Thanks for the info Keith. I actually have not replaced the front O2 sensor so that will be my next fix attempt. I dropped the car off at home during lunch, I will check the idle rate when I get home and post the results of that as soon as I get them.

 

The idea of........"keeping in reverse with engine on for 20 minutes." has been around for as long as I can remember, and will hurt nothing if nothing is wrong with the tranny. Now if you have a bad Valve body or loose output shaft nut your still going to have that problem when your all done. Both cause reverse slam in the Saturn S-series.

The way I always heard of doing the run in reverse was to do it with your old fluid adding some sort of cleaner and change fluid when done. Then do it again with clean fluid........just be careful I don't want to hear the car fell off the stands and pinned you against the garage wall and broke your legs. That would just suck eggs. Did you here the one about the guy that bought the new Dodge truck that was getting 64mpg. When he brought it in for service he told the dealer about it. When he got the truck back he noticed it was only getting 14mpg on the hiway so he looked under the hood only to find he had a different carburetor on it. The dealer reported the mpg to Chrysler and they sent a field rep over to exchange the EXPERIMENTAL carburetor for the regular one. Last I heard the guy was going to sue Chrysler,Dodge, and the dealership. That was 40 years ago I wonder if the case has gone to court yet.

I have never KNOWN single person that this has ever worked for. Fix the problem and be done with it. This running in reverse popped up on The Saturn Fans forum ran it's course died and a few people reported it to be the best thing since sliced bread. Then after a few known members tried with NO results it died down and just like always people forgot about it and went back to FIXING the problem.

Ya can't put nothing on the internet if it's not true.......

 

I didnt want to get off topic with another one of my issues, which is non related to my power issues, but the reverse slam procedure I did, actually did fix my car from having issues slamming into reverse, but it still has some transmission issues that I have had for quite awhile. Got a P0731 code, "Gear 1 incorrect ratio" and have some issues with the tranny switching gears. Im assuming bad valve body and once I resolve my power/accelerating issues, plan on having the transmission looked at. Just didnt want to drop the large amount of money I know it will be to fix the transmission when I still have a different problem that I need to resolve.

 

Just keep in mind that when ever you make a repair or change anything, the computer needs a couple of days to sort through the change and reprogram itself for optimum performance. Have a little patience.

If you have an analog volt meter with a one volt scale, you can probe the O2 sensor wire while someone holds the engine at around 2000 RPM (warm). The needle should sweep about once a second. If it is much slower than that, the sensor should be replaced even if it isn't throwing any codes. If it is sweeping at least that fast, then it is OK. This car uses a generic one wire sensor so they aren't very expensive.

 

Got literally nothing done last night. My wife took the Saturn and the key got stuck in the ignition. Turned out to be a busted ignition cylinder. Had never had to deal with that before. Thank goodness for Richpin videos. Got it changed in a Walgreens parking lot with no real issues.

As for idling, Keith, it idles in drive at a very smooth 750. Will try O2 sensor today and see if that helps.

 

The intake manifold gasket is a known issue with the SL1 engine, I just threw it out there to check, but 750 in drive is right on spec. Just remember, if you don't get the expected improvement immediately, give the computer a couple of drive cycles to sort things out. It should improve noticeably in 3 drive cycles but it can take up to ten drive cycles to get completely sorted out and get everything optimized.

 

You're so right about richpin, Brad. I've seen a LOT of his Saturn videos!

 

go with denso or bosch for replacement (if you haven't already bought one)

 

So today I had some time and took the throttle body off and gave it a good cleaning. Man was it filthy.

It did not solve the problem unfortunately but I did notice something that may help you guys in assisting me with a diagnosis.

After I cleaned the TB I took it for a quick spin. The engine was dead cold when I started. For the first quarter mile, the car ran like I champ. I swore it was fixed, was very excited. But after about a quarter of a mile, the issues popped up again and the car bogged bad on a hill near my house, and really anytime I wasnt fully accelerating the vehicle. So something is happening when the car gets to operating temperatures.

 

The logic level of the Saturn S series computer is some form of a pre-OBD-1 logic. I am not sure exactly what it is, but in trying to purchase and OBD-1/OBD-2 Scan tool the Saturn S cars is one that the tools will not read or will not read well.
It is what is called a Speed Density system in that the outputs or controls are dependent on the Algorythyms written in to it that look at the O2 sensor and the MAP sensor or the position of the of the throttle opening to determine what it is doing. And it switches back and forth between the two sensors in part depending on the engine temperature.
See if you can get the computer scanned looking for an error that flags throttle position or the map sensor or the O2 sensor. I am not sure as of sitting here and writing whether the Saturn uses either the throttle position or the map. My Chrysler based fuel injection which is about the same age uses the map sensor, the throttle body system used on early corvette cross fire systems or the 4 cylinder Vega used the throttle position. These are early OBD-1 speed density systems also
I have some early Saturn Diagnostics and given the chance will look up problems solving diagnostics to see what is mentioned. There are pages of them.