I have a new issue with my 2001 SL1 Saturn. It has recently developed an intermittent issue with stalling while driving. When it happens, all of the instrument warning lights illuminate for about a second or two and then go back to normal. This has happened 6 times recently (3 different days of driving all of which are very cold 16-24F). On each occasion it happens, the motor stalls again in about twenty – thirty seconds after I get it restarted. My check engine light is not on so it is not showing a major code yet. I am able to get the car restarted by simply putting it in Neutral and bumping the starter. I had trouble with a starter in the Summer and Saturn Forum helped me trouble shoot that issue. During that trouble shooting time, I checked the connections, fuses & battery. Now I need your help again.

 

Brrrr -- that's cold weather. But a question, please, about your problem.

You say the car stalls, then stalls again after restart (20 to 30 seconds later). Does the original stalling occur only when the car is stopped, or does it happen while the car is actually moving down the road?

Your description would lead one to surmise there is a loose connection through the underhood fuse block. Carefully check the cables routed in and out of the block, paying close attention to the connectors. Let us know what you find ........

 

Yes the car is stalling while I am driving it down the road. It is happening at different speeds (lower speed, less than 35MPH and low RPM). I thought it may have been related to the RPM's so I dropped to a lower gear (Automatic Trans) for the remainder of the ride home. It did not stall again but may have just been a coincidence. It did not stall on my way to work today but the roads were clear and I was able to do 55-70MPH most of the drive in. I will pull the car in to the garage area and check for loose connections and post back later.

 

A general comment on problems like this based on my many years of shade tree mechanicing and maintaining and driving cars I could not afford to drive if I didn’t shade tree mechanic them.
Today’s computer controlled cars are orders of magnitude better than cars from anywhere yesterday. Far more reliable, better performing and more economical.
Until they quit.
And that is far less often than any time in the past.
But, the computer, it’s associated wiring and connector problems caused by the ravages of time, neglect and abuse including the effects of water, cold and salt require a whole different approach to keeping things running some what trouble free on and older used car.
Clean connections and free of corrosion is the secret. And there are plenty of connections to deal with. Battery terminals have become junction blocks for wire distribution. East West mounted engines have become routing and logistic nightmares for battery cables.
The single biggest problem I am having with late model used cars is batter connections rotting away due to battery acid corrosion and moisture problems.
The routing has made cable replacement almost impossible in some cars, and in some cables, a $10.00 cable costs 10 X that because it is not a Battery Cable System and takes ours to replace due routing. So what is done? A simple but stupid fix, the lead battery cable terminal about $5.00 or so is spliced in and about 6 months later after a rain or snow storm the damned thing starts giving problems.
I keep a tube of Electrical connection Grease handy at all times to goo up a connection with when something is unplugged or disconnected to help forestall corrosion problems. Also those clever plastic connectors that seem to require a PHD degree in connectorology to unplug with out breaking sure have increased my use in Zip Ties to hold things back together.
I think most problems of this nature are battery cable or connector related aggravated by corrosion. At least in my experience.
Making them extremely difficult to find and repair effectively.
Also, just because the check engine light is not on, does not mean that codes are not being read and logged and the knowledge of them may help in locating a problem.
The increased need for a current scan tool makes it a cost effective back yard diagnostic tool today vs a number of years ago. Almost worth the approaching $200.00 to buy one, but many can be bought for under a C note and still be functional and worth buying. If you consider paying some one else good money to not find out what is broken but still charging you for it.

 

UnclJohn is right on the point with respect to the increasing problems caused by faulty connections. The use of electrical grease is always encouraged, especially in the parts of the country that see greater temperature extremes and/or salt corrosion.

As far as obtaining any fault codes which might be stored in the computer, a trip to the local parts house such as AutoZone, O'Reily's, etc. can be extremely helpful. Most of these places will gladly (and freely) download your computer codes (because they hope you will obtain any necessary replacement parts through their store). A quick trip through the various threads on this Forum will (no doubt) show that most of the posters here are not a big fan of after-market parts - but as our Saturns age, and the GM support dwindles, what else is there ??

 

No problems driving home last night or back in to work today. Yesterday I tried to unbolt and lift out the fuse block to inspect the connections. I could not lift the block out once the bolts were loose. Two inside the fuse block, two outside the box. It seemed to be loose from the vehicle but the wiring harness was restricting the movement too much to spin it around to inspect or lift it higher. I suspected some of the connections in the past (at the battery & on fuse blades) and used dielectric grease after scrubbing the corrosion. I have a co-worker with a code-scanner that was going to let me borrow it today but he called off of work. It is a very good scanner and I have used it in the past (Pro-Scan, capable of reading real-time readings off of any device). I will hopefully get to use it tomorrow and post my findings.

 

Update on stall problem. Car has not stalled for a several days and today I was able to use the Pro-Scan tool on the car. I noticed that the car did not have any new codes (other than a re-occurring code for a misfire on cylinder #1 and a high engine idle code). While having it hooked up to the scan tool, it did stall. It did not register any error codes but it did seem to reset the PCM. I noticed that the idle was very low, Between 675-900 RPM (I saw some around 550 RPM's). What was most unstable was the ignition timing advance which showed from a range of 3-15 at idle. It was bouncing all around while it was idling. The car stalled out 5 times while I had it hooked up to the Scanner and it recorded nothing out of the ordinary. The car has fairly new tune up within 7 months (plugs, wires, rotor, cap). Now I am more stumped than I was before I had the Scan Tool. Suggestions for a next step?

 

At the risk of raising a question I would not call 675rpm a low idle but something that I would expect to be somewhat normal. Now I have not looked up the spec for what the idle should be which would be my next step, because if 675 or so were to be identified as normal, than 900 would be called high. Under those conditions the timing of 3 degrees to 15 degrees might be expected although 15 sounds a bit like it is too high.
Also 550 rpm would be too low which may account for the 3 part of the degree measurement.
So from where I sit, if it is supposed to idle at 675 rom (right now an assumption that needs to be checked) why is it the idle is varyings?
What can cause an idle rpm to change?
A vacuum leak,
A fuel pump failure causing the pressure to change,
Something that controls the timing to go into a failure mode.
An increase in advance will also cause an increase in rpm.
also
An increase in rpm can cause an increase in advance!
So which came first?
Dunno!
Lacking a servicing manual to look things up in, I personally would buy one.
Also I might consider looking after the sensor that monitors the crank shaft position as a potential candidate for replacement.