Greetings.

I have an 01 SC2 I've owned for 14 years, and it hasn't ever failed to start until now. This just occurred this evening, in my driveway of all places (this car couldn't have picked a better location to fart out).
When I attempted to start it, the engine cranked, and then kicked over momentarily as if it were starting, but then crapped out. When I hit the key again, it just cranked, and did nothing else.

Even though I can hear the fuel pump running when I turn they key, I removed the intake and shot in a bit of starting fluid. When I cranked it over, it didn't even hiccup, so it would appear there's no spark. I realize it could be almost anything....a ground, the PCM, the ICM, the crank sensor, the security system, the wiring, or a combination of those, but I need to know where and how to look. If it makes a difference, the car was cold, so this wasn't a case of a warm component having resistance values increase and causing an issue.

The car has just over 300K on it, doesn't really burn any oil, is well maintained by me personally, and has received extensive suspension upgrades. It's a lot of fun to drive, and I hope it won't be down for long.

Also, how many fuses are in this ignition system? I think I found around 4 of them, all of which were intact. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Don't assume it has no spark.
Determine it has no spark.
Granted the starting fluid did not produce firing.

However, you also need to know if you have sufficient fuel pressure at the rail.

Bad CKP equals no spark and no fuel through injectors but fuel pressure with key on at Schrader valve on fuel rail under hood.
bad CKP also inhibits fuel injectors. So while you have fuel at the rail, nothing will come out the injectors until the PCM sees what it expects from the CKP.

Passlock 2 security equals spark and no fuel through injectors.

The system is designed such that only the correct key and correctly communicating ignition switch sensor, BCM, and PCM will uninhibit the injectors. That's right. The default state is inhibited.

You'll know if security is tripped by the state of the security light or lock icon on the cluster. Solid red with the key in the on position after the bulb check is complete indicates security has been tripped or thinks it has been tripped.

The symptoms for the security system being tripped are often that the vehicle starts and runs for 1 second off of residual gas, then stalls. The injectors are inhibited but sometimes if the injectors are a little leaky, fuel can leak through to run for another 1 second then stall.
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If the security light is not solid red with the key in the on position, it is likely not the security system causing this issue.
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​​​​Before digging for the CKP:

With 300K on the clock, you may wish to do a quick spark test and compression test. I trust you know how to do both of those.

Please post the results. Trying to rule out internal damage before chasing sensors. Life is cheaper that way.

 

Just the person I was hoping to hear from.

I just went outside to the car out of sheer curiosity and learned a couple of new things. First, the "SECURITY" light is illuminated only when the initial cluster test is done, not when cranking, so I think we can rule that out. Also, I hooked up my Innova scanner to it to see if I could get an RPM reading when it cranks, and it registered "0" the whole time. I gather this means something, and I hope it helps us narrow it down.

It's a bit late here so there's only so much I can do at the moment, but rest assured, I'll be digging into this as much as I have to.

 

I forgot about that test.
If you have no signal getting to the tach nor being read via your scanner, either the CKP itself is bad or there is a wiring issue.

I only learned that last year, here on the forum.

Hopefully you're someone who uses jack stands.

 

Considering its location, I'd say they are quite necessary.

So, with no wiring issues present, a lack of RPM signal indicates a bad crank sensor? Is there any test I can run on it to make sure it's bad? It seems 800 ohms is the 'butter zone' for these things, but what's the actual spec.?

Is there a particular brand I should look for, other than "anything but AutoZone"?

Finally, it is common for them to fail on start-up?

 

It's common for them to fail when heating up, but occasionally they feel while cooling down. The coil inside develops discontinuities from the zillions of heat cycles it goes through. Usually that leads to everything being continuous when cold, but then comes a discontinuity when everything heats up and physically expands. I suppose when they cool down, some of them don't become continuous if it is a big enough break.

Haha none of the above paragraph makes sense because the car actually turned over once which means the CKP was intact at that moment. Let's go with the vibrations from starting shook the CKP in such a way that an existing stress fracture became a full break in the coil. You'll have to cut it open to see. I mean if you want to see you'll have to cut it open. I'm not trying to tell you what to do.

I've recently read that the magnet inside can lose its field strength to the point that the current induced in the coil is no longer at a high enough voltage to keep the PCM happy.

Obviously if you measure the resistance across it, if it is open then you're done. I know sometime in the last 18 years I have posted the spec. I think it's when they get on the higher end of resistance that it is indicative of cracks in the coil that drive up the resistance. You can search the forum using posts by me as a filter. I used to call it a CPS back when I was ignorant before Andy joined. So look for CPS not CKP or both. All of you shut up, I know I am still ignorant.

AC Delco or SMP are fine. The AC Delco on RockAuto is an ACDelco professional, not an OEM part, so it's made by somebody else. I've gotten screwed by that dynamic a few times so just don't buy the cheapest or the second cheapest or the one whose brand name is famous brand. Seriously?

 

Yeah.....Famous Brand.....famously cheap, I'd guess. I've seen that on Rock Auto too and often wondered who would roll the dice on their parts. I'm not a gambling man, so if money comes out of my pocket, it's being spent on something I trust. (SMP) hasn't let me down, so I guess I'll go that route. It will take some time to run another test or two just to make sure and to actually get the part, but I'll report back when I know more.

 

Excellent, sir

 

DISCLAIMER: I am new to this operating system and how Saturn does stuff.
I am going to look at things like fuses and relays first.
Is there anything like an ignition relay or fuse to test (or swap with a known working component)

Then, I will inspect connectors, clean with contact cleaner, reconnect and try it.

If I were to replace that 'CKP' and it were to start/run... if it weren't too difficult to reach, I would then reinstall the old part to ensure that it was my problem and not and intermittent wire connection at the connector that was refreshed by the manipulation when changing the part (and possibly may fail again)(when I am not in my driveway)

Please return and let us know how it goes and what it took to get your vehicle running again. Cheers!

 

The plot thickens.

The CKP measures 764 ohms. I'm guessing that's within specifications, and since I get no RPM signal on the scanner when cranking, I'm not sure where to look next.