Grinding noise
 

I picked up a motor, that when you crank it over, it sounds like a grinding noise coming out from the fly wheel ? Also when I jumped the motor it didn't turn over very well. I went and exchanged it. Hooked it up to power and it has that same noise in it as the other one did, but it did turn over a bit better than the first, but the jumper cables did get a bit hot. So I'm kinda thinking it could be the starter. Any info you can give me would be appreciated
derf, sorry I didn't get back to you, been busy for a bit
. Thanks I will keep you informed of progress,

Are you talking about another engine for your 99 SL2 or just a starter motor?

If your jumper cables are getting hot, you probably need a lower gauge wire for your jumper cables. And or your battery is acting as a low resistance current path and therefore is trying to pull a very large current from the good battery. If you hook them on backwards they will get very hot very quickly so let's hope it's not that.. put your voltmeter across the battery terminals and have someone else crank the engine. Check to see what voltage it drops to while cranking or trying to anyway

Motor
 

Thanks for the reply. Actually I have a 2001 Saturn sc2
I’m swapping the motor out of a 2000 Saturn sc2 station wagon. I have another little delima I checked pressure in the cylinder 1,2,3. Has 90 lbs in them and the 4th has 120 Is that normal ? I plan on swapping it out tomorrow sometime the plugs looked pretty good
I would appreciate any advise you can give me I did buy the motor from a parts recycling business, or junk yard. Ok that’s about what I’ve got hope to hear from u sooon

I would hope for compression over 175 for all four cylinders before I went to all the trouble of installing an engine. Most wrecking yards list the oil pressure and compression before selling an engine. Do you at least have a 90 day warranty?

+1
that engine is very very tired

Do a compression test on a known good engine (your neighbor's ?) to ensure the tester is not damaged and that your execution of the test is ok.
you should be reading near 200 per cyl for a 4 cyl engine (very general statement, test a small GM engine.)

I believe the service limit for the DOHC is 170.
It will run below that but not quite right and will show a loss of power.

I know this is a silly question, but how did you keep the engine rotating quickly ish to get a reading over several power strokes. Is it on a stand?

Used Motor
 

I think I told you this already, but I will mention it again. 3 of the cylinders run at 90# the 4th runs at 120. I'm sure it's the rings Today I hooked up a battery, jumped it and it did try to start, I think, sprayed starting fluid in the intake manifold, cranked it over and it backed fired. not sure why it did that, but it did. Now yesterday I hooked the battery to it, but the dash lights didn't come on, Not sure what that was all about, but I got them to work today. I have another motor that I am going to rebuild, but for now I need to get this one to work. Not much more than this right now.

Sounds like you have an issue with your positive battery lead where it connects to the fuse box under the hood.
Also possible there is an issue under the fuse box where the power is distributed amongst the different circuits.
Either way, it is likely that nothing is getting the full amount of current it requires. Ignition module and fuel injectors included. Let alone PCM. Have you checked for spark?

Power problem
 

I’m really not using the battery cables
I’ve been connecting jumper cables
Hot side to the starter and grounding it to the motor
The other end I’ve been connecting it to a marine battery. It turns over but not very good and it runs the battery down after 4 or 5 cranks. I checked the fuses today. They all have power to them except 2 of 10 amps. No I didn’t check if it has fire, for some reason I just didn’t think of that. Guess I was having a brain fart. Maybe jumping it the way I’ve been doing that might not be the best way. I’ll have to get a new battery and
see if that helps. I know it can’t hurt
I’m just a shade tree mechanic that knows just enough to be dangerous.
I want to thank you for the things you tell me, it has helped a lot. I think I’ll check the wire boxes that connects to the CPU, see if they have power
Thank You again

I agree the only correct way is to have a good battery installed in the vehicle. Jumper cables most people have never carry the current required to start an engine. I have some jumper cables at work that are 4/0 copper and will jump a large truck, I also have a jump cart at work that will go 12/24 with a push of a button.