Saturn has died! (at least for now)

[diamondlarry]

I was on my way home from Indianapolis today and things were looking good as far as mileage goes when, all of a sudden at 55-60 mph, the engine died. The first thing I thought of was that my injector kill switch had malfunctioned so I started jiggling that but, nothing. I took the relay off that I was using for the injector-kill and jumpered the wires just in case the contacts in the relay had went bad; still nothing. I then checked to see if I was getting fuel; I was. I checked all of my fuses; they were all good. I then checked for spark by puuling a plug and putting the wire on it and holding it against the A/C bracket while the wife cranked the engine; I had spark. By the way, my wires are still in good shape because I didn't get knocked on my butt. I ended up calling a towing service close to my home and getting towed back to my house. The tow-truck guy was nice enough to hook his car up to the wrecker before he left his place and brought it with him so the four of us would have a ride home. The distance was 85 miles. OUCH!! I'm not going to say how much the tow bill was yet but, let's say just that any fuel savings I have ever had with this car are gone, at least once over. I will pull the valve cover in the morning after I locate a torx bit and see what's waiting for me. Luckily, if that's possible to say, I have the next two weeks off for our summer shutdown.

[thisisntjared]

ouch. if your getting fuel and your getting spark and its cranking... with no prior loss in mpg... i dont know what the problem could be...

[diamondlarry]

I forgot to mention that there was some valvetrain noise but it only sounded like a sticky lifter. While I was cranking the starter trying to get going today, I don't hear that noise any more. If I'm lucky-there I go again - it was something simple like the timing gear/chain let loose. The problem with that theroy is that I replaced the chain, tensioner, and guides when I did the head swap. GRR!
EDIT: Also, there was no noise or warning before the engine died.

[SVOboy]

Well, at least there was no clunk/"what's my rod doing on the road behind us?"

Good luck with a solution!

[diamondlarry]

Originally Posted by SVOboy

Well, at least there was no clunk/"what's my rod doing on the road behind us?"

Good luck with a solution!

Yeah, and no signs of shrapnel flying around the engine compartment.

[Compaq888]

Originally Posted by SVOboy

Well, at least there was no clunk/"what's my rod doing on the road behind us?"

Good luck with a solution!

My uncle heard no clunk, his car just stalled. He got it working again but the whole car was shaking like crazy and undrivable. The mechanic found rods in the engine bay.

[JanGeo]

Saturn has died!

I hate when that happens!!! Warning Light and scan codes??

[diamondlarry]

Originally Posted by JanGeo

Saturn has died!

I hate when that happens!!! Warning Light and scan codes??

Unfortunately, no light at all. If it had I would at least have a starting point. I told the wrecker driver that I had power to my injectors and he said I should check to make sure that the ECU is making them cycle. On my car at least, the ECU switches the ground off and on to run the injectors.

[JanGeo]

First thing I would do is compression check which tells if you have valves working, then run it on starter fluid or propane from a torch bottle with the nozzle removed into a vacuum line or the intake - this eliminates the fuel and it should idle on propane injection without flooding it and will check to see if ignition is working, last would be fuel delivery at the correct timing. Pulling the plugs to do the compression test will also show the combustion quality when it died.

[thisisntjared]

^^that sounds like the right plan of action