SC/SL/SW :: 1997 Saturn SL Not Starting After Stopped For Gas
Apr 14, 2009
My 1997 SL is not starting. This is not all the time, just when i need it the most, or when i've stopped for gas at midnight on the interstate 200 miles from home. Turn the key nothing happens. Have headlights, interior ,radio. tried jumping it, no luck. The first time it did it we had stopped for gas, pump was out so started it moved to other side turned it off then it wouldn't start. tried jumping it two times,no luck, turned key on at least 50 times...no luck, then the third guy who stopped to tried tightening the ground, tried it again it started. Started a dozen or so times over the next couple of days and it did it again.
Tried turning the negative terminal tighter again, tried it, it started so it must be the ground right? Well replaced the ground battery cable, tried it several times while it sat there started fine. Moved it 50 feet or so,tried it again wouldn't start. Kicked it...so much for the ground wire theory. Got up the next morning went out..it started. Drove it to advanced and had them hook it up to check battery/alternator/charging. Machine says everything is fine. Decided to give it another chance next morning, started, drove about 1/2 mile, forgot cell phone,ran back, turned it off ,ran back out, won't start.
Now ready to use it for target practice. Still keep thinking its something to do with the battery wires because every time it has started back up,with the exception of letting it sit overnight, i had just messed with the wires. Also am wondering if its a coincidence that all three times it's pulled this it had been started, ran for a short distance, and turned off. Also noticed that although i have interior ,radio etc, when it won't start the radio light does dim somewhat but I don't know if it does that all the time. I am laid off so a trip to the saturn garage is looking really expensive but i don't know what else to do.
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I have a 1997 Saturn, and have noticed for the past couple of months that when the car is idling at a stoplight, the engine seems to rev or almost skip a little bit. The RPMs go from about 1000 down to 500 for a couple of seconds, and this will happen once every 10 seconds or so. Otherwise, it runs fine...but this is happening more and more frequently than it used to.
I had the transmission rebuilt over the summer and its still under warranty. What might be causing this?
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When I went to go shopping this afternoon, I discovered my car wouldn't start. It wouldn't even crank, which was strange since it seemed to be running fine just two days ago. At this point I assume either the battery is bad or something else is. It's a bit hard for me to tell since the engine wouldn't even try to turn over.
Initial Observations: When I first tried to turn the the car on it wouldn't even turn over, in fact, all I could hear was the a fairly loud buzzing from behind the dash board. On further attempts I noticed that the info display (or whatever it's called) wasn't displaying the tire pressure readings. I did later notice some "reluctance" from the automatic door mechanism, and earlier this week I observed my car was a bit more reluctant than usual to start, but I assumed it was just the cold weather. After the initial attempt to get my car started, I tried jumping it, but no luck. It still wouldn't start or even turn over. If it's the battery, said battery must have a dead cell, however, wouldn't the engine still try to "turn"?
Later observations: I tried again this evening after it had gotten dark, since it would let me observe the headlights and such. Same behavior as before. I couldn't really tell if lights had dimmed. HOWEVER, when I tried yet again a little later I accidentally set off the alarm. Now I observed the lights were dim and the horn weak.
Additionally, when I turned the alarm off I heard that buzz behind the dash again. Most of what I've seen makes me lean toward the battery, but this noise bothers me and makes me wonder whether there may be some kind of electrical fault.
Other information: My car is a 2008 Saturn Aura, that I got used in Jan of 2010. I assume the battery is at least that old, since I haven't gotten it replaced while I've owned it.
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My '95 Saturn had its starter, elec. cables, battery, the whole starting-system-shabang tested. But occasionally it still won't start...in the evening, after I get home and it sits for 2 hours. The mechanic says it could be the coolant sensor. Is this possible?
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My sis was driving her 96 saturn SL and she was at a red light, then the car just stopped on her and it wouldn't start back up. I had came to push the car to the side of the road to see what the problem was. When I tried to start it, I could hear 1 click. All the lights came on, on the dash but it wouldn't start. I tried to give it a jump but that didnt work. I checked the oil and the oil was really low. There was no oil showing up on the dipstick. So I put in about 4 quarts of oil.
The car still wouldn't start. So I had it towed. The mechanic said that my sis would need another engine for her car. Would really low oil cause someone to need another engine for a car. My sis had just got a oil change about 2 weeks before this happened. I use to drive her car about 5 years ago and it use to burn a quart between oil changes but what would cause the engine to loose so much oil in about 2 weeks. I don't know if there was a oil leak and the oil light did come on the night before her car broke down. I had a starter put in about 4 years ago.
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11 months and 3 weeks ago a mechanic I trust replaced my a/c. Two weeks later I rear-ended another car.
There was minor cosmetic damage but it ran as before. A week after that began the record setting Texas summer heat wave and my car got so hot the mirror gauge registered 125 in a fast food line. This is the only time it got that hot. Once we got moving everything seemed fine.
A couple of days later the a/c ran for about 10 minutes then stopped. Slowly the time the unit cooled decreased until it stopped working. I took the car back to the mechanic. He stated the pressure measured up to 100 psi and the temperature was above the rating for the a/c system.
He fixed a short in the radiator/engine fan, the temperature problem never returned and the pressures were high but my a/c worked.
At first the a/c seemed to work fine but then it began to work only sometimes. When it did work it would sometimes work in "hybrid" mode which you Saturn owners recognize as cooling at the reduced level that saves gas in stop and go traffic -- or not at all as we say in TX.
I took it back. The mechanic now explained the I'd voided the warranty because the short in the radiator fan allowed the car and a/c system to get too hot. The high heat had burned some sort of internal valve in the compressor.
The valve is unreliable. The performance of the a/c is mainly temperature dependent. The hotter the day the less likely the a/c will produce enough of a pressure difference to open this valve. Warm days the system will probably cool. Hot days it will probably not.
Being a CarTalk listener and an former nerd I thought of and tried a way to magnify the pressure difference using rpm. It works but the hotter the day the higher and longer I have to rev the engine. Now I'm burning oil for the fist time ever. Did I cripple my air conditioner or does my trusted mechanic learn a little to little when he learned to repair my hybrid a/c system?
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Info: 2003 Ion-1 165k+ miles
I'm hearing a clunking/knocking noise in my Ion that sounds like the front driver side. It's most audible starting about 30 mph. It grows louder as I drive faster and the rate of clunking/knocking is relative to the speed I am driving. It doesn't change when I push in the clutch or when I'm in a different gear. It does not happen when I rev my engine in neutral. I even shut off my car while moving in a parking lot and no change. The sound changes when I turn (sounds like a more muffled/dull sound but still loud if that makes sense), and in my mind it seems to sound worse when I'm turning right than left.
I noticed the noise on Thursday of last week. It was at the point where I had to have my radio off to notice the noise. Since then it has grown louder and as of yesterday is now overpowering my radio when at reasonable volume.
I just replaced both the driver and passenger wheel bearing in the last 18 months, and I just got new Tier-3 Cooper tires 3 months ago. (I wouldn't think the bearing would knock, but just as history fyi.) I was convinced by the troubleshooting guide in my Haynes manual that it was either the inner or outer CV joint so I replaced the whole Driver side CV Axle and topped off the Tranny Fluid with Dexron-III. No dice. I thought there's a chance it could be my new tires, so I Rotated the tires on the left side F->B/B->F as well and the noise did not seem to change. Spinning the tires by hand while up on my jack stands does not seem to tell me anything (I'm guessing I'd have to have them spinning at about 20/30mph to hear anything).
My next idea at this point is to put the front end up on jack stands and have someone put my car in gear and give it a little gas while I stand nearby and try to pinpoint where the sound is coming from. I'm a little leery about this one, and I'm not even sure if it's going to make the noise when not under load anyway.
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When the temperatures drop to the single digits and below, my car won't start. It won't even turn over! I turn the key and there's nothing. So, I sit in the car and then turn the key again. I wait. Then turn the key again. Within about 5-10 minutes, the car starts and its good to go! I've had a new battery installed. And even with the new battery, it does the same thing. At the shop, they check the battery and say it's fine.
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About a year ago the passenger side window stopped working. It was not a huge problem and my husband kept telling me he would look at it. Well.......... as of last week none of the windows will work and the drivers side automatic lock button stopped working. I can lock and unlock it with the remote and the passenger lock button works. I just don't know. My husband looked at the wiring in the door joint and took the panel off and everything seemes secure. Also, the cd player is running an error message and I have had problems with the switch. This car is driving me crazy!!!!!!
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Ever since I picked up my V8 Touareg I've noticed that the transition from stopped to starting can sometimes be rough, and that the shift from 1st to 2nd is often a fairly violent jerk. The worst transmission problem on my Touareg is experienced when I'm in stop-and-go traffic going around 5mpg in 1st gear then accelerate normally. The shift to 2nd is extremely rough.
I took my Touareg into the shop last week to fix this, and another problem I was having, and the car is still at the dealer. When I talked to my service advisor on Friday he said that this is a fairly common problem with later VIN cars. Evidently, they had to reprogram the transmission to meet some EPA regulation and that is causing rough shifting in the lower gears.
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I bought a 1997 Saturn SL2 and it's very hard to streer. Are these cars made this way or do I have a problem that needs to be fixed? I know some cars don't have power steering, but this cars steering is harder to steer than others I have drove without power steering. Are these cars just real hard to steer or should I check it out some way? If so what should I do?
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My 1997 Saturn SL2 has run so great until now. It has 150,500 miles on it. I drove home Tuesday, parked. Wednesday morning, it would not start. Would not turn over, or make any sound at all. We have determined it is not the battery or alternator, so we thought it was the starter. I got a starter and we installed it yesterday. Turned the key and still absolutely nothing. (same as before.) We've looked at all the fuses and they all look fine, but we switched some around of the same type and still no difference. The headlights, interior lights, radio, and everything work when I turn the key, just no crank. What else could it be? I'm so broke I can't tow it to a car parts place to have a diagnostic hooked up.
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97 Saturn SL with a 5 speed manual transmission only has 1st and reverse. Can usually not even put the clutch in and it runs in 1st gear without stalling like a 1 gear automatic transmission. Weird
The Shifter moves normally but there is no 2 thru 5. Can put it in reverse. Drove it 3 miles to my home.
Anyway this is clutch related or some relatively cheap adjustment? The car is not worth the price of a new Xmission. Other alternative like replacing with an automatic xmission?
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I don't know much about cars. The battery in my 1997 Saturn SL2 wouldn't hold a charge, so instead of jumping my car each time I needed to use it, I bought a battery and had my fiance install it. After the new battery was put into the car it started right up, but the next morning when I went to go to work it wouldn't start. It makes a noise like it wants to start it just won't actually do it.
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Horn recently stopped working. I checked the fuse, noticed it was blown. I replaced with a new fuse. Pressed the horn and it had a very short sound and then blew the fuse. What could be causing this?
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After a brake job (rotors & calipers) on my '97 Saturn SW2, the car started pulling severely to the left. The mechanic re-aligned it; checked all the hardware, tire pressure etc & pronounced it fit. The pulling is still present, though not nearly as severe. The pulling has also become intermittent: it'll go for miles tracking straight as an arrow; then start pulling to the left. By the way it does not pull when I brake, & there does not seem to be any undo front tire wear. My mechanic states that he cannot find anything the could be causing this.
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Recently bought a 2010 Toyota Prius 1.8 and it was working very well. It used to display a message saying that the key battery is low. Then one day, the smart key stopped opening the door. After some reading on the forums, decided that the smart key battery might be really low, so used the mechanical key to get in and tried to start the car by placing the Toyota logo of the smart key on the power button. Since nothing happened, decided to replace the batteries anyways. After the replacement, tried again, but zip. The doors still won't unlock, and the proximity switch-on also is not working. Why? Is it an issue with the 12-v battery?
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So I bought this 1997 Saturn SW2 that had its engine replaced. I think they wired it wrong when they did it. They only way to start it is to disconnect the battery then reconnect it. If you don't and just shut it off with the key and wait a minute, when you turn the key to the on position, the instrument panel will not come back on without disconnecting the battery. However, if you start the car and then shut it off, then turn the key right back on (less than a minute) you can start the car without disconnecting the battery. It's like something needs to be reset once you shut the car off and leave it off for a while.
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I just bought a 1997 Saturn SL2 5 speed it runs great but when shifting gears the RPM stays high while changing the gears. The man who sold it to us said it's done this ever since he's had it (2yrs) and it also burns oil in between the oil changes. I've been told so much I'm torn what to try and do to fix's the RPM to not stay so high while changing the gears.
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My friend drives a 1997 Saturn SC2 with 150,000 miles. It's an automatic transmission. For the most part, the car runs great, save for one problem.
Occasionally, she'll park the car (like say, at the grocery store), and when she tries to start it up again, say a half hour later, the lights on the dash will come on, and the radio will come on, but the engine won't crank. Not even a click or anything. Typically, she'll call a tow truck, the guy will show up, turn the key, and it'll start right up. This has happened at least half a dozen times, including just last night in my driveway.
What do you guys think could be causing this? Initially I thought loose battery cables, but since her electrical accessories are consistently coming "on," that's obviously not the problem. Now I'm thinking neutral safety switch, but I'm not 100% sure.
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While driving my 97 Saturn SW2, the car couldn't shift into a higher gear (out of 2nd). while pushing on the gas, the RPM's would go higher but not shift. Also, the 'Service Engine' light came on. I don't have a code reader. Luckily I was close to home. When it parked it, I noticed a leak under the car, in the front section of the engine. I've also noticed that the past few days when putting the vehicle into reverse, it lurches pretty hard when it catches (as in, it jerks the car back suddenly). What could be the problem(s)? Should I drive this to the mechanic or have it towed?
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