Why 1997 Saturn SL1 randomly stalls while driving

PAT SIMONE

MEMBER
1997 SATURN SL1
120,000 MILES

I have a 1997 Saturn SL1 that randomly stalled while driving and got no codes. I read all the posts about this problem on the internet and nobody said they solved the problem. I decided to go the process of elimination route. I replaced; plugs, wires, crankshaft sensor, coils, ignition module, fuel pump, gas filter, heat sensor, thermostat, vacuum hoses, flushed out the radiator, and cleaned the EGR. The engine still stalled! I went to a repair shop, showed them the list of repairs, and they said they couldn't help me. Out of desperation, I went to JR Towne Auto, Nutley, NJ (nice people didn't charge me a dime). He said he had the same problem with his son's car and replaced the fuel pump relay switch. I bought the relay switch for $20, plugged it in the interior fuse box, and the car has been running great with no problems. Could have saved a lot of money if I started with the least expensive part! I hope this will help others with the same problem and save them money too!

2 Replies

ASEMASTER6371

MECHANIC
52,797 POSTS

Nice tip. Shame you had to replace all those parts for nothing.

Roy

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Sunday, October 14th, 2012 AT 3:02 PM

SATURNTECH9

MECHANIC
30,869 POSTS

Fuel pump relay I can't even remember the last time I ever remembered one of those on that car. More then likely you have a different problem that made it work for now by changing the relay. More likely you have a open terminal on the 68 way connector on the back side of the inside fuse box. Terminal F5 its a large red wire the terminal opening comes open from the factory and is a ticking time bomb for issues. It powers up your fuel pump circuit and transmission solenoids.I have seen it many times when you pushed on the inside fuse box to replace the relay you probably temporarily made the connection again.I have even seen that 68 way connector plastic housing get melted from a loose connection there from arching. Its really uncommon for those relays to fail and I mean really uncommon for them to fail. Or the fuse box its self is more likely to fail then that relay. Most likely that terminal F5 has a open terminal.