My wife's beloved Saturn SC was recently T-boned and totaled. It still ran, so we bought it back from the insurance company. We found that the motor mounts and the trans mount were busted, so a friend helped us replace them. $90 later, she still runs, but is very hard to start, and doesn't like it if you hit the throttle suddenly. When you hit the gas too fast or give it too much gas too quickly it bogs down. I'm not sure if the problem is with the fuel system or the electrical. I plan on replacing the fuel filter and the spark plugs since they're old anyway. Any other ideas, other than get another Saturn (my wife loves her car).

 

Thanks OceanArcher for your reply about the engine coolant temperature sensor.

 

I was booted off earlier, but have re-posted with a new profile. You'd think that one post in only a few hours would be enough.

 

Anyway, I'll try the fuel filter and plugs, and make sure the sensor isn't unplugged. If none of that helps, I'll get a new sensor.

I'm still open to suggestions.

Thanks,
artceefartcee

 

The reason I suggested replacing the sensor is as follows:

Originally, that sensor had a resin tip on it, and if you got hit hard enough to break/shear the motor mounts, then you might have gotten hit hard enough to break that tip.

Now, that sensor is normally supplied with a metal tip (much more a rugged part)

 

I replaced the spark plugs and the fuel filter, they were both way overdue for a change. She runs better, but you still have to give her a little gas to get her started, and there is about a 3 second hesitation if you punch the accelerator then she shoots off. She seems to run better the longer she's running.

OceanArcher, if the coolant temp sensor is bad, would the engine temp gauge still work? If so, I'll give that a try next. Thanks for your help.

 

yes -- gauge will still work (ECTS drives gauge and supplies info to PCM) -but the gauge reading will likely be low

as for getting booted off -- one of the mods might have taken your username as a spammer type deal --we ban those as fast as they come in

welcome back

 

Welcome back .... now change the ETCS and the connector. Get both from a GM dealer or your just tossing money away. Don't listen to the parts guys at a GM dealer when they say you do not need the connector. Remember they just got on the selling Saturn parts wagon.

 

To my way of thinking if this car got hit hard enough to bust motor and transmission mounts that there is still the potential for having a lot of other things broken or if rquired to be adjusted by moving linkages ets, that a lot of things would or could be still wrong with it.
Reality says there is a lot of complexity in how these things run and if every thing works well, it will work well for a long period of time, if not? Then it could be a tough nut to crack. There are a lot of plastic pieces to hold stuff in place, all of which may be broken. Platic pieces off of the intake manifold for vacuum lines, all of which may make vacuum leaks that are hard to trace. Wires broken in wiring harness. The list goes on.
My 1930 Ford was easy. One wire to the distributor, and no fuel pump. It ran.
The hot rod engine I am building, one wire to the distributor, a conversion kit for the automatic to replace the computor and an electric fuel pump.
It will run.
My 1994 Saturn? I run a computor diagnostic to see what error codes are kicking up and go from there.
As far as buying back from the Insurance Company? I guess I would have left it there if it was totaled from a T-bone. And lemme tell you, my 1994 Saturn is one of the nicest cars I have ever owned. I have had it since 1996. If it gets totalled, I have learned enough about dealing with newer cars. Gone in a NY minute.

 

This isn't about common sense. She loves her car. Women can fall in love with their small cars the way men fall in love with their classic cars. I don't pretend to understand it. We're just wired different. Anyways, it can't be too bad. I drove it to work a couple of times. Probably a bad sensor, worst case, a bad fuel pump. Either way, it's worth $400 to someone even if it has to be parted out.