96sl1
 

131k miles 1.9
Ok having lots of problems
About a month ago my front subframe rotted out and i had it replaced with a junkyard then had trans replaced because the axle popped out and poked the transcase and caused a pinhole leak
couple of days ago driving to pick my friend up car was running good and then on the way home started idleing wierd. and then when at a light it would wanna die if i didnt give it gas or put in neutral
I changed ects and wiring.
cleaned plugs and did valve cover gasket.... was leaking anyway.... got car started now its still doing the same thing....
seems to be missing even in park or neutral
i have 7 codes
p0401 egr flow insufficient detected Have replaced and cleaned egr valve a while ago and still didnt fix it (history)
p1640 quad drive module a malfunction (history
p1599 engine stall or near stall detected
p1641 quad driver module a malfunction (history
p1620 low coolant circuit (history)
p0744 torque converter clutch circuit intermittent

p0749 pressure control solenoid circuit intermittent

ive heard the ects sensors can cause this ????
is that true

Thats true ... replace both the senser and connector, buy the parts from the DEALER not NapaCheckerAdvanceZone.

how does that connector come out?
the wires are showing and the connector looks messed up any special way it removes?

The terminal "unplugs" and to replace it one must cut the wires and splice on the new one that comes with enough wire and crimp connectors.

Squeeze the sides where the ridges are and pull. Sometimes it helps to use a modified needle nose pliers

i ended up just cutting the wires and putting a deep 13mm socket on it and turned it right off
i need to get a wiring harness tomorrow
any other ideas to make the car run better
im scared that this isnt the only problem
the idle seemed better when it was in neutral. when it was in gear it seemed to idle wierd and felt like it was gonna die.

Now the car only cranks and wont start any ideas???
I need my car back working asap

ok got my car started.... but does the same thing idles bad and then when i put it in gear the car will die if i dont give it gas.

stop double posting before you get banned

1) running with no ects is actually worse than a malfunctioning one because now the pcm reads the sensor as having infinite resistance, making the air/fuel mix as rich as it can. Hacking off the wires with no replacement connector = bad

2) were you having all those codes before your first post (which you've now "updated") or did you have these codes prior to your first post?

Many codes are listed as "historical" so I suspect they have been there awhile along with your SES light being on. Also, you indicated you previously had EGR issues which you were unable to resolve, so I suspect the EGR code is not new either. Which codes are new, which are old?

My point is simply that we're more than willing to try to help. but you need to give us as much info as you have at the beginning or we're not gonna get too far...

I didnt run the car with no ects
It always idled rough but not like it is now, the ects connector wire was hacked up so i replaced that when i bought the ects. there was no way to reuse the old connector it was all messed up.
And i never had the problem of when it is put in gear it tries to die if u dont give it gas.

p0744 torque converter clutch circuit intermittent
p0749 pressure control solenoid circuit intermittent
those are the only new codes .
would you suggest to clear all the codes and let it run?

sorry for the double post... im just worried about the car and dont have much money to put in it i spent a lot on it lately. and i need the car to be running better by friday at the latest so im stressed too
my thoughts so far is fuel related problem .... fuel pump, filter or regulator
idle air control valve needs replacement or adjustment or both...
What would you go about doing next?

Well, we've got the list of codes ... now we need to see which still remain. If it was my car, I'd clear all the codes and run a couple of drive cycles - then check for new/recurrent codes to see where I stand at this point in time .....

my buddy came over and we did a lot of tests and found that 2 of my cylinders arent having compresson one has 0 and one has 30 and other two have 140
so i need a motor most likely... anyone know of any motors for sale?

my buddy and me put in a junkyard motor.
I know the motor works started it up at junkyard when in car and it ran good
now i have it in the car and it cranks wierd crank crank pause crank crank pause
tried a new starter same thing.
tried jumping it from another battery
tried with charger on it.
the car has spark
the plugs have gas on them.
and the plugs turn black (Brand new plugs too)
ANY IDEAS IM SO LOST.

Foolish question, but what year/make/model Saturn did the engine come out of ???

96 saturn sl1

I'd like to add to Derf's comment and in the same vein. Wanting to help is what many of us are about. The difficult part in many cases is these cars as are many of this era are incredibly complex as to how they run and run well. Many of us are accomplished back yard mechanics and do things we have learned to do over time with out thinking about it. Where as you, and no offence ment are a total stranger and we (the collective we) not only do not know what you know or frankly each other know. It becomes difficult to suggest a simple repair mostly because there is not one to suggest.
A book on how to repair these (and other) cars is generally available in the help section of your autoparts store. Owning one (about $25.00) is almost a prerequisit to being able to repair things. Reading the instructions while wrenching is how many of us learned.
Try to give as much information as you can a when you ask for help.
It's broke
and I want it fixed.
Does not get it done.
My first car had no options.
It ran, the doors opened and when I stepped on the brakes it stopped.
To start it you mashed your foot on a button on the floor.
It had one tail light. A second one was optional.
You could fix it with a crescent wrench and a package Juicy fruit gum.
Those days are gone.
Bare with us at times when we screw up or become impatient because we too are human (sort of most of the time) and this is a hobby too.
And mostly (although I forget it myself) DIY is supposed to be fun!

Sorry, there must have been a page 2 I did not see.
Crank, Crank, Crank, Pause
sounds like a timing problem with the ignition trying to fire the wrong spark plugs.
What is the possibility you took something apart installing the new engine having to do with the electronic ignition and put it back on wrong. This seems to be the most common type of problem with this type of symptom.

it was fun doing it but I need it fixed ive been having this problem for like a week
I have a copy of alldata so ive been looking on there and its honestly not helping.
I just have run out of possibilities.

I only took the timing cover off to reseal and install new water pump
i didnt change the timing or anything
What else could I have possibly changeD?
is there a crank relearn or something.?

A quick check of the service literature I have at my desk does not give me the informaion I was looking for. It does say that as far as timing goes, and I am referring to ignition timing, not timing of the cam shaft to the crank shaft it says it is non-adjustable. My question is, and I do not have the answer here in front of me and won't until some time tomorrow, in the process of changing the engine over did you remove and then replace some form of ignition module that involde umplugging the spark plug wires and then reconnecting them to the spark plugs or if there is more than one module, cross connecting some plugs. To tell the truth, I have nvr had to worry about it on mine so I can not remember how it is set up and would have to look.
But some of the other GM ignitions about the same time had dual coils, one for every two spark plugs. So it was possible to hook the wrong spark plugs up to the wrong coils, and it has been done. That being the case, the wrong plug would fire causing the pause when trying to start the car.
I am think of the V6 cars with 3 coils and that has been done. I do not know or remember whether that can be done on the 4 cylinder Saturn motor. I must look further to try to answer.
If it is possible though, could you have done this. If not, well, my bad for a poor guess.

bad computer??wires hooked up wrong?
if it ran good at the yard then its something electrical in your car .
try some starting fluid and see if it runs on that .verify that you are getting spark to each cylinder.

It has one igniton module its two coil packs
i did unplug it and put it to the side.
but i looked up firing order and replugged it back in

Starting fluid ive tried
I have spark on each cylinder.

Did you change out any of the computers in your car when you and your buddy installed the new engine ??

nope.

o.K., additional information still assuming that there is a possibility something is hooked up wrong.
I have a 94 Saturn SC2. I can only assume that it is not that much different than ur car. Standing in front of it with the hood open the black lumpy thing is the engine more or less hanging out on the left hand side of the car. Left side facing it is the passenger side of the car.
The cylinders starting from the left are 1 through 4 in order.
the wires go down on mine to the two (2) coils on the right side of the car about half way down from the top. They are bolted onto something black and lumpy and I can see them from where I am standing They go from left to right that is passenger side to drivers side.
If I call the furthest one on the left the 1st titty where the wires are hooked up, that titty is hooked up to the #4 cylinder, then, #1, #2 and last #3 cylinder.
If these are some how hooked up in the wrong order than the starting sound of Crank, Crank, Grunt/pause would be heard.
And if they are, that would not be the first time that has happened, just the first time to you.
O.K., coke break over, I am going out to put together more of my Chevy engine I am building.

thats how they are

The sound you are describing still sounds as if the timing is incorrect. Whether it is or not or why is still open for question, but it appears so far to be wrong. So, What happened when you tried starting fluid to start the engine with.
If you assume for the moment there are three things the car needs to run, Air, fuel and spark
and they are all comming when they should it oughta run.
Far as I know, there is no adjustment for timing so unless hooked up wrong and you say it isn't if it has spark at all, it should be there when it is supposed to. That leaves air and fuel.
Adding Starting fluid to the equation something should happen when it it sprayed in.
I have a hand full of cars of different types. If I want them to start, they will when starting fluid is sprayed at them. If starting fluid does nothing, then the next question might be, did you break something to cause a big vacuum leak or hole some where such as a vacuum line or a plastic intake manifold. At the moment, can't guess any better than that.

:)
Coil pack was flipped and mounted backwards causing firing order to be different..
flipped and put wires on
fired up:):)
thanks for everyones help

Great! Thanks for the feedback. 'Specially when I find out I am not the only one doing things like that!