My wife started my Saturn and moved it forward 5 feet shut the engine off. She didn't tell me she did this and the next day when I went to start it it would not start. I had this happen once before and what I was told is that everything checked out normal. They let the car sit a couple of days and it started right up. Since then anytime I had reason to move the car I would let the engine run 2 minutes to avoid this problem and didn't have any problem until my wife had forgot about letting the engine run a few minutes so that it would not become flooded. I suspect flooding due to engine is cold, you start the car and it is shut off soon after you start it leaving a rich mixture sitting in the cylinders, then the next time you go to start it the engine is cold with an already rich mixture sitting in the cylinders and then it gets more gas and floods.

I took the plugs out and vented the cylinders by blowing some air in the cylinder to vent out the gas. When I went to start the engine it still will not start. Removed the plugs again and let it sit a few days before trying it again, still will not start. The car sits outside all the time and I usually put a bottle of dry gas in in the fall before winter but did not do this this year. When I pulled the plugs I did not see any signs of water on the plugs. I did check the plugs for spark and they are giving good spark. The plugs have about 20,0000 on them and gap is set at .040 Any suggestions? Thanks

 

I know what you mean about cold weather, short running time, turning it off, then coming back to try to start it cold. It runs rough as hell if you CAN get it started.

Two things may be happening, both of which should be cured by same technique:

1)"flooding"/wrong mix" -- this will cause a condition where the mixture just doesn't want to burn, as the ECTS has not heated up yet b c the thermostat is not open and not enough heat has been transferred from the engine to the static coolant.

2) The injectors are shut off/ Although you have spark, you have no fuel and therefore notta.
This happens intermittently to my 97SC2.
We just had a thread here last week trying to figure out why the injectors shut down.
It SHOULD only happen when you try to CLEAR a flood, or if you have a Passlock II Security system that is triggered (injectors are never enabled) 2000-2002 S cars had Passlock II (maybe 99) as they were the only S cars that had a BCM.

How to get the car started:

1) Since your car tends to sit for long periods, hook up a jumper cable config to a good running car. You'll likely be doing some extended cranking.
2) Turn the key to on. Listen for the fuel pump priming to end with a "click" noise.
3)Turn the Key to CRANK and pin the gas pedal to the floor for about 5 seconds while cranking The car may fire (good sign), almost start (way rough) stall, or none of the above.
4)Repeat step 3, except lift your foot off the gas pedal to about 1/2 throttle after 5 seconds, and feather the pedal to keep the engine firing as much as you can. If it starts, you need to keep feathering the gas and keep it at about 1500 RPM using the pedal. A huge plume of black smoke will usually come out the tailpipe and everything will reek of fuel. So be it.
5) I often find that at the end of step 4, the car will be firing and SO CLOSE to running on its own, but not, that I mash the gas pedal to the floor again and hold it, and this is enough to push it back into a rough but running state.

The last thing you want to do is get part of the way through this without getting it running, because you are invariably still putting an overly rich mixture in, and with all the pedal pumping, not all of them are going to be interpreted as "clear flood" by the PCM.

*****DO NOT CRANK FOR MORE THAN 10 SECONDS AT A TIME ******to avoid bruning out your starter. Even ten seconds is kinda too long. Your starter will be abused during this starting procedure, but there is no reason to destroy it.

You will likely find your own pattern of feathering/gas pedal mashing/etc. No two cars are exactly the same. But having another battery already jumpered allows you to complete the entire process at once; the procedure will drain your own battery to the point of uselessness otherwise.

PLEASE come back and keep us informed on your progress.

The above assumes no security system issues, good fuel, good fuel pressure..........

 

Good morning Derf
Lets try this again. I had just about completed my reply and this page just vanished and my reply was lost, don't know what happened, computers !!!

Yesterday after I made my post I went out to my Saturn and put a charge on the battery as after a number of attempts trying to start it the last couple of days plus the cold weather I felt it would be wise to charge the battery. I reinstalled the spark plugs and waited till later in the day to try and start as the temp was 59* then making it easier for starting rather than 28* in the morning.

I tried starting it in the usual manner, turn the key, could hear the fuel pump and then cranked the engine, it cranked coughed and nothing. So going against what is the usual procedure of not touching the gas pedal with fuel injection I put the gas to the floor, cranked it, it coughed then caught I kept it running by careful use of the gas pedal, large black puffs of smoke out the tail pipe and soon she was running smooth. I then took it for a drive to warm the engine up and also went on the freeway and opened it up, she ran just like normal.

Derf thank you for your reply even though I did not see it until this morning your advice was spot on and was exactly what I had done.

I do not like throwing money at my car hoping that something I replaced would fix a problem I always try to figure out what the problem is and then fix the problem. While reading the Chilton manual for my year Saturn (2001) on page 6-12 it shows the location of the " engine coolant temperature sensor " just below the upper radiator hose and said in the trouble shooting section that this sensor can cause starting problems and how to check the resistance of the sensor.
What I would like to know is how to remove the electrical connector itself ? It says to " pry open the locking tab with a small screwdriver. It is a small connector and isn't round or square more like a " U " shape in appearance to it. To actually get to it you would have to remove the entire air induction system for access as it would be in the way . I looked around it with a mirror to see if I could see where to slip the tip of a screwdriver in to lightly pry on it but due to lighting ( old eyes) wasn't able to see much. I'm not going to remove it since it is working properly just thinking about down the road.

A little more background on my car. It has just about 120,000 miles on it and I've always maintained it well. I can tell you when every oil change was done, gas filter replaced. tires changed & rotated. It has been a very good and dependable car. This has been the only problem I've had with it. I haven't changed the fuel injectors but I do use Sea foam or Star Tron Enzyme Fuel Treatment in it once a year, not pushing any products just telling you what I do. I usually do this when I'm going on the road and will run the tank just about empty before filling up to get the best effect from the product. Maybe I'm wasting my money can't be sure one way or the other without a scientific test of some sort which I have neither the time or money to perform. It still has the original water pump and haven't changed the hoses on it. I look at them and check them out when I do my oil change but they seem to be ok.

dERF thank you again for taking the time to reply and what you recommended is what I had done. Hope this reply will help others.

OLD & RETIRED

 

Glad it's up and running again.

The ECTS is a SQUEEZE connector

 

And you don't have to squeeze it very hard. If it's brittle and you squeeze it too much, it'll snap on you you and then you have to find a Saturn friendly GM dealer and order a new pigtail. Costs about $30 IIRC.

 

Thanks for the info on the connector Derf & Rubehayseed. I wish they would just put on a simple connector that can be removed easily. They try to save a few bucks using a fragile connector and then it cost the consumer $30. to replace it. The sensor is working ok so I'm just going to leave it alone and cross that road when required. Again thank you for your reply to my questions and problem.

 

Happy to hear that it's working for you. If it ain't broken, don't fool with it.

 

Rubehayseed You have good taste in airplanes. P-51 Mustang along with the F-86 Saber are my all time favorites.

 

I sure wish I had one. I have loved the looks of the P-51 Mustang since I was a lad. Maybe because of the model my oldest brother had of one. He was 16 years older than me and was my favorite brother, because he played with me when he was home from college. And he let me have the model later, but it got put in the attic at some point in my life and I never saw it again. And the F86-Saber is a bad azz too!

 

Rube if you would like a nice and I mean nice model of the P-51 got to the link provided, once there click on " Models " and the click on "Historic " then just scroll through the models and you will see the P-51. I have one and it is worth every penny. I would love to fly one. At different times of the year they will have a 10 to as much as 25% off sale and that would be cheaper. Maybe hit the Mrs. up for birthday or Christmas !!!
https://www.boeingstore.com/collections/men-t-shirts?sort_by=best-selling&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm _campaign=em_teesale318_remind&utm_content=tees