Hi,


I'm new to the Saturn Forum and I report in with a problem. We have a 2000 Saturn SL2, 4cyl with an automatic. Its fully loaded and has always been a great car for us.


We were heading to see a wedding today. No previous problems at all and when my wife went to start the car, the starter only went about 1 crank and stopped. It was all the indications of a dead battery. Further attempts to start the car didn't turn the starter at all.


All the accessories work fine and the battery showed me 14 volts. Just for the heck of it, I jump started it with the pickup truck and nothing. The accessories come on but the starter doesn't move.


So all I know is that my battery isn't dead. Can anyone point me in the right direction to help us fix our Saturn? [img]smileys/smiley19.gif[/img]

 

Try tapping the starter with a small hammer, see if that gets it to start. If it does, you need a starter. Check all your connections from the battery to the starter, etc.. Make sure there is no corrosion build up and everything is snug.

 

I tapped on it and it didn't help. I cleaned off the battery terminals, I even tried a jump start. And its still [img]smileys/smiley11.gif[/img]





Is there a fuse or relay that handles the starter or a starter component?


Is there anything in the computer that would effect this?

 

You can check to be sure that both battery cables aren't corroded especially inside the clamps under the heavy insulation, that none of the two battery posts are broken allowing battery acid to leak into the cables, that the other ends of the cables aren't corroded connecting to ground and the large starter solenoidterminal. The small terminal is the START wire from the ignition switch. Shorting the small terminal to the large terminal should allow the starter to turn over the engine. If this doesn't work then you'll have to remove the starter for final testing at your favorite auto store that will perform a starter test before condemning the starter. There aren't any fuses for the starter as this motor will run anywhere from 50-200 amps. That's the reason for checking that the battery cables are free of corrosion and not loosely connected preventing the large currents from being conducted to the starter motor. All the heavy gaugecables must be free of any corrosion as they carry the heavy currents for starting. It doesn't matter about the electrical accessories having 12v as they don't draw any amount of large current that the starter does. Even a poorly connected set of cables will power up all the accessories but not the starter.