Three problems related to check engine light on have been reported for the 2005 Saturn ION. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
The contact owns a 2005 Saturn Ion. While driving at various speeds, the steering wheel became hard to maneuver. The power steering and check engine warning lights illuminated. The contact pulled over to the side of the road and restarted the vehicle, but the failure occurred once more. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 97,200.
My 2005 Ion 2 was serviced continuously by the Saturn dealership since its new purchase. This car has never had a engine incident, overheating, or missed oil change/service and at approximately 35,000 miles the engine service light would activate intermittently. The problem was brought to the Saturn technician and deduced to either a gas tank sealing issue or oxygen sensor malfunction. The oxygen sensor was finally replaced on it 48,000 service checkup, yet the light was still active. A complete computer code diagnostic revealed internal misfire issues with the #1 cylinder. The mechanics evaluation was that the engine cylinder or block is warped and causing compression blow by & misfiring. The recommended solution is to change the engine block at a cost of $6, 800. Or work on tearing down the engine at an un-estimated amount. Although I have a 3 year warranty to April 2008, I have exceeded the mileage of this purchased warranty by over 14,000 miles. I am uncertain whether I should go forward with this repair, trade-in the car, or seek my damages through my attorney in los angeles. When I purchased this new Ion, my father in law was so impressed that he bought the same model 5 days later at the same dealership. An interesting note is this is our 3rd Saturn in the last 11 years. We believe in the brand, love the service & sales departments, but are not sure about its future with our family.
* other affected part was speed control. . . . Aside of the current recall issue having been a problem since I purchased the vehicle in 2005 (which has "been repaired"-I guess so if you call repaired the car trying to start itself, not starting at all, current pcm overload thanks to soo many negative codes being thrown for this worthless piece of junk. ) I have filed numerous complaints with the dealership about the throttle body and am constantly and consistently provided the same answer and it is becoming a big problem. You see this car has left me stranded numerous times (to the point where I cannot keep count any longer) because the throttle body is trash. Not one but two check engines lights appear on the dash, the car shakes (literally to the point where it feels like every plastic panel is going to fall off), I cannot travel any higher than approx. 10mph and have to pull over, turn the car off (keys of course become stuck in the ignition due to the faulty switch) and wait until my car is then ready to start and the throttle body wants to operate as it should. I am now filing this complaint as the most recent codes pulling are once again the throttle body and the now the pcm. This part needs to be added to recent recalls. It is not safe to be traveling at 45mph or higher, then the vehicle shuts down and lowers speed to 10mph or less-esp. If you have no where to pull over safely (yes, this has happened to me on more than once. ) I have my car back from the recall the car to still wont start, tries to turn itself over & keeps my keys stuck in the ignition. My steering column has been busted open on the bottom in order to release the keys which is ridiculous yet my car is still not functional due to other faulty, crap, junk, trash (whatever you would prefer to list them as in this documentation) parts that I will most likely be expected to pay for yet again.