2002 SC1 runs and dies randomly

145

Asked by Peter May 05, 2018 at 10:32 PM about the 2002 Saturn S-Series 3 Dr SC1 Coupe

Question type: General

here is what I have found
the SC1 runs fine until one of 2 things happens the gas tank gets below 1/2
or the engine compartment gets hot ( like a/c running for 5 to 10 mins ) and it
dies out then have to wait for 10 mins to 2 hours before it will run again ( it
will turn over in this time frame )
found the fuel pressure is bouncing  at 56 to 58 psi
the ECM is hot to the touch
I have replaced the coils and module the CPS plugs and fuel filter
now I am drawing a blank

20 Answers

3,415

Have you changed your thermostat yet? Make sure your battery cables are tight too a lot of times you can lose power from the battery and it can affect things. Check your electrical connections make sure there's no loose grounds and check your fuses and get back to us .

3 people found this helpful.
3,415

Check to make sure your cooling fans are coming on too if that thermostats bad they won't come on when they should?

1 people found this helpful.
3,415

I found this additional information for you from another post , The very first thing you need to to is find out what is making the engine overheat. Bad or clogged radiator, lose coolant, cooling fan(s) not working. A quick way to find if the radiator fan is not working is by starting the car and turning the a/c on, the fan should come on. If the fan does not work, check the fuses and the relay, may be blown.There are other reasons for the overheating, these are the most common.

145

the battery cables are tight and clean same with the grounds all 5 points the cooling fans work on a/c and thought scan tool the engine is not over heating the coolant gage only gets 3/8 of the way up on gage and fan comes on at 1/2 way car has 304000 km on it and the engine has 150000 km on it and there is no dtc codes

145

the scan tool shows the long and short fuel trim and o2 senors reading -11

3,415

I had a 92 Pontiac Bonneville that had everything loaded in it that you can get from the factory and including a factory Car Alarm then someone took it upon themselves to add an additional after market car alarm to the car and it did the scenario that you're talking about where it died and had to wait a few minutes and then it started up sounds like a PCM problem to me is that the original PCM that came with the car you might have to unplug the PCM and see what happens see if there's any water intrusion in it that could cause problems too!

145

I will call the bone yards for a used PCM but here is the news thing I drove it last night all was fine for 30 mins and then let it sit for about 2 to 3 hours ( whent to see movie ) on the way back home got 10 mins in to the drive home and it started up again it is like if you where driving a stander and you where not using the clutch and going from idle to full speed then back to idle in less then 10 seconds for the rest of the drive total time of this was 5 mins but on the down side of the hills I put the clutch in and put the car in to "N" and idle smoothly but put load back on it and back to the bucking pulled in the drive way did not shut down and ran to get my scantool and found under the pending codes P0341 camshaft position sensor a circuit range /performance bank 1 . but I changed the CPS

3,415

The only other issue I had with a Saturn was a throttle position sensor and you would think you would get a code for that ? it was an erratic idle like when you're parked it'll go really high radically high and then real low I don't know yeah maybe you got the wrong crank position sensor or you got a faulty crank position sensor you might have to get another one and try it?

145

just tried another coils and module and no change but thursday I am picking up a new CPS and see what happens with that

3,415

Yes but did you get any codes did you check your car's computer for any codes there should be something you would think but maybe it hasn't been running long enough to throw any?

145

I only got 2 blocks away from home on my way to work and then turned around so I would not be late for work and took my other car ( the pig on gas )

145

just got a day to work on the car and I think I have more then one problom changed the coils and module got better then changed the CPS and get better now it will only buck when it is underload and above 3,500 RPM did a crazy test and it failed it the test was with the car running at idle push in the shrader valve and see how much fuel comes out the spit out about 50 ml and stalled I think the last thing I have is a pluged fuel filter or a fuel pump and the end of its life what do you think ? Paul

1 people found this helpful.
3,415

2 days ago Yes but did you get any codes did you check your car's computer for any codes there should be something you would think but maybe it hasn't been running long enough to throw any?

145

no codes have cleared them but nothing come on not even in pending code's

145

hello Paul I think I have it fixed I say this because I have gotten an hour of driving in with out a shut down and here is what I found changed the fuel filter and it was full of black plastic stringy things and with being done it ran all most at 100 % with the small buck here and there after 15 to 20 mins of driving at high RPMs thought about it over night then dropped the gas tank and pulled the fuel pump and found the filter in front pump was plugged and blackend the bottom of the fuel pump housing is yellow/brown and warped changer that and the tank with a used one from a car I had that only had 71,000 km on it and all is working good but with one small thing at times it idles around 1500 to 2000 RPM have this before and did not think it is a problon but that is the next thing on my list to fix

3,415

Yeah it sounds like somebody put something in your gas tank and screwed up your whole system about your idle that could be your throttle position sensor cuz that's what it does it makes the idle go wildly up and down if it's bad

145

the idle just gose up to 1500 rpm to 2000 rpm and hangs there and will not come down until I turn the car off and then back on and that is after I have driven on the the streets or the highway that and there has never been a code for the throttle position sensor my the way the SES light is has been out now for 3 days now

145

sensor my the way the SES / should read / sensor by the way the SES

3,415

I know it's kind of an expensive part I think they're $100 for the throttle position sensor and I'm not sure that you can return them after you install it but I'll bet that's what it is cuz that was the same problem I had I would turn it off and sometimes it would reset sometimes it wouldn't it would just turn on like real fast and high revs it's probably your throttle position sensor you can get a used one try it from a junkyard and then that'll tell you the situation you'll know whether or not it's bad or not and you can decide whether or not to buy a new one or keep the used one?

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