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My 1999 Saturn SL with manual transmission started acting up. It has 173k miles on it. While driving around town running errands, I made a right turn and the car suddenly died. After sitting for about 20 minutes, the car started and off I went. However, it died again after about 1 minute. I tried to pop the clutch, it turned over, but didn't start. I had it pushed home and this morning it started fine. However, after driving for about 15 minutes (on my way to work - top speed was 40 mph) it died again. Again, tried to pop the clutch, but it didn't work. The engine turns over, but again, it just won't run.

Thanks for your help!

Could be a TPS, MAF, IAC, or fuel pressure problem. We gotta have codes. Auto Zone pulls codes for free. Go there and have a computer scan done. Do it even if the check engine light is off. Then post the exact code so we can all see it.

AutoZone found no error codes. It seems to die once the engine gets good and warm. My hubby said he heard a click on the right (passenger side) of the engine when it happened to him. Next steps? Coolant Temp Sensor or Crankshaft Position Sensor?

You have to figure out what is missing when it doesn't want to start. It is either missing fuel pressure, fuel injector activity, and/or spark. Once you have narrowed it down to what isn't working, then you can troubleshoot why.

Hi, my name is manuel galvan I as well have a Saturn SL and dies after a while. Sometimes I try to turn it on and it won't, but if I wait a while it will. After it turns on and I drive it, it turns off again. I thought it was the clutch because the rpm would sometimes spike up and down and then turn off, but a mechanic told me it was not the clutch. Does anyone have any ideas on what it could be?

it could be lots of things. u need to follow the suggestions allready in this post.

have the computer scanned for trouble codes first. if no codes, the fuel and ignition systems need to be checked out. for something like this u gotta go step by step, cause any one of a hundred things could cause these problems.

if u wanna try and tackle this yourself let us know and we can help guide u thru it. otherwise youd need to take it to a shop and have them diagnose whats going on. no quick simple answer here

ya check for spark and fuel and see what ya are missing

Okay, thanks a lot I will do this and if no error codes show up I think I will need help to find out if something is wrong with the fuel and ignition. I am a broke college student so I can't really afford to take it to a mechanic.

I also do not mean to ask such a question, but what do you mean by checking the spark and fuel, and how do you do this?

checking spark means finding out if u good strong spark to all the plugs. u do this by pulling the plugs out, reconnecting the plug wire and ground the electrode end while someone cranks the engine. if u got good spark on all the plugs the ignition system is good. if u dont, u gotta work backwards thru the system to find the problem, which could be lots of things. coil, ignition module, a sensor, just to name a few.

the first step in checking fuel is to check fuel pressure at the engine, and u need a fuel pressure test kit to do this. low or no pressure could mean a bad fuel pump or clogged fuel filter, or a wiring problem. if the pressure is good, then u gotta go forward and look at things like injectors, fuel pressure regulator, sensors, etc.

driveability problems like this can be a real bugger to find sometimes, so it takes lots of patience and a fair amount of knowledge of how these systems work.

Could be a cracked (CTS)….Coolant Temperature Sensor….Address TSB # 01-T-07. Also address TSB # 04-06-04-047H. Using a fuel pressure gauge make sure PSI values are as indicated below.


Fuel system pressure with ignition on and engine off (PSI) 38-44.

Fuel system pressure at idle (PSI) 31-36.