it would die. It only happened
intermittently at first, but eventually did it every time I would run it,
within about ten minutes of starting.

I never got the service engine light. I guess it was because when it died,
the computer shut off before it could be set. Not sure, but it is the only
thing I can figure.

If you have a Chilton's or Hayne's and a multimeter, you can pull it out
check the resistance on the sensor. But remember to heat it up and check it,
too, because I have read of them only failing after heating.

Good luck.

 

From: (Richard)

Thanks for the response!
That's interesting.

BTW - Now my "service engine light" stays on when the car sputters &
kills. Now it keeps dying when the car starts this sporadic failure. So
now maybe i can get a code. Heck i don't think i can get to AutoZone for
a free check-up (analyzed)!

What kind of scanner do i need (CHEAP)?

Any more comments suggestion will be welcomed.
Email is OK too.

S_H

 

If you have a notebook/laptop, you might look at something link
www.scantool.net to check your OBD II (VPW model for Saturn). You can order
the same product from Digimoto off of eBay for a few dollars less. I did and
it cost about the same as bringing the car to the nearest shop would (they
want $70 to read codes up the street). There are quite a few different
software apps currently available for free download, and a couple you can
pay for, to read from it.

Here is an article abou the crankshaft sensor failing when hot
http://www.aa1car.com/library/saturn04.htm .

 

Some other options:

http://www.ghg.net/dharrison/obdscan.html
simular to what you posted but it graphs. (not a very good website)

This is what i use
http://www.auterraweb.com/

 

I forgot about this one
www.autotap.com


BTW something no one mentioned...THESE WORK ON OBD II CARS ONLY. I
cannot recall if Saturn was OBD II compliant in 95 or not.