help with 96 Saturn

[crater]

My son is having problems with his 96 Saturn SL2. Ever since he had to jump start the car, when the car has been running for awhile, it won't restart without flooring the gas pedal, and then it won't continue to run. If the car sit's for a couple of hours, he has no problem with it starting and running, it idels smooth, but when he takes of from a stop, he needs to floor it again, to get it moving. I have not had a chance to look at it, but I'm a dummy anyway, so any help you guy's could give me would be welcome. I do remember the last time I looked at it for him, the hose from the air filter housing unit was off.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Axe Man]

OK, first off, is the check engine light on while the vehicle is running? If yes you should get the trouble code pulled which can tell you alot as to what is going on. Places like Autozone will perform this service for free. OBD-II trouble codes are formatted PXXXX, where XXXX is a series of numbers. If the light is on get the codes pulled and post here.

Second, a difficult "warm" start on older Saturns is a classic ECTS (Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor) failure. The factory sensors were resin which over time would crack and allow coolant into the sensor effectively shorting it out. The symptom of this failure is difficult warm start and the need to floor the gas pedal. The only thing in your symptoms that doesn't make sense is the need to floor it to get it moving. A bad ECTS doesn't cause that as far as I know.

And note that a bad ECTS will NOT set a check engine light.

The replacement sensors from Saturn are metal. The ECTS is located on the right (driver's side) when looking at the engine from the front. It's recessed into the head. Replacement is simple and should cost under $50.

 

[The Critic]

Sounds like a ECTS to me as well. If it failed that badly, you probably need the new wiring harness as well. $20 for the sensor from the dealer only, plus $30 for the DIY wiring harness splice.

 

[MONKEYMAN]

Quote:

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My son is having problems with his 96 Saturn SL2. Ever since he had to jump start the car, when the car has been running for awhile, it won't restart without flooring the gas pedal, and then it won't continue to run. If the car sit's for a couple of hours, he has no problem with it starting and running, it idels smooth, but when he takes of from a stop, he needs to floor it again, to get it moving. I have not had a chance to look at it, but I'm a dummy anyway, so any help you guy's could give me would be welcome. I do remember the last time I looked at it for him, the hose from the air filter housing unit was off.

Thanks in advance.

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Hey, I am another dummy and have a 99 SL2. This Saturn forum has made me smart regarding my S-Series car. This part of the forum will explain ECTS replacement. Search in the S-Series Tech forum and most problems can be resolved in my experience.

http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=26

 

[crater]

Quote:

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Sounds like a ECTS to me as well. If it failed that badly, you probably need the new wiring harness as well. $20 for the sensor from the dealer only, plus $30 for the DIY wiring harness splice.

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Did not get around to thanking you guy's for your help. I had the sensor installed (not the wiring harness splice as I did not read that until the job was done). Seemed to have worked for awhile. Now he is having the same problem, the only difference this time, is that once cold, the engine will not try to start as it did last time. Should I replace the sensor again with the harness this time?

Any idea what could be causing this problem? Could it have any thing to do with the cataylitc (spell check) converter as now the check engine light is on again and auto zone did a scan and found a problem with that as well.


I can't thank you guy's enough for your help.....

 

[The Critic]

Was the sensor from the dealership?

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