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Saturn Engine Problems

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Saturn • Aura • Vue --- • Engine problems • Transmission problems • Airbags • Ignition interlock • Oozing goo • Miscellaneous woes • The Shamrock Saturn --- Recalls/News • Penske Scraps Plan to Buy Saturn; Brand Likely to Die • Penske Hopes to Drive Saturn Off GM's Lot • Saturn Climbing the Roadway to Heaven • Saturn Aura Gets a 5,000-Mile Road Test • NHTSA Probes Timing Chain Again • NHTSA Recalls Saturn L Series • NHTSA Probes Saturn Timing Chain Failures • Saturn Astra Named Safest Car Under $25,000 • Saturn Outlook Gets Top Marks from Consumer Reports • Saturn Targets Toyota, Honda for Side-by-Side Tests • Saturn Sky Prices Go Sky High • Saturn VUE Recalled • L-Series Cars Recalled

Deanna of Bridgeport, CT July 17, 2008

I have a 2001 Saturn L series and when I was driving it I almost crashed due to the recall. The time Chains in some saturn L series cars have been breaking and this is exactly what happened to me.

I took it to the Saturn dealer because I saw that it was recalled and that they would fix it for free, at least thats what they told me. I am upset because they never sent me a letter stating that my car was recalled and I could have got into a bad accident with other car, instead i hit the curb. I brought it to saturn and they said they would fix it for free and they have had it for about 1 month now and they just decided to call today to tell me that it doesnt look good. They said it would take 400 dollars to just look at it. The reason why my car is broken down is because of the timing chain going, so they should fix it for free. They are telling me that I need to pay for a whole new engine. I talked to my friend who works on cars for a living and he said because of the timing chain breaking it resulted it everything that is wrong with my car now, so they should fix everything. Now i've had to call out of work several times because of them having my car and not doing anything with it and lieing to me telling me they were fixing it and now they say that aren't arent unless i pay. This is very unfair and I dont know who to contact to help me. Im a full time college student and I also work full time and I need my car.

Jennifer of Addison, IL July 15, 2008

My 2002 Saturn L200, purchased from Saturn of Schaumburg in December of 2005, no longer runs because of a'serious design flaw in the timing chain mechanism'. The vehicle has only about 48,000 miles on it and the timing chain broke while I was driving. This caused the valves in the engine to bend. I was told by Saturn of Shaumburg that this problem did not effect my make or year, only 2001 vehicles. I was further told that this problem 'hardly ever happened with the L-series' However, upon further investigation I discovered that the timing chain assembly used in the recalled vehicles was also used in model year 1999 through 2003 Saturn L-series vehicles with 2.2 liter engines, which would include my vehicle. I got this information from Consumer Affairs. I also found that Saturn has repaired 2,932 vehicles under warranty because of timing chain failures and there are another 890 consumer complaints regarding this problem. When I called with this new information I was told that I had to tow my disabled vehicle to Saturn for their diagnosis at additional cost to myself before they could tell me if any of the cost of repair (estimated at 2,272.00 by an independent mechanic) would be covered by Saturn. I also spoke to Tim in Saturn's Customer Service Center, who said he would try to get the diagnosis charged waived, but probably wouldn't be able to. He also informed me that since I purchased the vehicle used, if Saturn did decide to cover something it was highly unlikely that they would cover 100%.

Patricia of South River, NJ June 16, 2008

March of 2007, I noticed that my car was making an extremely loud engine noise while I was driving. I brought it into DCH Saturn of Brunswick, with what believed to be transmission concerns. I was informed that Saturn extended their VI transmission warrantly from 35,000 miles to 75,000 miles because it was a faulty unit in the 2001 models. DCH Saturn of Brunswick accepted my car and serviced it over the next few days. Completion was delayed because the original unit that they received was defective. It did not contain reverse. Under this warranty, a rental car is included. However, the consumer is responsible for daily fees. After a few conversations, I felt that I should not have to pay any monies towards a rental because it was apart of the warranty. DCH Saturn of Brunswick, then agreed to pay the total amount. The night I picked my car up, I noticed a hissing noise. It was also clunking loudly when I switched gears. My car also felt like it was going to stall when I was at a complete stop, as well as bucking.I called DCH Saturn of Brunswick back up and John, the manager told me to bring it back in. The next day, I was told that the steering boot was ripped; they had to re-adjust the motor mounts and reset the calibrations. However, the steering boot fell off again and the car was still running rough. I called DCH Saturn of Brunswick with my concerns and expressed that the problems were not fixed. I also stressed that these concerns were not present when I brought my car in initially. John informed me that I was not welcome at that location and to bring it somewhere else. I spoke with the GM and he informed me that I could take it to Greenbrook. He told me that it was closer than DCH Saturn of Brunswick. I argued with him and told him that Greenbrook was over forty minutes away while DCH Saturn of Brunswick was a matter of minutes. I spoke with corporate on several occasions and they said there was pretty much nothing that they could do to help me because DCH Saturn of Brunswick is privately owned and they could not force a dealership to do anything. Saturn of Greenbrook did accept my car. I took it for a test drive with a tech named Cecil for about 30 minutes. He noticed that my car was not driving correctly and wanted to take the transmission out to determine the problem. However, Anthony, the manager refused. He said that Saturn of Greenbrook did not service my car initially and that they would be losing money if they did. He also said that their was no service light on and until their was they could not find anything. However, their was no lights that came on when I initially had the beginning of this concern. I did express that to him. However, they did recalibrate the transmission. He said that after talking with the Saturn it was normal for the new transmission to buck. He claimed that the new torque converter gets confused and does not know if it should switch into a higher or lower gear at cruising speeds. I brought it back a few times because it was unsettling for me. My car was not purchased in this condition. I would have never have purchased it. When I am stuck in traffic or driving in a residential area the car bucks badily. My neck is often tense when I get out and I sometimes get headaches. I have called DCH Saturn of Brunswick again to look at the problem since the concern is worsening and I have a service light on and they told me to take it somewhere else and that I can no longer bring my car there. I dont know what to do. My car is VERY uncomfortable to drive and the problem is getting worse. No one will help. I have googled this and it seems to be a common problem with this make and model.

Ken of Grand Rapids, MI June 11, 2008

Wife and I bought a 2001 Saturn SL1 back in 2003, it came with 34,000 on it. We purchased the car for just under 5k, about 2 years of our driving on it.. around 59,000 the motor blew, lovely head gasket leak into the block. We had it repaired, feeling it was just dumb luck. Cost us about 1,600.. to do everything. Well this past weekend, the wife said the coolant light came on, I said Okay and went and got some.. thinking nothing of it.. Anyway.. long story short, another head gasket bites the dust. I'm done with Saturn, period. I don't want this one, I will not be repairing it nor do I want to own another one. We'll be the proud new owners of a 2005 Grand Prix GT in the coming days. Great stuff.

Keeneya of Tobyhanna, PA June 4, 2008

I have a 2000 Saturn L series. While driving on the highway it began to loose power ans struggled to excellerate. Suddenly it stalled. We put more gas in the car even with a half tank thinking maybe the gas nozzle was not reading properly. Well around 2 miles later on the Deegan Expressway smoke came from the engine,the car stalled, luckily there was a median to get out of harms way.

Lynn of Manassas, VA April 30, 2008

I brought my car in for a noise. I was told my timing chain was bad and I should bring to the Saturn dealership. The car is 8 years old but only has 45,000 miles on it. To start with Saturn told me there would be a 560 teardown fee that they would have to perform to find out what is wrong with it. Because I had no choice I authorized the tear down.

They determined it was the timing chain tensioner. They said there were lots of loose metal shards that had to be removevd. They also said it was lucky I got it in when I did because the damage could have been much worse. My original mechanic also told me a valve cap had been damaged. The bill for this is 1,845. Saturn offered a 10% discount for the work. Their reasoning is even though the car has such low milage, the car is 8 years old. I understand there have been recalls for timing chain problems but, according to Saturn, my car does not fit into this recall. This is the second time I have had an expensive problem with my Saturn that was under a recall but my vin number did not fall into the recall.

Latasha of El Sobrante, CA April 26, 2008

I took my car 2002 Sl2 into the dealership because the engine light was on. I was aware of a small leak in the transmission (extremely small) and decided at that time to have it repaired. The mechanic told me that in order to repair the leak, rebuild the clutch and have a 90k mile service done would cost 2700+. I was willing and did pay for these fees. At the time I asked the mechanic that if I had these repairs done would it take care of everything for my car. He assured me that it would (my windshield wiper fluid was empty) and that they would also conduct a 21point inspection on the vehicle. After having my car for only 3 days the engine light came back on! Then when I went to check my wiper fluid it was still completely empty!! Called the dealership and left a message with the Service Manager stating my concern since the engine light was coming on. Especially since my car had just had major services done on it. After two days I still had not received a call back. On the 6th day after my car had been serviced by the Saturn of Concord my car stopped on the freeway!!!! Called Saturn to speak to the Service Manager once again (while sitting on the side of the freeway) and I got sent to voicemail three times before I finally had the operator go get him. Saturn did have my car towed back to their dealership. After waiting hours to hear back from them I finally called them myself and was informed that my fuel pump was the problem and it needed to be replaced. They also lied and said the fuel pump was inaccessible by the mechanic because I told them I felt they had tampered with my vehicle. And, I responded by saying if its inaccessible to the mechanic then how is it going to be repaired. My reason for feeling that it was due to dishonest business was because I had personally had one of their mechanics at the same location lie to me regarding work needing to be done to my car. I took my car in for its normal service and was told by the mechanic that I need all new brakes. Of course they were willing to perform this service right away. However I waited and took my car to another mechanic to inspect my brakes and was told by this mechanic (who also could have made a profit from me) that my front brakes were a 50% and my back brakes were still brand new!! He even recommended I wait to change my brakes. So if they were dishonest once what would stop them from being dishonest again? I have called Saturn Corporation to make a complaint and was offered two free oil changes. How infuriating!! After being stranded on the side of the road and Saturn of Concord refusing to take responsibility for my car I called the corporate office again and was assured that they would help me to resolve this issue, since customer service is so important to them. Someone did call me back; however, they offered to have my car inspected by another Saturn mechanic at a different location to see if what I was saying was true. I was also informed that they would not pay for another mechanic to inspect my vehicle unless it was a Saturn dealership. Why would I want another Saturn dealership to inspect my vehicle, doesn't that seem like a conflict of interest for Saturn? They (Saturn of Concord and Saturn Corporation) refuse to even take ownership that I paid all that money for repair and maintenance and the simplest thing such as refilling my wiper fluids was not done. They ignore the fact that when I had another mechanic inspects my brakes only to find them not in need of replacement Saturn's mechanic had been dishonest and lied to me saying I needed new brakes. So now, I'm out of over 2500+ dollars still without a working vehicle that in need of several hundred dollars worth of parts and labor.

Michael of Derby, KS April 22, 2008

1995 SC2, DOHC, one owner. Oil changes done every 3K with 5W30 per manual. High oil consumption began at about 75,000 miles (over 1 qt per 1,000 miles). At 104,000 miles now burns 1 qt in 600 miles. Cost of engine replacement is about 3800 thru Saturn. Having it done by an outside company gives a longer warranty. Highly unlikely to recommend Saturn for longevity.

John of Braodrun, VA April 8, 2008

I have a '97 SC-2 with 202,900 original miles on the engine! Not without a problem though. Approximately 166,000 miles, #1 cyl. intake valve spring broke in half. Saturn would not repair the engine but would gladly sell me a new engine ( go figure). I finally wound up repairing the engine myself. Not a very difficult job but needs to be researched first before you try it! I had to make my own valve compressing tool from hardware store parts. Total cost about 200 & 10 hrs. Car runs great!

Christen of Holland, MI April 1, 2008

On January 28, 2008 I brought in my 2003 Saturn Ion (with 43,000 miles) because my 'coolant light' was on. The mechanics and the Saturn rep. commented on how unusually low my coolant was... and said: wow, there must be a leak. After doing a pressure test, they couldn't find a leak - so then they topped off my coolant and said I was okay to drive it. I said: Are you sure? They said: Yes, you will be fine to drive it. They gave me no indication that I should keep an eye on it or bring it back in the next week. 4 weeks later, I noticed smoke coming out of my hood and a burning smell coming from my car. On March 21, 2008 - I brought it back in at which point they said that they think I need a new engine due to a crack in the cylinder head. I know that coolant fluid keeps an engine from overheating, and when an engine overheats it causes the cylinder head to warp or crack... They denied that the coolant issue I had brought it in for had anything to do with it. They blamed Saturn Inc for the engine being faulty from the start and denied having any responsibility in the issue. I

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