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Oct. 11, 2010 2:57 p.m. mrwillie Reader

.............What to do w/ a free car that possibly has a bad engine?

A friend just bought a 1995 nissan altima for $150 and got a 1998 saturn sl for free. I was basically given the saturn as a finders fee. The saturn supposedly has a siezed engine( according to PO ). Didn't have a battery or time to do further checks on the saturn at the owners house. My plan is to throw a good battery in it and play w/ it before we take it to the scrap yard. Two questions:

1) The oil is def. low and very dark( think asphalt-dark and very thick ). Should I even bother pulling the pan and checking? Short of a rod hanging out of the block, or some horrible engine noises, how do I tell if the engine is bad w/o pulling the pan off( and looking for bad bearings )?

2) I know that the saturn is/was a GM product and I assume that they use some of the same parts. Is there anything that I can pull that would help me w/ a future MS conversion on my vw golf( fuel rail, sensors, connectors, harness, etc... )?

3) The valve cover says "EFI/OHC", so I'm assuming that its the infamous 1.9L SOHC engine( prone to excessive oil consumption and cracked heads). Does this mean that on a four door car, its an SL-model? It's a 5speed, if it matters.

4) Is there anything sensor, relay, etc that would cause a no start on this engine?

5) If all else fails, does anyone need any small parts b4 we scrap it?
Oct. 11, 2010 8:43 p.m. Platinum90 SuperDork

Wagon - SW
Sedan - SL
Coupe - SC

Yep, it's an SL. If it is an SL1 it is SOHC, if its an SL2, its DOHC.

Either way, they are pretty stout engines. Most of the oil consumption issues were taken care of by 1998. Our 99 is unkillable at well over 150,000 miles.

If it is a 5 speed, SOHC car, you can get really good mileage with very few mods.

If you were closer, I would take the transmission and all related stuff in order to do a swap on my car.
Oct. 11, 2010 10:04 p.m. amg_rx7 HalfDork

LeMons/Chump car?

The car that I spent the most amount of money fixing was given to me free.
Oct. 11, 2010 10:11 p.m. mrwillie Reader

That's encouraging. There was some pretty scary sludge on the end of the dipstick. What are the areas I need to check for a "no start"condition? After fuel, and timing( assuming that the timing chain hasn't jumped), what else could I check after the starter?
Oct. 11, 2010 11:04 p.m. CarKid1989 Dork

make that saturn run and dd it.

slow car kinda dull but the MPGs it get makes it worth while. I remember taking a trip from Clelveland to Ohio University in my brothers SL1 (5 speed) at 70-75 MPH i got 42 MPG.

Great cars. I have a SL2 now. almost a quarter million miles on it and still gets almost 40 mpg
Oct. 12, 2010 7:21 a.m. White_and_Nerdy Reader

All S series cars are prone to oil consumption, SOHC and DOHC. Saturn declared that 1 quart every 1000 miles was normal. Not to worry, though - many suck a LOT more than that!

Do some reading on www.sixthsphere.com . That should at least cover the basics. The SOHC motors aren't really worth modding, IMO - you can get more power just by dropping a DOHC in. But, the mileage is excellent. That's more a result of the higher gearing than the lower power.

Either that, or since the car was free, do some insane engine swap into it (V8 RWD) for the $2011 Challenge.
Oct. 12, 2010 7:37 a.m. 4cylndrfury SuperDork

man I dunno...remember that Jalopnik about how a "free saturn" ruined some dudes life???
Oct. 12, 2010 11:22 a.m. skruffy SuperDork

If the ultimate plan is to scrap it, any time/money you put into it will be wasted.
Oct. 12, 2010 12:36 p.m. mrwillie Reader

It would be nice to get it running, but we're not gonna invest alot of time or money into making it run. Neither one of use really needs another dd, and I've made an agreement not to being another car home right now. A running car would give us the option to sell,scrap, or even give away to someone that needed it. Having just started a new job, having a 1yr old at home, and not having the car knowledge that some of you have, the Challange is off the table also. So, we're gonna spend some time cleaning it up, checking it out, etc and decide in a week or so. Either way we haven't lost anything( or much anyway ). I think I will plan on pulling things like the fuel rail, sensors, TPS, etc for my upcoming,always in the back of my mind vw MegaSquirt conversion.
Oct. 12, 2010 1:25 p.m. belteshazzar SuperDork

it'll get better mileage than the Volt, what are you driving now?
Oct. 12, 2010 1:26 p.m. belteshazzar SuperDork

back to your question;fuel pumps will commonly no-start a 98.
Oct. 12, 2010 1:43 p.m. mrwillie Reader

In reply to belteshazzar:

We have a v8 ford explorer and a 2001 honda accord that we drive daily now. Between the two of us, we drive about 750mls/week now. I also have a vw golf that's been in pieces for about 5yrs now. To keep the saturn, I would need to sell the golf. Wouldn't want to do that unless it was for something I liked more, or even trusted. The PO did zero preventative maint, and I'm not sure I trust the saturn long term.
Oct. 12, 2010 1:44 p.m. mrwillie Reader

In reply to belteshazzar:

The PO said that it won't even try to start, though. I'll check the fuel pump this week when I get a key, though.

Thanks.