I’m in China but my car is in Arkansas with a friend.
On the way to the shop to get new wheel bearings the car stalled out, and needed towing. The shop found no apparent problem with it and so drove it home and it stalled again and would not start. It was towed back in and he has had it for two weeks and cannot find the problem . He had called Saturn and they suggested to replace a thermostat, thinking that it was registering hot or cold when it really was neither. I drove away and it happened again. Mike kept it a couple more weeks trying to figure it out and sometimes it starts and sometimes it does not. He said maybe take it to a Saturn dealer. We are wondering if anyone here has knowledge of Saturn starting problems? The car was in storage for a few months, so might be related?
Stuck in China with no answers,
Richard Hutchinson
Physics and Chemistry teacher
Chengdu Shude High School
Chengdu, Sichuan, China
The trouble is most likely being caused by either a problem in the ignition system or fuel system. It could be an electrical connection problem with the power to the systems possibly. When the trouble occurs it would be a good thing to immediately find out if the ignition is working or not. Carrying a can of starter fluid will let you see if the fuel system is at fault by spraying some into the intake while the trouble is occurring.
Thank you for your reply. I had considered it could be a fuel pump or filter problem, or “hopefully” just a losse wire, and not something more serious like the timing chain or other electronic device I’m not familiar with.