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Erratic Performance Issues, 97 SL2

I have a 1997 Saturn SL2 DOHC, Automatic. This car is on the second engine and second transmission.

Over the past few months it has given me trouble when trying to maintain a certain speed on the highway. For example, If I try to maintain speed at

60mph it will start to slow down until I push the gas pedal more than it will surge ahead, than fall back to a loggi performance. The engine seems to buck and kick. Sometimes it accelerates poorly, other times fine. Sometimes when the car is turned off and you hit the key the starter will not engage.

I have replaced the starter. The fuel injectors. The fuel filter. Air Filter. Coils. Wires. Plugs. Last night I picked up a fuel pressure test gauge which I'm going to try tonight to determine if the pump is malfunctioning. What really burns my rear is that it will not throw any check engine lights so I can't pinpoint where the problem is. The book says it could be a leaking intake (I doubt it). Faulty fuel pump. Or the computer.

Has anyone else seen or heard of anything similar to this. I really would hate to get rid of the car as I have a ton of new parts in it and it doesn't look bad at all.

Thanks

Mike

Reply to
Mike1969
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Yes it can be a pain when it does not code. If you can get access to a OBD2 scanner that can read real time data you may be able to see the cause( what data is doing during problem) there is also a remote chance that you may have a bit of water in fuel tank. At this stage it would not hurt to put a few bottle of dry gas in tank and see if it helps.

----------------- The SnoMan

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Reply to
SnoMan

Yep, I have an OBD2 scanner but I'm unclear as to whether it will work real time. I don't believe it will but I'll check again. As for the dry gas I've put in about 4 bottles along with 8 bottles of Injector cleaner and it's still no difference. Same performance also on both low and high octane gas.

Mike

Reply to
Mike1969

I had a problem with a Chevy truck that would run strange sometimes. It turned out to be the crank position sensor sending irratic timing data sometimes. It did not code but when I did a live data monitor, the problem was apparent as timing was going nutz at times.

----------------- The SnoMan

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Reply to
SnoMan

Check your battery connections, battery, alt, and grounds.

ECT sensor should also be checked.

Reply to
BläBlä

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