Saturn Repair: Starts with extreme difficulty, twin cam 16, check gauge

Question
I have a 1996 Saturn SL,Twin Cam 16 Valve 1.9 Liter - 182,000 miles.
The water pump recently went out and the engine overheated badly. After replacing the water pump and belt, the car will start if it is cold with some difficulty, but if you kill the engine, it is very difficult to restart. Sometimes I hold down the accelator in a manner one would if the engine was flooded. That has helped in a few instances. Today, per somebody's suggestion, I walked to a nearby parts store, and bought an air filter. I replaced the filter, and started the engine, again with some difficulty. After killing the engine, I was unable to restart at all. I have been unemployed for quite some time, so can't afford to contact a Saturn dealer about this. Right now, even when it starts, I am hesitant to drive it anywhere for fear of being stranded. I would appreciate any information I could get on this.

Thanks, Bill Wright

Answer
Hi Bill,
It sounds bad.  Unfortunately, overheating an aluminum headed engine results in extreme friction...in this case I am pretty sure that you have Stuck Piston rings OR warped cylinder walls OR burned Valve seals, seats, or guides which means you have lost compression on one or more cylinders and it is having a hard time starting and even harder time re-starting after it heats up.  This is not 100% but I would say 40-60% what has happened. It could also be that the heat has caused the bearsing to overheat and fry which makes everything have a lot of friction...making it hard for things to spin freely...making it harder to start after the engine warms up and expands even more.

I guess first thing would be to do a compression check.  Maybe someone you know has a compression check gauge.  They are relatively inexpensive ($15-$25?) and they screw into a spark plug hole.  The engine has to have the spark diabled so the car doesn't START went cranked (see manual or ask someone how to do this). Then, the engine is cranked over by turning the key as if trying to start it for about 10 seconds and a reading is made on the compression gauge to check its pressure.  If one cylinder is way lower than the rest, its lost complression due to one of the things mentioned above.  If not, it is probably the bearing friction thing.  Either way, it's a lot of work to fix.  So Sorry for the bad news.
If you find out, let me know how it turns out.

Thanks for the question.  I hope I was able to shed a little light.  You can leave comments about my reply on the All Experts site.
Sincerely,
Greg Moore
www.taylorgolfsupply.com