Hey engine and muffler fans!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay today has been a real shitty day for me and I'm turning to the great saturn owners for help.
The first thing is in regards to the spark plugs. My 97 sl2 pulled a code 302 which is a cylinder 2 misfire and i could tell that it was misfiring cuz the car was sputtering and such when i was driving it. I looked at the 2nd spark plug which i assumed is the 2nd to the left (facing the front of the car) and it was fine. I checked the others and when i looked at the 1st one (farthest to the left i dunno if this still makes this the 1st) and there was oil in in, dammit! Does anyone know how to fix this? I knew there was an oil leak in my car but now oil on the spark plug. and my 2nd question is about muffler size. The left muffler kicked over, (dammit) though the right one still works, but anyway im gonna get a big 4" arospeed stainless steel to replace it (unless i can find a cheap titanium unit.) Does anyone know the inlet pipe size for the 97 SL2? It looked like it was around 2.5 inches but i was just guesstimating and couldn't measure. Any help would be appreciated. :disappoin

if there was oil in the spark plug hole(the area where the spark plug wire boot goes, so the top half of the plug is soaked in oil) you have a bad valve cover gasket.

http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/showthread.php3?s=&threadid=26532

but first you need to get the oil out of that hole, if you can use a old turkey baster or a straw or something to get it out, good, if not and its only a little bit of oil, pull the plug out and let it drain into the combustion chamber. if oil got into the combustion chamber, wait a few hours for the oil to 'soak' past the ring. then, with the spark plugs out, and the fuel injector and DIS fuses pulled, lay a cloth over the plug holes, then crank the engine for about 10 seconds to purge any extra oil out. reinstall plugs, wires, and fuses, and start the car, some smoke may come out of the exhaust, thats normal(if you like that smoke, i know how to make alot more)

the muffler is a whole different story, the stock size is 1.75" but i don't think you have a stock exhaust. the S-series only came with 1 muffler (on the right). any dual muffler set-up is custom work.

I ended up using a sock that didn't have a twin to get some oil out of there though im sure some still remains. This doesn't look that bad to fix, thank God, and valve cover gaskets are pretty cheap. I printed your advice as well as the instructions from the wolf dude with a haynes manual along side. Gotta run on three cylinders till then i guess.

Okay got a new gasket and o rings from carquest which was a mistake since the gasket didn't fit completely around; it was the right shape and all, just a little stretched out at a point or two and i couldn't get it to seal around the cover completely. i tried to use just rtv so i could keep a little bit of oil to spew instead of a lot when i had the money to take it to a mechanic, but i did a dumb thing by leaving the o rings on since they fit perfectly and i cracked the valve cover. No problem though since carparts.com has a kit for my car that includes a new vavle cover and is less than what i paid at carquest (38.00 including shipping versus 45.00). I used straight rtv for the gasket and o rings til the gasket kit came and now the car won't turn over. I took out the battery since it was disconnected for 2 days and when it was charged, i put it back, and still won't turn over. Im just gonna let it sit on my driveway for the winter and buy a shitload of parts and get it installed in the spring. I turn 21 in two weeks anyway, itll keep me from driving.

I turn 21 in two weeks anyway, itll keep me from driving.

well i was going to give you some ideas to fix the thing but you have a good point.

hey just cuz im turning 21 doesn't mean not giving me input on the problem. I won't drive the car during the winter but I probably gotta move it from the lot in winter for plowing, be nice to drive instead of tow. also anyone know where to get a brass cooling temp sensor?

hehehe ok, the proper ECT comes only from the saturn dealership, if you don't have a local dealership, i know a few places that will mail order.

is it a no start or a no crank?

if it is a no crank, get a test light and test the starter. the big wire should have constint power, the little wire should have power when the key is to start.

if it is a no start, i have another set of tests, ether way, report back and i'll give you the next steps

Oh it will crank; it goes over after sitting for a while but then it goes dead immediately. i thought it didn't have enough fuel in the fuel injectors to turn over (happened once before and had the same effect) but i tried that and it didn't work. No clicking or anything that would indicate a battery problem.

this no start/hard start only started after doing the valve cover right?

disconnecting the battery will erase all the PCM parameters, this may cause the car to stall once, maybe twice, the first time the car is restarted, but after that it should work fine.

when the car was started briefly, did the battery and oil lights go off?

check the oil level(i know it sounds stupid, trust me)

check the spark plug wire order, it should be (left to right) on the block 1 - 2 - 3 - 4, on the coil packs 4 - 1 - 2 - 3.

remember just because a battery has a full 12 volts, it doesn't mean it has the amps to back it up

try jump starting for the hell of it.

if that all checks out, try this.

first turn the key to run for 15 seconds to let the fuel pump build up pressure,see if it starts, if not, try again at half throddle (NOT WOT)

if still nothing, wait 60 seconds to let the starter cool, then at WOT, crank for 15 seconds, wait 60 seconds, crank 15 seconds WOT, wait 60 seconds, crank 15 seconds WOT, wait 60 seconds, then try to start normally. remember this will tax the battery alot, if you have a voltmeter, watch it(you may want to have a jumper car hooked up). also besure to not over heat the starter, wait 60 seconds each time, and after a few times let it cool for a while before you try anything else. during cranking the battery and oil lights should flicker, if the battery light doesn't flicker, you may have a bad alternater. my whole point to the WOT cranking is to prime the hydrolic lifters, although i have no idea why, my engine was hard to start after i changed my valve cover gasket and i think it was the lifters. if the gas pedal is at WOT the PCM should cut ether the fuel or spark, i can remember which, so the engine won't start

Jump starting was the first thing i did before I even wrote what happened on the post. I left my buddy's truck idling for 45 minutes and it didn't even budge. I was pretty sure it wasn't oil cuz i put in 5 quarts the previous week before i started working on the valve cover (checked it anyway and was fine). I woke up this morning and tried disconnecting the battery like you said. Reconnected, then tried starting it; didn't go. i tried it again this time giving her a little gas and wouldn't ya know it, it started (boy them saturns.......go figure). All 4 spark plugs fired fine as well, everything went back to normal (aside from the fact that RTV is the gasket so a little oil flows out at some points, but better than oil spewing out). A shitload of smoke came out of the right muffler though, I don't know if this is good or not. There is some oil that got on the headers though. Will this burn away if i leave the engine running or is there an easy way to get it off? I'll buy new ones soon before i use the car for regular driving so it isn't too important; i just want to make sure it won't catch fire on the way to the shop or anything. Thanks for your help :iceslolan

it should be ok, but on the other hand alot of honda CRVs are blowing up because they are leaking oil on to the exhaust. just incase, spray some brake cleaner on the header, let it evaporate by itself, then start the car and let the exhaust manifold heat-up, after a few minutes, put your garden hose on a light mist and spray the manifold. do not use any sort of pressure, only the mist.

did you use a gasket and RTV or only RTV? those little rubber boots, did you make sure all were in place? how hard did you torque the bolts?

BTW dollar for dollar the headers off of a 91/92 SC/SL2 are the best. junkyard time!

I have RTV only around the valve cover and used the RTV to form o-rings. It's only a temporary solution and i think my car had RTV only to begin with since there was no gasket on the cover or any o-rings, plus the bolts were tightened all the way when i first began working on this. I thought this was strange. I also didn't use the plugs since I didn't want to use some of the gasket kit and not all of it (hence a slightly cracked valve cover). I knew the 91-92 headers were better than any other saturn headers; i saw one on ebay about a month ago and was gonna bid on it but got lazy and haven't seen any since (dammit). OBX is my other option but I think you have to do some fabrication to make it fit which i don't wanna put up with.

theres yer problem, get a new gasket kit and no more oil leak, and remember the torque is a loose 89in-lb or about 7.4 ft-lb. and besure are the little rubber boots for the bolts are in place and not cracked. missing on of those little boots caused a leak on my aluminum valve cover, and for my model they costed $5 a pop from the dealership, nope, i got a hand full from the junkyard instead.

with OBX or even the 91/92, you will need someone to weld the downpipe to the catalyic converter. but from what i hear the OBX tends to crack

Interesting information, probably why they're cheap, then again, is $155 cheap for saturn headers? It made me think the other night though, does that mean aftermarket headers for a 91/92 saturn (assuming they even exist) will work on a 97 sl2? And do you know what kind of gasket kit (91/92 kit or 97 kit) I'll need for installing 91/92 saturn headers?

the 91/92 header does 80% of the job of the best aftermarket headers, and cost 2 - 4 times less.
for the 91/92 155 is to much, unless you are buying new.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33631&item=7929277744&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33631&item=7928140518&rd=1

the exhaust headers/manifolds are interchangable for 91-98, but most aftermarket companys only advertive for 93-98, because there product is only slightly better then the 91/92 OEM header.

i think the gaskets are the same.

few other facts:
aftermarkets are mandral bent, 91/92 are crush bent
aftermarkets don't always place the O2 sensor in the right place
some aftermarkets are known to crack