1999 Saturn SL2 multiple problems

BYNDOR

MEMBER
1999 SATURN SL2
1.9L
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
139,000 MILES

My Brother recently gave my son a 1999 Saturn SL2. My brother worked on it extensively. It has multiple problems don't know if its related to each other or not. The car has problems stalling in idle most of the time. When stopping at a stop sign or light sometimes it stalls on acceleration. The egr valve is good and has had new spark plugs and wires. The coolant fan only runs when the air conditioning is on, if the a/c is off the car overheats. We have replaced the coolant temp sensor and now the gauge works but the fan still doesn't kick on without the a/c. Two months ago my son took it out and it wouldn't start which happens on occasion (not triggering the passlock system, I have another Saturn that does this). When you get in the car there are multiple things that happen when you know it will not start such as the windows won't function with the key on and dome lights do not come on, when the two of these happen we know it isn't going to start and it doesn't. If we let it sit a few hours or days it usually starts again. This time it hasn't started in two months. So we have it sitting in our garage and are banging our heads against the wall. Could all of these problems be related to a bad pcm? Is there a way to test the PCM? I cannot afford to spend a ton of money on this car but on the other hand my son just had a new $350 exhaust system put on this car along with a coolant sensor and fuel filter and my brother put a ton of work into it too and we hate to scrap it after my son has spent $500 of his own money on the car and he just started college.

6 Replies

SATURNTECH9

MECHANIC
30,869 POSTS

So the fan come on when the temp gauge reaches just above the half way mark?If the sensor is good and the fan runs with the ac on then it should turn on when the temp is at about 222-226 degrees makes no sense why it shouldn't Whats the part number of the sensor you put in?Also does the coolant boil out of the bottle?Is that why you think its over heating or does the gauge read in the red?Also does your dinger you left the head lights on work when you try to exit the car with the key off when the windows are inop?

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Tuesday, September 16th, 2014 AT 12:49 PM

SATURNTECH9

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Also did you make sure that the inside of the coolant temp sensor connector terminals weren't green or blue instead silver?What kind of spark plugs did you put in thats important wrong ones will cause miss firing stalling etc.

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Tuesday, September 16th, 2014 AT 1:08 PM

BYNDOR

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The car has acted like it had a dead battery for the last couple of months though charging or jump starting it didn't work. Last night we checked it again wondering if the battery could be bad and it started right up without a problem and runs fine. Though today I took it to Autozone because it was the first time the engine light illuminated. They came back with two codes P0702 which is Transaxle actuators lost power and P0108 which is Map or Maf sensors. Two minutes later we started the car and both codes had cleared the light was off. But when I got to autozone the "dinger" was sounding with the car off and the keys out, as if we left the headlights on or the key in the ignition. The Autozone employee pointed out that he could put the car in gear with no keys. After it was started and keys removed again it quit. The sensor we put in was a Valucraft/Coolant Temperature Sensor Part Number: SU1131VC from autozone and the connectors were clean and not corroded. Today the low coolant light was flashing along with the temp light, on the way home it was not, even though the coolant was full. The fan still didn't run unless the a/c was on. There was no miss in the engine today. My brother put the spark plugs in and I would have to ask him what he used. He is pretty knowledgeable about cars and even this one had him stumped.

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Wednesday, September 17th, 2014 AT 9:18 AM

SATURNTECH9

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Sounds like you have a open terminal on the gray 68 way connector going to your instrument fuse box inside the car. Its a big red wire terminal f5 I believe it supplys power to the transmission actuators fuel pump etc. If you pull off the drivers side forward kick panel in front of the center console you can see it. The connector is held on with a 7mm bolt. Unscrew it and unplug the connector then flip over the connector look at the terminals the should all be closed. It will be obvious being open compared to the rest. Let me know what you find.

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Wednesday, September 17th, 2014 AT 12:35 PM

BYNDOR

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I will check this tonight. It ran ok for a couple of small trips. Then it died again this time the headlights still worked and the power windows but the power locks did not and it would not start. I picked up my son and had him leave it for a few hours. Went back with plans to tow it myself after dark since it was a couple of streets away and this time it started. We drove it home and haven't driven it since. When I say it overheats I mean that the fan doesn't kick on at all when the a/c isn't on the coolant will actually start overflowing out of the reservoir onto the ground, when you switch on the a/c it stops immediately after the fan kicks on. My brother said it has done that for a while and he cannot figure out the problem. He said it doesn't happen when it is cool out or during winter. It usually happens in the summer months or when sitting in idle for sometime. I live in the north and its cold here, I would like to figure out the problem. It isn't desirable to run the a/ when its 0. Thanks again for your help!