Lights flicker, rough start, and stutters on initial move
 

So Basically I had a list of issues with this car and I need some help to fix it.

I am working with an 1999 SL1. So basically at idle I will notice every light in the do a small flicker. Not completely off, but a dim and come back on. I have also noticed this whenever I put any load into the electrical system, so hitting the brakes, cranking the blower motor wide open, and it produces a noticeable dimming effect.

Moving on to problem two, the rough starting. Some days I will hope in the car and it will fire right up with no issues. Other days I will hope in and the thing will crank over multiple times before firing off. Now I know the starter is going on it because every now and then I have to get my tire iron and bash the starter to get it to catch. But as for the rough start, I have no idea. Also once it gets started it almost feels like its either flooded the cylinder with fuel or its just leaning itself out. It will rough idle when it does fire off and usually a little throttle will clear the issue up, however, tonight it did die on me after that rough idle. I have replaced the spark plugs and the wires on the motor so I don't suspect that to be the issue and I haven't checked the fuel pressure yet, mostly because the pump isn't doing the stereotypical whining sound that most GM pumps make when they are failing.

Lastly, sometimes after I start the car and I hit the road, the first corner the car will usually stutter and catch itself like a fuel issue, the thing is the tank is always full in the car and its so intermittent that I would need to hook a fuel pressure gauge up and drive around with it on for days just see if fuel pressure is the problem.

Any advice on these issues would be greatly appreciated. I am hoping tomorrow to have some time to look into them and see if I can't solve the issues.

Thanks!

Run the codes on it first and then post them here. There's no point in speculating unless you do that first. I will ask how many miles are on the car and the last time it had a tune up. Start with the simple things first.

1) Clean throttle body (throttle body cleaner not carb cleaner). Be sure to clean the opening for the air passage at the bottom---related to idle air control
2) Use stock NGK copper plugs. Ignition systems on these cars usually do not play well with materials other than copper. No plat/irrid/superblastinum
3) If you have never replaced the ECTS (Engine coolant temp sensor), replace it with a GM sourced BRASS TIPPED ECTS and replace the squeeze wiring connector at the same time. $45 Influences everything from hard starting, hesitations, bogus air/fuel mixture ratios.......
4) What is the voltage across your battery
---cold (in the morning pre start)
---engine running

Go to Autozone or similar and get a full charging system load test AND SES codes read per Rube's post.

Please report the codes here as Pxxxx, not the description of the code

And troubleshooting starting difficulties on a vehicle w a known dying starter is, shall we say, less than ideal

Issues 1 and 2 sound like electrical issues. Check the charge of the battery. Cleanliness of the terminals. Check the cables. Check around the engine compartment to see if all the grounds are connected. Check the alternator as well. Also, when you changed the plugs, did you gap them correctly? I'm sure someone here has the right gap measurement if you need to check those.

And everything that derf and rube mentioned...

.040

Hello?

When I see flickering lights, the first thing I check is the ground straps between the body and the engine. There are a couple of them on the Saturn so unless the egine has bee removed, they should be good.

There is also a separate ground connection between the body and the negative terminal on the battery, make sure that is good. This may fix several issues, but it wont fix a bad starter.