Picked up a 97 SL for $100, need technical advice.
 

I just picked up a '97 Saturn SL? with a 1.9 DOHC and a 5 speed for $50. It only has 132k miles on it too.... lol. It's got brand new 215/60 GT tires up front so i figured they're worth what i paid for the car. It's in good shape inside and out, I guess it's an SL1 because it has crank windows/manual locks but it has A/C and cloth seats. I don't care...

Well anyways the guy said he parked it because it started to backfire and "run like crap" and slowly before this happened, he saw a decrease in MPG and power. And then all of a sudden he said it was undriveable due to backfiring and popping.

He had someone look at it and he said it was the timing belt....well i quickly found out from a google search that these engines don't even have a timing belt LOL, they have a chain. all my experience is with OHV V8 engines (old) so help me out here, it sounds to me like a bad cam lobe or something in the valve train, oil is clean though.

Any ideas?

I snapped a picture. Gold with Gold interior, bumpers need paint, needs buffed, thats all
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...7Saturn018.jpg


Thanks for any insight
Brandon

First thing I'd do, is get it down to AutoZone (or similar), and have them run the numbers on the computer -- post the results here, (actual numbers please), then we can advise/suggest the next step(s)

The numbers on the ECM ? Or the trouble codes? The SES light isn't on.

It's not a walk in the park to get it to autozone or advance, my car trailer is at the blasters getting a makeover and won't be done for a while.

I have an OBD2 MAc scantool if that'll help me...

Yessir - that'll do just fine. I realize that the SES light may not be lit, I'm looking for possible stored codes

Ok well sorry i never reported back.

But I researched alot, took a shot in the dark and replaced the Crank Position Sensor behind the starter.....and I'm on the road :D

Well not yet, I have to pick which of my 4 other vehicles i want to stop driving and put this one on the road. But i did take a test drive and it runs very well, The brakes are kinda low and the muffler is rusted.

It turns out it's only a SOHC, not a DOHC like i originally thought. It still runs good though,

It's pretty fun to drive being low to the ground and having the 60's up front makes it stick to the road quite well, when you're going into a bend if you let off the wheel it'll snatch back and keep going straight :)

Its hard to feel the power in the seat o the pants but that's probably because it ain't got much torque. but the speedo climbs pretty fast

Any idea what kinda MPG this car will get City/Highway mixed ? Most i do on the H-way is 70.

5 speed manual BTW.

You got the perfect combination for fuel mileage and dependability. Fuel mileage should be around 41 Mpg (that will be the on the highway @ 65 mpg). I have one with 232K on the clock and it still has the original clutch. I'll take the SOHC over the DOHC anytime (this statement usually gets the stuff flying). These cars were never designed to be sports/race cars. It considered an economy car for a reason.

Thanks! Yes i like the car alot, It's amazing i'm so used to driving Diesel and V8 pickup trucks that I've never know what it's like to hit the A/C and lose 30hp before!

Totally laughed out loud here...know that feeling, although I'm sure it's just a 5-hp drop, but that's more than enough to take the performance edge off!
2 weekends ago I had myself, wife, daughter and grandson in my SW2 and was realizing how much of a power deficit I was looking at due to the extra bodies when somebody said, "hey, does the a/c work?" and I felt my heart sink...LOLOLOL!!

^^ i totally laughed out loud at the last two posts.. hahah.. sry, but yeah they arent go-fast cars, but i love the feeling of not having to put gas in it for 2 weeks..