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Saturn S-Series Maintenance and Repair

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Comments

  • togfleon2003togfleon2003 Member Posts: 20
    get rid of plastic lines,go to auto parts store get a 4 way + vacum t then various sise vac hose hook up to any little pipe that you see, any open holes in t put hose on and put screw in it.
  • ekameveilebekameveileb Member Posts: 2
  • ekameveilebekameveileb Member Posts: 2
    I have a 1996 Saturn Sl1 automatic that I purchased a week ago with 190,000 miles on it. Today it started doing something weird, when I put it in reverse to get out of a parking spot it hesitated for a minute, then I heard a loud bang coming from the front of the car sounding and feeling like I hit something. After the bang it continued to reverse and drove fine. I drove it around a little after this to test it out. Sure enough, the next 2 times I went into reverse it did the same thing. Any idea what's wrong? Similar problems I have read about online suggest I may just need a transmission fluid flush. My car DOES have a small transmission fluid leak and a small oil leak. Does that sound like the solution? Or could I be looking at something more costly? I hope my clutch is not giving out. My last question is, if I continue driving it with this going on, what will happen? I may not have enough money for a fix for at least two to three weeks and if that's going to result in a more costly fix or more damage, I need to know so I can either stop driving it, or avoid using reverse. Any help is much appreciated please & thankyou.
  • s2adamss2adams Member Posts: 1
    edited June 2011
    I have had a problem with my car not starting randomly for over a year. Its a 1997 Saturn SC2, 1.9 liter dohc, 185k miles. Two different times, months apart, I would go out to my car and it wouldnt start. Both times, I would send it to the shop, and they would tell me it started right up. They mentioned it being flooded with fuel. Now the car is having problems on a daily basis. Sometimes it will start; more often, it will either not even turn over; or it will turn over very slowly, sometimes after numerous attempts. A couple weeks ago, I could drive it to work,and then drive it home after my shift after it had sat for 8 hours. But if I would go to different stores and shut it off more than once or twice, it wouldnt start up again. Usually in those situations, it wont start for hours or even days, but ill come back and try 3 days later and it will start right up. The battery is new; the starter, alternator, and coil packs have all been tested/or replaced; battery cables are new. The car was running hot, which I thought may have caused it to not start, but I replaced the thermostat which fixed the overheating, and there are still starting issues. Wont turn over. Dash lights, radio, running lights all come on...but when i turn the key to attempt to turn it over, the running light shut off. It has also clicked before when I would try to turn it over, but it no longer does that. I do hear a click noise when I turn it over that sounds like it is coming from inside the cab, down under the glove compartment. I dont know what it is, but that is the only noise it makes. In a day or two the car will probably start. And if I run a couple errands to a few stores, it probably will not start at the 2nd or 3rd stop. I would rather not throw money at the ignition unless I can be sure thats what it is and not something simpler.
  • rbillieuxsrrbillieuxsr Member Posts: 47
    change trans filter and fluid--filter in on engine under hood put sealer in too Bob B
  • onemike2onemike2 Member Posts: 1
    I had this problem with a Honda Del Sol I had. After much head scratching, it ended up being loose wiring. Check all of your wiring. Look for loose connections. A wire can be loose and get disconnected for a while (an hour or a couple of days) and then magically reconnect and then everything works fine!
  • rbillieuxsrrbillieuxsr Member Posts: 47
    If saturn not starting consider a new fuel pump--try waiting till hear click before crankind then with no gas turn key a couple of timed--if not start hit gas pedal twice then repeat that click is fuel pump :lemon:
  • dgibson3100dgibson3100 Member Posts: 2
    i have a 95 saturn sl1 automatic trans and recently i have enginge code 32 egr and transaxle code 23,24 and sometimes 22 pop up i changed egr and flushed trans and changed filter reset codes and car drives fine for a few hours then my rpms would surge up to 3000 and car gets stuck shifting and then engine code reads again for same transaxle codes car isnt slipping in any gears nor is trans fluid burning can somebody with saturn knowledge help was told to check fuse relays those are fine
  • togfleon2003togfleon2003 Member Posts: 20
    look to see if the shifter cables are frayed, by the tranny
  • dgibson3100dgibson3100 Member Posts: 2
    being that everything is so compact where would shifter cable be located and what would be the easiest way to access them
  • rbillieuxsrrbillieuxsr Member Posts: 47
    p03001 code--number one cylinder mis-firing spark plug??? and which one is number one when facing engine? :lemon:
  • togfleon2003togfleon2003 Member Posts: 20
    they are by the fire wall on the driver side .use flashlight to see but may be dirty,have some one shift the shifter back and forth when you look.
  • togfleon2003togfleon2003 Member Posts: 20
    i think it the right one, you would see gas on this plug if misfire. check all 4 the one thats wet is misfiring. but thats just a code it might be fuel injector too.
  • rbillieuxsrrbillieuxsr Member Posts: 47
    what would cause mis-fire--maybe put fuel injector cleaner in? mil light was flashing then came on steady car does funny things like p0404-egr comes on wnen gas low cleaned it many times
  • magictwinmagictwin Member Posts: 1
    I'm having the same problem with my 97 SW2. Turns over and doesn't start, but after a day it will usually start right up. I do smell gas sometimes- the mechanics that have looked at it can't get it to repeat the problem for them. But it is very undependable as a car with this issue. Did you have any luck resolving it?
  • togfleon2003togfleon2003 Member Posts: 20
    vaccum leak in tank. :lemon:
  • togfleon2003togfleon2003 Member Posts: 20
    junk i tell ya, i know i had one
  • targettuningtargettuning Member Posts: 1,371
    I recently bought our first Saturn ever for use as a third car. It is a 1996 SL base model with air and cassette AM/FM radio and I guess that's it. If it has other options I certainly don't know what they might be. Anyhow, I used the VIN # to check for any open recalls using the local Chevy dealer and in the process the following Saturn directed/dealer applied campaigns were listed as having been done early in the cars life and I wondered if anyone could tell me what they actually were.
    T9980
    T9979
    V0068
    H0042
    They all seem to have been done in 1996-97. Aside from that, the car despite having 185K miles seems to drive and run nicely. I have slowly become aware of some chronic problem areas i.e. motor mount...cracked cylinder head although with the mileage I would have guessed that should have happened earlier if at all, something to do with a pin in the differential backing out, and something to do with a rod falling? out of the clutch master cylinder. So, what else and if any of the listed stuff needs further discussion then "go for it" and inform me further.
    Thanks'
    Ron
  • slslinde1slslinde1 Member Posts: 5
    I have a saturn SL1 and it uses up a quart of oil a month and a half theres not leaks what could it be it has a 198,000 miles on it mostly hiway miles. Should I chalk it up to the miles on the engine normal wear and tear?
  • joepeterson56joepeterson56 Member Posts: 95
    YUP !! Saturns are notorious for using oil.
  • saturntech9saturntech9 Member Posts: 152
    The pin in the diff usually breaks from spining in the ice etc.You must have a single overhead cam engine those are the ones known for cracking and mixing the oil and coolant together.The number four cam journal usually cracks on the head.I havent heard of the clutch master rod falling off.
  • joepeterson56joepeterson56 Member Posts: 95
    @ saturntech, I had one of the DOHC;s, did the same thing. Called around till I was blue in the face findingprice/availability. Was told be every place I called that all of them do it, both single & double. Junked the car!
  • joepeterson56joepeterson56 Member Posts: 95
    Black pepper is a very old school fix, going back over 50 years, for both radiator leaks, & also supposedly in the trannys to swell the seals, right along with mixing fine saw dust into the auto trannys when they slipped and leaked.
  • joepeterson56joepeterson56 Member Posts: 95
    Can also get so hot it will just seieze up solid & lock that wheel wile you are moving, Then you will have to replace everything.
  • joepeterson56joepeterson56 Member Posts: 95
    Ok, I have 2 2002 Sl's that will not pass emissions! I have traced and repaired the problems, then cleared the codes, then took them for inspection.

    1st one said
    "Failed, due to excessive OBD monitors not ready, return after the vehicle has been driven in accordance with the manufacturer drive cycle."
    Test Type: OBDII
    RPM: 740
    TEST RESULTS
    Overall OBD Result: FAIL
    Connector Status: PASS
    Communication Status: PASS
    MIL Engine Off: PASS
    MIL Engine On: N/A
    Mil Commanded On: NO
    Readiness Result: FAIL
    Fuel System: READY
    Comprehensive Component: READY
    Misfire: READY
    Heated Cayt: Not Supported
    Evap System: NOT READY
    2ndary Air Sys: NOT READY
    A/C Sys: NOT SUPPORTED
    O2: NOT READY
    O2 Sensor Htr: READY
    EGR Sys: NOT READY
    Cat: NOT READY
    Connector Volts: 14
    PCM ID: (blank)
    PID Count: (blank)
    Cat DTC: NO
    DTC's: N/A

    2nd one said
    "Failed - Test ABORTED - due to to excessive OBD monitors not ready - Too many readiness monitors."
    Test Type: OBDII
    RPM: N/A
    TEST RESULTS
    Overall OBD Result: N/A
    Connector Status: N/A
    Communication Status: N/A
    MIL Engine Off: N/A
    MIL Engine on: N/A
    Mil Commanded on: N/A
    Readiness Result: N/A
    Fuel System: READY
    Comprehensive Component: READY
    Misfire: READY
    Heated Cayt: Not Supported
    Evap System: NOT READY
    2ndary Air Sys: NOT READY
    A/C Sys: NOT SUPPORTED
    O2: READY
    O2 Sensor Htr: READY
    EGR Sys: NOT READY
    Cat: READY
    Connector Volts: N/A
    PCM ID: N/A
    PID Count: N/A
    Cat DTC: N/A
    DTC's: N/A

    After being told that the vehicles just need to be driven longer foe the PCM to "RELEARN", I drove the second car for 85 miles over a 2 hour period. Checked for codes again, found none, took it for a reinspection 2 days later.

    FAILED AGAIN!

    This time it said: "Failed - Test ABORTED - due to to excessive OBD monitors not ready - Too many readiness monitors."
    Test Type: OBDII
    RPM: N/A
    TEST RESULTS
    Overall OBD Result: N/A
    Connector Status: N/A
    Communication Status: N/A
    MIL Engine Off: N/A
    MIL Engine on: N/A
    Mil Commanded on: N/A
    Readiness Result: N/A
    Fuel System: READY
    Comprehensive Component: READY
    Misfire: READY
    Heated Cayt: Not Supported
    Evap System: NOT READY
    2ndary Air Sys: READY
    A/C Sys: NOT SUPPORTED
    O2: READY
    O2 Sensor Htr: READY
    EGR Sys: NOT READY
    Cat: READY
    Connector Volts: N/A
    PCM ID: N/A
    PID Count: N/A
    Cat DTC: N/A
    DTC's: N/A

    My main question now is: How long and how many miles must these dam saturns be driven for the PCM's to "RELEARN" and list the monitors as ready?!?! :sick:

    I have never had such annoying problems with any other car.

    I have two OBD Scan tools. 1 is a Mechanic Grade Mac Tools TaskPro ET2005AN, and the other is an ACTRON (middle of the road grade) equivalent to the mechanic grade, as far as reading/clearing codes and running specialized tests.

    Both Scanners check 11 different input monitors. The scanners show the following:
    1- Misfire-OK
    2- Fuel Sys-OK
    3- Comprehensive Component-OK
    4- Cat-OK
    5- Heated Cat-N/A
    6- Evap- INC.
    7- 2ndary Air Sys-INC.
    8- A/C- N/A
    9- O2 Sen-OK
    10- Htd O2 Sen-OK
    11- EGR Sys -INC.

    Am I correct that INC. means inconclusive, and that N/A means not applicable to this vehicle??

    Even tho both of my scanners are "mechanic grade" & I put in the exact vehicle info, they are LACKING, in that they still give a combination of both veh specific codes and GENERIC codes, meaning the scan results have mixed codes on the readout. Some are specific to the saturn sl & are listed in the service manual I have, and others are the generic OBDII codes which are strictly general and non veh specific.

    I have not attempted a second try at emissions on the 1st car, because after having driven them both throught the exact same route, times and mileage, and the second one failed the second time, I figured I just may as well concentrate on getting one to pass, then do the identicle thing to the other one, as I have been doing. I am located in CT and you get one "free" retest with each failure, so it can get expensive to just keep trying each one.

    HELP!!!!!!!
  • rbillieuxsrrbillieuxsr Member Posts: 47
    Take out for drive-55mph and let coast to stop 2 or three times then go up a steep hill and go off gas till almost stop repeat hill test too make sure that EGR is clean-remove carbon with carb cleaner did you have po404 on it? that is EGR put cleaner in gas too with as least one half tank. Computer has to re-learn correct drivng cycle I got hell for doing on 91 let coast to stop. :lemon: :sick:
  • darrkestangeldarrkestangel Member Posts: 1
    Hi Jackie,
    I am not a mechanic by far, but I know the saturns have at least 2 O2 or Oxygen sensors on the exhaust, which could be causing the check engine light to stay on. I own a 97 saturn and I have problems with it right now, but my mother has a 2002 L300 series saturn and she has the same problem. I wouldn't worry about it if the engine light stays on. If it starts flashing then worry about it. Other than that, it is more than likely one of the O2 sensors on the exhaust system. I hope this helps.
  • rbillieuxsrrbillieuxsr Member Posts: 47
    Go to autozone and have them test in using their meter -free. could be that EGR valve needs cleaning or replaceing due to carbon biuld up on this site there directions how to clean otherwise will not pass inspection throttle body has to be cleaned too maybeput some cleaner in gas tank might do it autozone will have to erase code.
  • saturntech9saturntech9 Member Posts: 152
    If your talking about the dual overhead cam saturn S model engines known for cracking the heads?I dont know who has been telling you that i worked for saturn dealers for over 16yrs repairing saturns and havent seen that to be true.Mybe from overheating it real bad but its not common for the dual cam.Its common for the single though thats why saturn had a special extending warranty on the single cam heads.But not on the dual cams because it wasnt common.
  • joepeterson56joepeterson56 Member Posts: 95
    I have has one of each with a cracked head. Neither was abused or over heated. I had a friend who owned an engine machine shop who was the first one to tell me they were notorious for this problem, & then I was told the same from every reconditioned head supplier I contacted. Their consenous was all saturn s series head were notorious for cracking, doesn't matter whether single or double cam, and that is why they are so hard to locate. Nothing personal, but I would believe these other sources before I would ever believe any dealer source when it comes to admitting a known problem with their vehicle line.
  • idahokeridahoker Member Posts: 1
    Your post is kinda old, but I have a '96 SL1 that makes lots of noise on startup, esp cold. I found a lot of problems, but it is still noisy:
    - Cat converter busted up; opened it up & vacuumed it out
    - Hood rattle; tightened the 2 rubber bumpers in the front
    - Engine mounts BOTH broken; replaced
    - about 90% of all the crappy plastic fasteners are broken in the dash; tie-wrapped them down
    - screws loose or missing in radio mount, other places
    The thing still makes a lot of rattle, esp cold, but not as bad. I think something is up with the choke system, but don't know what to do about it.
    BASICALLY, it is a cheap, old car with 190,000 miles. Its going to rattle until you put a LOT of money and work in it and then the tranny or engine will crap out.
    Hope some of those ideas help.
    Good Luck
  • vancamper_1vancamper_1 Member Posts: 1
    Anyone have answers for solving a bad front wheel bearing(driver side) problem- I've gone thru 3 of them in 21k miles-the car has 117k total miles. Thanks
  • shopdog97shopdog97 Member Posts: 160
    A friend from work has a '94 SL1 sedan(I own a '96, so I know something about these cars) He was having an overheating issue for a few weeks, and also the check engine light was on. I checked the computer and he had 5 codes set, with the coolant temp sensor being the 1st. I told him EVERYTHING hinges on the proper temp info being relayed to the ECM. Furthermore, his temp gauge didn't work because someone convinced him that the sending unit(on his there are 2, one for the gauge and the other for the ECM) was bad and THIS was causing his trouble. So this person changed it and of course the problem still existed. To make matters worse, this clown bent the 2 prongs when he reconnected the the wire to the sensor, so the gauge STILL didn't work because it wasn't making contact! Long story short, I finally was able to look at the car this past weekend and since he had bought a new thermostat, I flushed out the block and radiator and replaced the stat. I also put the OLD gauge sending unit back(he kept the old one) and that cured that issue. But the car still was getting hot. Here, the Cooling Fan Relay fuse under the hood was bad! I swapped it with the one from the A/C(which doesn't work anyway) and the fan started when it was supposed to and thus the overheating issue is gone and so are all the codes from the ECM.

    However, now the car want to stall when he brakes to a stop. The RPM's go real low and sometimes, but not ALL the time it will shut off. He says when he stops and gives it some gas it's more likely to happen. Now this DID NOT happen to me when I did all this other work as described above; when I got everything back together and solved the cooling fan problem, this car ran remarkably well for a car with nearly 180K on it. It did NOT shut down once for me. Yes, I did notice a low idle once or twice. Yesterday at work he tells me that it's happening more frequently now. What could be doing this? No engine light has come on since I cleared it. A good mechanic friend of mine told me this morning that it could have something to do with the auto trans sensor(VSS?) that when approaching a stop or just starting out and the trans kicks back into 1st gear, a faulty sensor might be the culprit. But wouldn't this set a code? What about a vacuum leak? Any suggestions anyone may have for me on this would be very helpful. Sorry for being so long-winded. Thanks and have a great day!!
  • shopdog97shopdog97 Member Posts: 160
    After work last night, I scanned my friend's 94 SL to see if it had any codes stored, and all I got was a code 12 meaning all OK. Now out of the blue and in addition to what I described above, as soon as I turned the key to the "on" position to start the scan, the cooling fan started immediately! Now I know this isn't right. When I solved the overheating issue he had over the weekend by getting the cooling fan to work when the temp got hot enough(had bad relay) I figured this issue was over. When this happened to my 96 SL a few years ago in the winter, as soon as I turned the key on came the fan and the temp gauge went to 12 o'clock immediately on a cold motor. Turned out to be a bad connector because when I tapped it with my finger, the fan shut off and the gauge went to a normal setting. Did it again a couple days later and at that time I replaced the sending unit(didn't really have to) since it was in fact the connector plug at fault. Got one from a junkyard and spliced it in and have had no trouble since.
  • hondafun92hondafun92 Member Posts: 1
    Hey if I may ask I am starting to have the same problem with.my friends car and im a mechanic myself and I replaced the trans fluid and I had a code about the transmissiom range sensor and I changed it and im still have the same problem... I dont want to open to much of the transmissiom if I dont have too....if u may please reply ?
  • saturntech9saturntech9 Member Posts: 152
    What are the exact code numbers you have not code descriptions?Also you replaced the selector switch?If so did you adjust it correctly when you installed it?So you have a delay bang into reverse?Which model and year do you have?
  • shopdog97shopdog97 Member Posts: 160
    Hey Saturntech 9,
    You might remember me from last years posts about my 96' SL and my friend's '94 I was working on( Mike from Pa.) I have another question about my '96 regarding the Traction Control feature. Recently I've been experiencing a lurch of sorts when I'm at highway speeds and in 5th gear. I thought my tranny was about to quit but this issue does NOT happen around town, just at 45MPH or higher and in 5th gear. On my way to work Tuesday night, it did it again as I was getting on the highway near my home and for whatever reason, I switched off the Traction Control Switch and I felt NO issues of any kind! I will take it to work in a few hours and turn it off then and see what happens. Now what I want to know is, is there a Traction Control Module or something that can be replaced? You can't turn off the Traction control feature in this car and KEEP it off because each time I start the car the indicator is lit on the switch, so if I don't want it activated, I need to reach over and push the button and the light goes out. Have you ever heard of this problem before? I'd thought I'd ask you for your opinion. Other than that the car runs fine and yes, still uses about a quart of oil a month. Thanks for your imput and have a great day!!!
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