1994 sl1 manual trans .. got probs
Em-DaY
10-19-2004, 11:25 PM
I recently bought a an sl1 94. its manual trans.. anyway.. i got a few probs with it.. when the car starts up, the motor shakes back and forth as if it wants to rip outa place. also sometimes ill be driving and the motor stops reving even if i give it gas all the way... then outta no where itll kick back in and start reving lke hell so i gotta up shift... if it dosent kick back in the motor dies and i gotta pull over on side of road and then the car wont start so i gotta give it about 5 mins then itll be good again. whats wrong? me and my dad suspect the motor support (mount i thin its called in english) for the shaky motor.. and possibly the fuel filter is clogged for the stalling motor.. we though it might be electrical, so we changed the spark plugs wich helped alot and the electrical system does seem to work fine.. were just not quite sure whats wrong.. any ideas?
sierrap615
10-20-2004, 12:15 AM
any SES light?
i would check the engine mounts(two mounts and two struts,one of each on the engine and on the trans)
hard to say exactly what the problem is so to start i will list off the more common saturn problem
1. bad/cracked ECT, it took saturn ten years to finally fix the old crappy one, a new ECT was designed in 2001 with a brass tip, fully compatable with older models. $15 peice, a bad ECT will cause millions of driveably problems, and is a easy repair, i would replace it anyway with the new design just for ease of mind.
2. carbon build-up. the throttle body and EGR are the spots for this, they will ether stick open or stick closed. if you find a large amount of build up, spray it clean with sensor-safe carb and choke cleaner.
3. although it sorta works backwards of your problem, do you ride the clutch? saturn transmissions are some of the most unique around, both the manual and auto. for the manual, when the car is rolling, the computer sets the idle a little higher then normal, to prevent damage to anything if you drop the clutch real fast. heres the kicker, some how the programmers at saturn got the PCM to learn how well you drive a manual tran, and adjusts the 'rolling idle'(as i call it) accordingly. for example, i'm great with a manual trans and the computer 'trusts' me, and sets the rolling idle about 200RPM above the base idle. my car did not like how my ex-girlfriend drived, and set the rolling idle about 1500RPM above base! you can erase the computer's memory by pulling the PCM B fuse with the key off/out. it will also reset the fuel maps and a few other things, but the computer will relearn soon enough, rarely more then 1 hour, but completely drivible. ok, i probilly whent a little to far into detail...
a fuel problem is possible, check the service records for the last time the filter/injector was serviced. you car has TBI(throttle body injection) meaning there is only one injector, shared by all 4 cylinders. so if it goes, you have no backup.
for the spark plugs. besure those are not platium plugs, and they are gaped to 0.040. check the resistance of the wires if you can, 8K ohms is normal, anything above 12K ohms is bad. also check the coil packs for bad grounds and corresion, if there is, i'll post more info on that.
if all that checks out, it could still be a few things, but the next thing i would check would be the TPS. although that wouldn't explain the no start when warm
i would check the engine mounts(two mounts and two struts,one of each on the engine and on the trans)
hard to say exactly what the problem is so to start i will list off the more common saturn problem
1. bad/cracked ECT, it took saturn ten years to finally fix the old crappy one, a new ECT was designed in 2001 with a brass tip, fully compatable with older models. $15 peice, a bad ECT will cause millions of driveably problems, and is a easy repair, i would replace it anyway with the new design just for ease of mind.
2. carbon build-up. the throttle body and EGR are the spots for this, they will ether stick open or stick closed. if you find a large amount of build up, spray it clean with sensor-safe carb and choke cleaner.
3. although it sorta works backwards of your problem, do you ride the clutch? saturn transmissions are some of the most unique around, both the manual and auto. for the manual, when the car is rolling, the computer sets the idle a little higher then normal, to prevent damage to anything if you drop the clutch real fast. heres the kicker, some how the programmers at saturn got the PCM to learn how well you drive a manual tran, and adjusts the 'rolling idle'(as i call it) accordingly. for example, i'm great with a manual trans and the computer 'trusts' me, and sets the rolling idle about 200RPM above the base idle. my car did not like how my ex-girlfriend drived, and set the rolling idle about 1500RPM above base! you can erase the computer's memory by pulling the PCM B fuse with the key off/out. it will also reset the fuel maps and a few other things, but the computer will relearn soon enough, rarely more then 1 hour, but completely drivible. ok, i probilly whent a little to far into detail...
a fuel problem is possible, check the service records for the last time the filter/injector was serviced. you car has TBI(throttle body injection) meaning there is only one injector, shared by all 4 cylinders. so if it goes, you have no backup.
for the spark plugs. besure those are not platium plugs, and they are gaped to 0.040. check the resistance of the wires if you can, 8K ohms is normal, anything above 12K ohms is bad. also check the coil packs for bad grounds and corresion, if there is, i'll post more info on that.
if all that checks out, it could still be a few things, but the next thing i would check would be the TPS. although that wouldn't explain the no start when warm
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