97 saturn sl1 no start

Asked by subieguy2488 Nov 26, 2018 at 09:42 PM about the 1997 Saturn S-Series 4 Dr SL1 Sedan

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

97 saturn sl1, 5 speed, just put a new/used motor
in it. Kinda not sure how to describe the starting
issue. It cranks over but it's a hard crank and spits
and sputters. Brand new battery so plenty of juice.
Kind of acts like it's out of time or is has a few
misfires. I didnt change any of the coil packs or
plug wires, essentially just put the original
transmission on the new motor. Pretty much a
"plug and play" type of swap. Every electrical plug
is in the right spot and i have no missing plugs or
missing ends. Not sure where to turn at this point.
Looking for questions and comments to help
decipher this.

9,730

Mike answered 5 years ago

Used engine, I bet they said it has 25.000 miles on it, how long has it been sitting without being turned over? There are 2-3 valves that have been open to weather for however long it sat, remove the valve cover and check the valve operation. Will the bone yard you got the engine from let you borrow the ECM from the same car the engine came out of just in case.

Mark helpful

subieguy2488 answered 5 years ago

No I got it from a guy that runs a small shop, he said the transmission was junk, but motor was good and had 130k on it. I bought the motor back in like April or may of this year and didnt get it put in until august. So it sat it a few months but that shouldnt really effect start up as far as I know. I'll have to pull the valve cover and check timing chain and functionality of lifters and spring and valves.

Mark helpful