The Curious Case Of The Mysterious Engine Failure.
My 1993 Saturn SC2 just broke down yesterday. Two days prior, the low coolant icon has been flashing----
seemingly from nowhere. My coolant level is just fine, and I've been told that Low Coolant can't stall your car.
Well, yesterday as I tried to start it, it ran for about three seconds, then shut off. Repeated attempts saw the
engine run for less and less time until, eventually, turning the ignition did nothing. Oil is fine, 3/4 of gas, and
those around me could not determine the problem. The only strange activity I noticed in the last two days was,
again, the Low Coolant Icon which never came on in my five months of owning the car. If this was the problem,
I'd say "Oh, great. Atleast I know where to start working", but again, a fairly knowledgeable friend said my car
wouldn't not start because of a coolant or radiator problem.
To get into detail, I've been driving around, moderately, for the last two days when the icon began to flash.
Yesterday, I exited my home, got in my car, and drove about two miles to pick my girlfriend up from work. I Drove
another 4 or 5 Miles to where she lives and dropped her off. We planned on chilling a little while, take a walk
around the neighborhood, so I left my Saturn in front of her house. Just then, we decided to drive somewhere.
So I got back inside, turned the ignition, the engine came on... Three seconds later, it faded out. Now I wasn't
really paying attention because I took my car coming on for granted. So I adjusted my focus to starting it, kind of
scratching my head, and gave it another turn. You could tell the engine was trying it's hardest to start, but
couldn't quite get it there. I opened the hood, and the engine was enormously hot. I then remember the engine
being hot even after letting it sit for about one to two hours. Admittedly, it just always seems hot. Now, obviously,
you'd be thinking coolant leak, but I never see a leak. If it were the case, would the leak being under the car,
onto the ground. Would I be able to see it? Granted, it was dusk when I was at her house, but I could clearly see
there was coolant.
Any way, after numerous attempts, my Saturn, after a while, said 'bro, forget about it', and never made a serious
effort to start again.
In the past two months, the only strange occurences I've noticed were a clicking sound in between the two front
seats. Where the manual breaking is. The console made a clicking noise any time I turned the car off, and
would keep clicking for hours. But likely this has to do with the seat belt system and not the engine. But besides
that, nothing more.
What could possibly have shut my Saturn down, seemingly from nowhere?
