hot start problems and more

tha-dood · 04-14-2003, 05:45 PM

80,000 miles and the saturn just doesnt stop breaking anymore. after my 3 grand tranny job and a month without the car, i get it back this weekend, and my climate control thing is all messed up. AC gets stuck on and off randomly and i have to keep hitting the button 20 million times. backlights randomly disappear on the buttons if you hit them, and the heater turns on the check engine light for a bad o2 sensor.

but thats only a small problem.... if i run the car for a bit and then turn it off and try and start it again soon it doesnt wanna start. usually happens like if i get off the highway, and then go somewhere for a few minutes where i have to turn off the car, and come back a few minutes later, it starts, but doesnt stay started. the idle will drop to like 400 and itll stall. itll keep doing this untill i hold it at high enough idle long enough (time is never the same) and eventually the idle will raise each time i let off the gas till it gets normal 800 - 900 or so. it used to do this only once and a while, but it has done it like 3 times over the past 2 days. someone i know was saying they had the same problem and it ended up being a bad distributer. any ideas?

whitehotsaturn · 04-14-2003, 06:00 PM

What year model, and engine?

I work at Saturn!!! Maybe I can help!!!

tha-dood · 04-14-2003, 06:02 PM

97 SL2 1.9L DOHC

whitehotsaturn · 04-14-2003, 08:57 PM

ok there could be several things that are causing you poor running condition!!!! The first and least expensive thing is the coolant temp sensor. If it is reading an incorrect temp that means it is mixing the fuel and air ratio incorrectly!! It almost sounds like this is the problem!!!! However to have it diagnosed correctly you should take it to a Saturn retailer!!! If you feel that you want to tackle the job at hand you will need the following part # 21025106. There is also a slight chance that it may be the fuel pump starting to go!!!! You will have to do tests to determine this!!!!

As for the A/C button and HVAC controls- It sounds like they don't like being abused! If you have to hit something to get it to work...IT'S NOT RIGHT!!!! If they did a trans job where they had to take out the cables and shifter (which you never know) they may have (MAY HAVE) got something in the HVAC controls to bind causing some things to not function correctly!!!! Now this is really common if you have an aftermarket radio in the Saturn and the cables hang down in the way of the dials and wires!!! You got to get the cables on top of the radio to salve that and usually a cheap method of insurance is to put a piece of cardboard over the cables so nothing jambs down in there!!!

The light will flicker for the controls if beat around due to loose connections or a broken spot in an electronic board!!!

I hope this helped you out a little bit!!!