I have a Saturn 1992 SL Sedan with 164,000 miles. I am having a major problem with the car cutting off while I am driving at a fairly constant speed or when I am idling at a stop light. The engine will shut off, along with the power steering and all other electronics. This happens when at a stop light only after I press on the gas to accelerate from a dead stop, but I am able to put the car in neutral and start the car again (sometimes it takes a while to restart). We tried getting the electronic control module repaired, but this did not fix the problem. We checked the oil and it appears to be of the correct viscosity for the engine. We are at our ends as to what needs to be done to fix this dire problem. Thank you for your time!

This is an interesting problem. You say that you had the ECM replaced, but it still occurs. This to me would indicate an intermittent failure of the ignition coil pack, fuel pump, or perhaps the TIPM (totally integrated power module/underhood fuse block). None of these would necessarily throw a code, so they are all potential culprits. Remove the coil pack and have it tested using a dynamic tester which will heat the pack up to operating temperature and check failure through a range of temps. Coils will sometimes test fine at low temps but fail at higher temps, so a regular coil pack test may not catch this. The fuel pump could be failing and causing the car to stop, and then hard start until it can repressurize the system. You could remove the pump from the tank and replace it to rule it out, or have it tested, although I'm not sure what would test that properly in your case. The Totally Integrated Power Module could have some corrosion or other problem causing it to lose connection from the battery and have everything fail, and then return once it recognized that the connection was restored. This is a long shot but something to consider. Good luck.

I have a 1992 Saturn and my car would idle fine but when I put it into gear by pressing on the brakes the car would slowly die dopwn and shut off. I checked the battery output and replaced the alternator, (also had replaced fuel pump a few days before, the car wouldnt start due to fuel pump shot out). Come to find out after i changed the alternator it still would die after pressing the brakes. We looked in the trunk at the brake light wires and noticed a ground wire wasnt grounded. After fixing that the car runs perfect. I know my problem isnt exactly what yours is but it sounds similar electrical problem. You may wanna check your ground wires, make sure they are firmly connected.

My 93 is currently giving me & my mechanic fits related to the EGR valve. Exhaust Gas Recirculate, or Release. Some of what you're experiencing sounds familiar. Running rough while idling and while going at a slower but constant speed, not shutting off. At least not yet. Basically allows some of the exhaust back in to the air intake. For what reason, I forget right now. They get older and start to seize up alittle at a time.

I have a 1997 Saturn that was having the same problem with hard to restart and slowly die down and would have to accelerate to get it to go again. The fix is that your crankshaft sensor is bad this is a $15-20 fix. It is located by the starter and easy to replace try this is should help.

This topic is 6 years old...

Change your throttle position sensor!

Lower temperature sensor

I had a Saturn doing the same thing and Annie on doing the same thing. And both cars it was the ignition coil. When the car got hot the coil would stop sparking when it cool down I would start again. Sometimes it would take 10 minutes sometimes it would take 2 hours. So that is a good spot to check. When it doesn't want to start see if you have spark.