'02 Saturn L200 died!! Please help!!
 

Hello all! My mother-in-law has an 'on L200, 4-cylinder, which decided to shut down on her while she was driving to work. There was nothing that occurred out of the ordinary, the car had started as usual, and everything seemed normal. About 2 miles from her house, the car shut off. She said that she noticed the battery light had come on, but other than that, everything else still worked. When I arrived, I tried to start it up, but the motor just turned over with no thought of starting. The battery also seemed to be very weak. After getting it towed home, here is the order of operations which I completed to try to fix: changed the battery, changed the crank position sensor, changed the ignition module (coil pack had been changed a couple of years ago), pulled the altenator and had it checked (it was good). The car still does the same thing, slowly turns over but seems to be getting no spark. I verified that I had fuel coming through the fuel rail, so that shouldn't be an issue either. Where do I go from here?

These cars are very sensitive to loss of voltage. I would suspect a partially failed battery cable.

"How can that be?" you ask -- For some strange reason, the large positive wire going to the battery seems to let battery acid creep under the cable covering, and "eat up" (rot) the cable from the inside - kinda like termites destroying a 2x4. It's possible the negative cable is involved too, but I'd start with the positive one. Oh, and recheck the battery to make sure that replacement is up to full charge ....

Since she said the battery light came on, I'm going to suggest you get the battery load tested and double check that alternator. If the alternator is weak, it will discharge the battery. BUT, OA is more familiar with these cars and I'd do what he suggested first. I don't really know much about GM cars at all because I've been driving and tinkering with Mopars for 40 years.

I actually tried another battery, same thing happened. Battery cables seem to be fine, same with ground, but I understand what you are saying about possible "rot" in the cable. One other strang thing about the car, when you try to crank it, it turns over very slowly. This happens no matter how strong the battery is. Could this possibly be a timing belt? The car only has 76k miles.

OK -- Let's try something else ...

Pull all the plugs, and note which cylinder they go to. Go to AutoZone (or some such) and get a "loaner" compression gauge. Run a compression test, and put all the numbers here in the thread ....

Slow cranking usually indicates a bad ground connection unless you've run your engine without enough oil in it. How's your oil level? If it's okay, then start checking your ground cables, especially any engine to chassis grounds.

Guys I really appreciate your help, but due to time restraints, I went ahead and had her towed to a mechanic. My wife used to work for our local Saturn dealership, so we sent it to one of the old mechanics. In fact, as I typed the first part of this message, he called. The car has jumped time and warped valves on all cylinders, maybe due to a broken chain, maybe not. He has given me a price to fix using a used good head and replacing the chain - $800.

See why it's damn near impossible to diagnose auto problems via the internet. If the person asking the questions isen't passing the correct information how is it anyone can answer with any type of correct information. Lets take the battery light coming on for example. It sounds relevant to the situation but all it did is send people in the wrong direction, why? Because it's normal for a battery light to be on when the key is in the run position when the engine is not "running". Car died light came on........normal. It was not the other way around, light came on car died. That leads me to this, we have no idea if the car is worth fixing, we have no idea the condition of the car, we have no idea of the owners finances. Good luck how ever it turns out.

What's up with that? I asked simple questions, and got very good answers. I explained my problems, and appreciate the help given. I suspected the timing chain, but was wondering if there could be anything simplier which could be causing the issue. Either way, I was out less than $100 to try these simple countermeasures to attempt a fix......it was well worth it. At least the car won't need a CPS or an ignition module any time soon!

As far as Saturns go, I have owned a few, so it's not new to me - it's just been awhile since I've had one. I prefer V8's - muscle. Don't get me wrong, Saturns are great cars, just not my interest........I'm just helping family on this one.

OceanArcher and RubeHayseed, thank you for your help and hospitality, they were greatly appreciated!

Again, good luck how ever it turns out.