Saturn sc2 project daily driver
 

Hello I'm new, and need advice Hi everyone, I recently bought a 98 sc2 DOHC vin 7 for a reasonable price because it was in need of some work. I'm now realizing it needs more work than expected.

The valve cover gasket was leaking pretty bad, and I discovered that 3 of the bolts were snapped off in the head, and another bolt hole was stripped. It turned out to be a nightmare really, but I extracted the broken bolts and stopped the leak. (The one stripped out bolt hole I decided not to re-tap or HeliCoil, but I WILL if it starts leaking again. It's been a month so I may be okay for awhile.)

I just blew out a big hole in the exhaust just past the cat, and when my patch blew out (I used patch tiger and an aluminum can) I realized this will be more work. I also now think the cat is bad too, as I'm hearing a soft put put put put noise when letting off the gas.

So here's where I need help...I decided before I take a trip to the junkyard and start removing exhaust parts, that I should take it in and check the codes first. (I'm showing no dash lights, but I can see the dash has been dismantled before and is missing some trim screws.) The news was not great, I had 4 codes:

1. p0405 - Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) Sensor A Circuit Low
2. p0341 - Camshaft Position Sensor Circuit Range/Performance
3. p0717 - Input/Turbine Speed Sensor Circuit No Signal
4. repeat p0405

It also showed the catalytic converter and O2 sensor as flashing symbols.

This is my dilemma!...I only have a week left to pass emissions, and my budget to get all this fixed is limited (about $300 to spend). I'm thinking to get it done, I will have to:

1. buy used exhaust parts and a used EGR valve from the junkyard (good looking ones of course)
2. replace the vehicle speed sensor (and wire harness if necessary)
3. replace the Coolant Temp Sensor ((ECT) I'm also experiencing rough idle at times, I've been told the ECT can cause that problem and also set off my Crankshaft Position Sensor code?)
4. And finally, instead of investing in a new cat AND new O2 sensor, I was thinking about just buying a O2 sensor simulator (eliminator) and just running straight pipe to the muffler. That would at least save me for now so the registration doesn't get suspended.

Has anyone here had similar problems? Or any ideas? Any help is appreciated, thanks.

No need to DOUBLE post, of course.

Sorry just figuring out how this works

Uh-huh ... and after all that twisting and turning in the wind, what ya gonna do, when they throw it up on a rack, and look underneath? I hadda after-market generic cat installed for about $150, which included fixing a couple of "gaps" in the exhaust pipe. Just commenting ..........