My daughter called and said her 2001 Saturn wouldn’t start. She changed battery and it turns over but no start. Can hear fuel pump prime. Took it to local auto repair man. He said blown head gasket. Would a blown head gasket keep it from at least starting. She is 4 hours away and I’m going there this weekend with tools. Any ideas.

 

She face timed me during the no start. It doesn’t sound like timing chain.

 

model of car would help tremendously.
So would history of vehicle issues and events leading up to the no start condition.

 

Sorry I was wrong, it’s a 2002 SL2 1.9l . She says oil dipstick is not milky. She parked for about a week than went to start and it just clicked. Like dead battery, so she went and got battery and it just turns over. No start

 

It could be the ECTS or the connector on it. It's got a squeeze connector and over time, they can get brittle from the heat of the engine and crack. I'd get another one from a GM dealership. Some of them still have the OEM ECTS available. I'd also recommend getting the pigtail and replacing it. The ECTS is located in the head of the engine IIRC it's under the temp sensor. Temp sensor has one wire and ECTS has two wires. And believe me, a defective one will cause a LOT of issues with these cars. No way that a blown head gasket will keep one from starting. The oil or coolant would look like a milkshake and it would smoke like a fog machine, but it would still start. She needs to find a garage where they're not going to try to cheat her out of a lot of money. If it was my daughter, I'd make that drive and take care of it. But I'm a cheap bastard living on a fixed income and can't afford garage rates.

 

Thank you for the feed back, yes I am heading to her to work on the car. Trying to do some research before I go. I was thinking the same, as far as the head gasket goes. Thanks

 

Make sure it's got gas. Being able to hear the fuel pump running doesn't mean it has gas.

 

Check for corrosion at battery terminals and where neg batt cable contacts the frame. Clean as necessary. Sounds like poor ground.

May also be connection issue at starter or starter itself.

Don't throw parts at it. We'll do our best to help you sort it out.