97 SC2 questions

[Joseph Munzenrider]

Two entirely unrelated questions about my 97 SC2...

First, the sunroof... It died on my a little while back, got stuck about 5
inches open. The dealer said they don't (can't?) fix them, only replace
them, at a cost of about $1,000. I passed at the time, and they just got it
closed for me, and it's been that way ever since. Anybody know if this is
the sort of thing a non-dealer mechanic might be able to fix or deal with
for less than a thousand bucks?

Second question, and the more pressing one imho. On a fairly regular basis,
my car has trouble starting. I get in, turn the key, and the engine cranks
and i get the feeling that no matter how long I held the key, it would keep
turning and never start. But, when this happens (not all the time, maybe,
oh, 70% of the time), if I let it crank for a couple seconds, then stop,
wait for everything to stop moving, and then turn the key again, it'll start
right up.

As far as I can tell, no outside factors seem to figure into whether it
starts right up or not -- radio on or off, a/c and fan on or off, hot or
cold, wet or dry, or even how long it's been since I last had it running.
I've had this problem since I got the car in 2000, the dealer and my other
mechanic have both said they couldn't find any problem, and the problem has
persisted even though a new alternator and battery have been installed (for
presumably un-related reasons, although I guess all the extra cranking can't
be good for either one of those things).

Any help/suggestions would be much appreciated,

thanks,

joe

 

[woj product]

regarding the sunroof - I've got nothing to add to the mix.

regarding the hard start - recently my 97 SL2 started doing the same
thing - like it was starving for gas at startup, but would eventually
fire up after the 2nd crank attempt, idle a bit rough and then run
perfectly.

Turns out it was the fuel pump - and there was a service bulletin on
the problem. I got the dealer to fix it - parts were on him, & I
picked up the labor costs because the car was a little past the
deadline for fixing the problem.

Now if I could only get that light behind the AC button to go back
on...

 

[jeffkjo]

Second question, and the more pressing one imho. On a fairly regular
basis,
my car has trouble starting. I get in, turn the key, and the engine
cranks and i get the feeling that no matter how long I held the key, it
would keep
turning and never start. But, when this happens (not all the time, maybe,
oh, 70% of the time), if I let it crank for a couple seconds, then stop,
wait for everything to stop moving, and then turn the key again, it'll
start right up.

As far as I can tell, no outside factors seem to figure into whether it
starts right up or not -- radio on or off, a/c and fan on or off, hot or
cold, wet or dry, or even how long it's been since I last had it running.
I've had this problem since I got the car in 2000, the dealer and my other
mechanic have both said they couldn't find any problem, and the problem
has persisted even though a new alternator and battery have been installed
(for presumably un-related reasons, although I guess all the extra
cranking can't be good for either one of those things).

The ignition switches in the older S series cars are crap.
My 97 SC2's went recently and saturn explained to me that the original
design is such that each lock point on the key controls a different engine
accessory. As a result, if all of the lock tumblers do not mate up, the car
may start, but is going to have all kinds of issues. In my case, it meant
the car would start, but none of the accessories would work.

I know this sounds completely retarded and next to impossible to believe,
but this is what they told me. They replaced the entire thing for I
believe $130, and it's well worth it being that they have to take apart the
steering column.

Now, that might not be your problem.