my new winter won't start! 97 saturn sl2

[Gaspo]

so i bought my saturn a few weeks ago. been driving it, over 1k miles already. car has driven great, with no issues. burns some oil, but great on gas, and no issues. i went to go start it up the other day to head to work and it cranked, started and died. turned it over again, and it wouldnt fire. just kept cranking, and no firing. i know i'm getting fuel, and i'm not getting spark. the SES light has been on since i bought it. my scanner read that its the camshaft position sensor. i clear it, and it comes on a few days later. didnt really care since the car ran great. after it wouldnt start i figured that would be it. called advance auto and they said there is no camshaft position sensor on that motor. called my mechanic, he said the same thing. said the crank shaft position sensor would make it not have spark so i replaced that. still no spark. took out the ICM and had that checked at auto zone. they said it was bad. i bought a new one, and put it in. still no spark. brought it back, they tested it and they said it was good. i checked all my fuses and relays. i'm getting 11.7 volts to the ICM. any other ideas of what it could be? i havent checked compression yet.. but i doubt thats an issue. but i do know there is no spark leaving the coils.. any ideas!!!

[Fox Slaughter]

I have owned 4 Saturns. First off with it being a 97 it came from the factory with a resin tipped ECTS. It is prone to cracking and will cause problems. So get a new brass tipped one and change it. Its located on the driver side of the head right above where the transmission connects to the block. Second there is a crank shaft position sensor on the LKO and LLO (you have a LLO, 1.9 DOHC) its located on the block above the starter on the right side of the block (back of the car). Change this sensor. Problem with the old ones is they will heat up, cause resistance and then the PCM goes whoa and won't start the car (if the car was hot) if its cold its probably just bad. Make sure you tighten the bolt fully, I didn't tighten mine all the way and it wouldn't start so I got coils, blah blah turned out just to be the bolt loose cause its a ***** to get to it. The crank position sensor doesn't read the gear in the front like most engines. These cars are great.

It should be an 8mm bolt to remove and replace the CPS.

I averaged 37 miles driving kinda like a dick. The one I still own is a 98 SC2 with a MP5 (manual trans). It has 213K on the clock. I had to rebuild the head because I fried a exhaust valve from a junky Ebay cold air intake.

If you really want mileage out of it if you have a manual is get a hold of a transmission from a LKO car, strip the 5th gear out and swap it. You'll see close to 50mpg on the highway, but you lose cruise control.


No CPS no run. So go back to your mechanic and tell him to stick to working on F-Bodies. Oh this will fix your problem, you owe me a beer haha.


PART NUMBER ACDELCO Part # 21020140
Autozone PART NUMBER Part Number: SU185

[Fox Slaughter]

What spark plugs are you running?

DO NOT RUN PLATINUM IN THESE CARS ONLY COPPER.

The Saturn uses a Waste Spark setup, they do not like anything but standard copper plugs.

Get yourself a set of these, best plugs ever.

NGK Part Number BKR5ESA-11 for LLO (DOHC)
NGK Part Number BKR4ESA-11 for LKO (SOHC)

The only difference is the LLO runs a cooler plug because compression is higher.

Oh, if you are interested I have a brand new never installed rear sway bar custom made my Progress. They only made about 20 of these bad boys, (Group Purchase)

The reason a LKO and LLO burn oil is because Saturn decided not to put drain backs into the pistons (to save money) so the oil gets trapped between the rings, heats up, burns up the rings. Usually starts after 100K. GM put out a bulletin that 1 quart for every 1000 miles was acceptable. Problem is mine drinks way more. Also the EGR valves like to dirty. If you want your code to go out pull it off and clean it out with carb cleaner let it soak. Run the car for like 10 mins with the EGR off and it will be good for a while.

Another problem is when the TAM (Torque Axis Mount, commonly called Top Engine Mount) goes back it allows the engine to rock a lot. The end tanks on the radiator are plastic, so when the engine rocks it will pull on the top radiator hose, and crack the end tank at the fitting. If you can fit two fingers between the rubber and the TAM, its torn, or crushed you should look at replacing it before it cracks the radiator.

If you need any help on working on the car just get a hold of me.

[Fox Slaughter]

Going to write a better thing here haha.

• Change the Crank Position Sensor.
• Replace spark plugs with BKR5ESA-11 NGKs.
• Pull the Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor, make sure its brass tipped if not replace.
• Pull spark plug boots off coils, crank engine see if spark is dropping between the towers.
• Pull the coils off, make sure connections aren't corroded.
• Remove Ignition control module, clean mating surface on transmission.
• If getting spark across towers, check at spark plug.

[jderry]

Everything he said^

I changed the ECTS as soon as I got mine, it made my friends run like shit when it cracked.

[2002Z4CSS]

Try changing the spark plugs first. My son and I own Saturns and his 2001 SL2 was a running car when his work took it in on trade and the very next day it would not start. I towed it to my house after he bought it and cleaned the spark plugs and that fixed the no spark concern and the car has been running ever since. #4 cylinder is actually the cam sensor on these engines. I''ll buy non running Saturns all day long since most have this issue.

[Gaspo]

Going to write a better thing here haha.

• Change the Crank Position Sensor.
• Replace spark plugs with BKR5ESA-11 NGKs.
• Pull the Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor, make sure its brass tipped if not replace.
• Pull spark plug boots off coils, crank engine see if spark is dropping between the towers.
• Pull the coils off, make sure connections aren't corroded.
• Remove Ignition control module, clean mating surface on transmission.
• If getting spark across towers, check at spark plug.

i replaced the CPS, and the ICM. the ICM was bad, autozone said. i'm getting power to the icm, but not out of the coil. that tells me its not the spark plugs. also i took out the plug wires, and the one all the way to the passenger side, the tunnel was full of oil. so i'm going to buy a valve cover gasket set. 30 bucks at advance, comes with everything. i know the conections for the coils are good at the icm, checked them before i re installed. i'll go back under and see if i didnt tighten the cps all the way. it was finger loose when i went under to replace it. so i did it to just snug.

[jderry]

i replaced the CPS, and the ICM. the ICM was bad, autozone said. i'm getting power to the icm, but not out of the coil. that tells me its not the spark plugs. also i took out the plug wires, and the one all the way to the passenger side, the tunnel was full of oil. so i'm going to buy a valve cover gasket set. 30 bucks at advance, comes with everything. i know the conections for the coils are good at the icm, checked them before i re installed. i'll go back under and see if i didnt tighten the cps all the way. it was finger loose when i went under to replace it. so i did it to just snug.

Most people will reconmend that you use RTV to seal the valve cover up.
In the gasket kit I got at Autozone, it came with a tube of RTV and the little gromets.

[Gregs_gsxr]

i say TJ is the new saturn resident guru !

[Fox Slaughter]

^haha

You have to use RTV on the valve cover gasket. The timing cover makes up the front of the head, so you need a dab of RTV where the seam is on both sides. Also replace The PCV valve because if is bad it will build up pressure causing the valve cover gasket to leak. I would check the CPS again just to be sure. Check the voltage down at the CPS.

[Fox Slaughter]

Make sure the CPS is completely flush, mine was not flush and it's still snugged down, back under made sure she was flush then she started. If it's not flush you won't get accurate readings.

[Gaspo]

i'll check it again. thanks for all the tips guys.

[TylerT/AZ28]

what all the guys said previously is what ive had to do on all the cars that came in the shp back in hs. they started acting up do a few tricks ad they start right back up. i fond that saturns arre always a pain to get it figured out though

[Fox Slaughter]

Saturns are awesome when they work right, when they don't its a PIA. Its because the PCM on them, mostly.

[Gaspo]

i havent had a chance to get under it yet and check the cps yet. been busy with work and working on other peoples stuff. i'll let you know asap.