general problems of the 2001 Saturn LS - part 1

Recall bulletin #06074a ,timing chain engine stall. I called gm,and gm arbitration and they said I have no recallcs. This car only has 28,700 miles on it!! my VIN fits the criteria of the recall,and I went to the dealership and they confirmed it,but gm does not acknowledge it! page 4, dealer recall responsibility-all. 2nd paragraph dealers are to service all vehicals subject to this recall, regardless of milage,age of vehical,vehicle, ownership as of Jan ,2008. I'm the 2nd owner,and there is no documentation that this recall was preformed, 2 others were repaired. I have the car fax for this vehicle. My repair shop said it will cost @ $ 1000. 00 to repair it. I'd be happy with a repair or a restoration check from gm. I started a "gm service request claim" # 9-7361453168. They never called me back,they canceled/ closed the request and did not approve the recall!! I'm at a loss at what to do at this point. Any help would be appreciated! thankyou,charlie.

Ignition problems with only 88,000 milesdoes my car fit the gm recall.

We drove the car to eat. When we came back out the car would not start. We had it towed to the mechanic and he told us the timing chain jumped a couple of teeth. It also bent some or all the values. The same makes and models have had recalls for this issue. Our car was not under recall for some reason. What if I was driving 70 mph and this happened we could of been in a huge wreck.

Car is 2001 Saturn l200 with less than 100,000 miles and the timing chain broke as the car was pulling into the driveway. My VIN is not covered by the timing chain recall issued by gm, so I now have a completely unusable car which is rated in good condition other than the timing chain unless I want to spend the 1000 plus to fix it. Gm/NHTSA issued recall number 07v519000 for other similar Saturns in year and model for the timing chain, why not all of them in the same years? after speaking with gm and researching the part number, my chain was built in the same wilmington delaware plant with the manufacture default diagnosis as the other recalled timing chains belonging to other 2001, 2002, 2003 Saturn l series cars. This needs to be a covered recall for this car as well as there is obviously an issue with these chains breaking in the cars- thank goodness I was only pulling into the driveway when it broke rather than driving in heavy traffic on the road. Make this right gm- and cover this repair for this car.

I have 2 children and im a part time single mom. I love my car. Never had any problems. One day after work. It simply wouldn't start. The timing chain defaulted on me. Now I am car less and in danger of losing employment. I have recently discovered that there had been a previous recall on this specific vehicle and part. However there's nothing I can do. Had I known this I would have never purchased the vehicle.

I have had multiple problems with this car, I have had issues with the catalytic converter, a fire in the resonator and 4 or 5 times where the car just stops running and I'm not able to get it to start again for a while. The car has accelerated when my foot was not even on the peddle making me go 65 in 30 with no control over the vehicle. I have also had times where the gas peddle was stuck and I was unable to slow down even when slamming on the brakes. At stop lights the wheels keep spinning when my foot is on the brake and the car moves into the intersection.

Vehicle was covered by Saturn recall 07v519000, entire valve assembly and timing chain replaced by gm shop at approximately 45,000 miles after timing chain failure with bent valves, failure also was at expressway speed of 55 mph. Same type of failure again occurred on highway at speed of approximately 65 mph. Vehicle was towed to independent repair shop who stated problem was valve failure. Total vehicle mileage is approximately 95,000 miles.

Upon starting the vehicle the engine stopped and was unable to be restarted due to broken timing chain which bent the valves in the engine.

The contact owns a 2001 Saturn Ls. The contact stated that while driving 45 mph, the vehicle decelerated without warning. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnosis where it was stated the timing tension needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired and manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage 95,402.

The vehicle failed to start. Upon being inspected by an in dependent garage, it was determined to be a timing chain failure. Should this be covered under 07v-519?.

Left my driveway and started down street. Got a block or so away and car just stopped. Was on main highway. Was very lucky took to garage it is the timing chain. If there was a recall on this I never received it took to gm dealer was told there was never a recall for this.

I was going to my part time job on Sunday and my car "shut off" on the freeway. I was nearly rear ended by a semi and sidswiped by another car trying to get to the shoulder my hazards where on. I had it towed to a mechanic and they informed me it was the timing chain and the upper end of the engine would need to be rebuilt/replaced. They told me it would be cheaper to replace the engine and those year Saturns had a problem with the timing chains. I have since lost my job and quickly aproaching eviction the only reason iam not homeless is because my primary job is 6. 8 miles away biking distance . I still owe money on the car so iam now paying $5,000 for a car that needs $2,000 repair I cannot afford. I have owned 2 Saturns in the past and they where awesome.

The timing chain broke and I found there has been recalls but was told I'm not covered now I have a 6000. 00 paper weight!!!!.

There were no problems with the car until it died and would not restart. We had it looked at and the mechanic determined it was the timing chain. I saw the recall for the timing chain online and called Saturn. They said the recall did not affect my car and the timing chain breaking was a coincidence.

My insurance company notified me that my vehicle type (2001 Saturn l200) had a recall for the timing chain (NHTSA campaign id no. 07v519000 & gm recall no. 06074) . I called Saturn and they said although the recall was for my vehicle make, model, and year, that the recall was VIN # specific, and my VIN # wasn't included. My 2001 Saturn l200 timing chain broke shortly after that (diagnosed by certified auto techs at tire kingdom), while I was driving on the highway doing about 70 mph. After this dangerous event occurred (engine cutoff, lost power, control), I was fortunately able to coast to a stop on the side of the highway in the median. It' s possible the timing chain failure caused more internal damage to the engine, but that will have to be looked at. It's estimated to cost around $1400 to repair the timing chain, but that may or may not be the only damage now. If there's more damage, I may need a rebuild or new engine ranging up to $6500. Gm/Saturn said there was nothing they could do about the my VIN not being included in the recall. I have researched numerous Saturn l200 owners that have the same issue. No one knows how exactly gm/Saturn came up with what VIN #'s would or wouldn't be included in that recall, but it seems they only included a few VIN #'s just to "save face. " someone could get hurt due to the unreliable design of their timing chain, not to mention the cost associated with this problem. The recall needs to include more VIN #'s. It's not right what gm is doing, getting over on many consumers with a problem design.

The timing chain on my 2001 l series sedan broke on 3/2/2011 and the vehicle could not be restarted. A recall had been issued for this repair (recall campaign 07v519000); however my VIN was approximately 30,000 vehicles outside of the recall range. I believe that this vehicle should be covered by the recall due to the close proximity to the recall range.

Timing chain on 2001 Saturn 2. 2 4 cylinder broke without warning leaving the car stranded in traffic also caused damage to valves as result of timing chain break. Date of incident was 02/07/2011 miles 141,000.

Timing chain is broke on 2001 Saturn l series.

The contact owns a 2001 Saturn l200. While driving approximately 25 mph, the contact stated that the timing chain broke. The dealer was notified and advised the contact to bring the vehicle in for an inspection. The manufacturer was aware of the failure. The current and failure mileages were approximately 110,000.

2001 l200 Saturn. Consumer states problem with timing chain the consumer stated she experienced the same failure with the timing chain as stated in the recall. However, her vehicle identification number was excluded from the recall.

While driving her sons to school in my 2001 Saturn l200, my daughter experienced swd with no restart. The timing chain broke as she was driving with no prior warning. As of 12/14/2010 it has not been repaired.

I have a 2001 Saturn l2000,with 95,000 miles. I brought the car in 2007 with 86,000 mile. On August 30, I tried to start my car, and it would not turn over. I had it checked and my timing chain was broken. My repairs are suppose to be around $1000 or more. I haven't decided whether it's worth repairing.

Timing chain broke while driving on interstate 40 causing catastrophic engine damage. Engine had to be rebuilt. Old parts are available.

My husband was driving our 2001 Saturn l200 to work. While driving on the interstate the car just shut completely off so he had to cost over four lanes to get off of the exit ramp. He had it towed to the automotive repair place we use and of course the timing chain broke. The estimate for just that is $900 not even including if the valves or anything else is broke. I have researched about this and I have read about the recall on them but of course my car is not included in this recall. The same thing that happened to everyone else included in the recall is the same exact thing that happened to me. I have had no help with Saturn on this issue. I had just bought the car not even a month before it broke down.

Timing chain broke while on interstate without warning.

I replaced the heater control switch, blower motor, and resistor due to the fact that the heater blower would not work. After doing all the above, the heater still did not work. It appears that the wiring harness behind the heater control was the problem. Two of the prongs in the white plug were burnt and did not allow the DC electric current to go into the heater control unit. It is lucky that the fan went out before it had caught fire. There are two children who ride in the car, one 5 years old and one 9 years old. I was surprised that the 40 amp fuse did not blow even though the circuit kept coming on and off. We had already changed the engine 3-4 years ago because the timing chain broke and Saturn would not fix.

My 2001 Saturn sl200 had extreme vibration at a traffic light while on a long trip out of state. This car is driven by my college age student. Car engine was jumping, idling very rough, and losing power. Fortunately, she did made it back to college safely. The car was brought to Saturn of manchester, new hampshire and plugs, wires and spark plug cassette were replaced due to a misfiring diagnosis. When the vehicle was picked up, it still ran rough. I returned to dealer and they said valve cover and engine were dirty. Also, they said timing chain sounded like it was slipping. I was not the original owner of this automobile. When I asked about the Saturn timing chain recall, they stated this car was not included in the recall. To me, driving the car, it sounds exactly like a timing chain problem. Saturn charged me an exorbitant amount to do all the above work (over $900. 00). I strongly believe that this car should be on the recall list, since Saturn continued to make cars with the exact design after February 2001. I believe that gm is trying to get out of repairing an extreme safety issue for this car. This car is a potential death trap. The first in service date of this vehicle was June 2001, so I can almost conclude that this vehicle was manufactured during the recall time frame. If not, shortly thereafter. I am sure there were additional cars made with the same problem after gm's cutoff of problem VIN numbers. My car needs to be included in the recall.

The contact owns a 2001 Saturn l series. The contact was driving approximately 65 mph; the timing chain broke without warning. The vehicle was coasted off of the highway. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred to the authorized dealer for repairs. The VIN was not included in the recall defects. The vehicle has not been repaired at this time. The current and failure mileages were 82,000.

I own a 2001 Saturn l200, about two years ago I replaced my engine due to my timing chain breaking and causing internal damage. I recently had the same problem happen and need to replace the engine again. After researching this problem I found that their are many people with this problem. If Saturn knows this situation is such a big problem why cant they be made responsible? I just don't think its right that so many incidents are going unanswered. . Thank you for the chance for our problem to be heard.

Timing chain broke and engine was destroyed as a result Saturn states it is outside their current recall.

Second catalytic converter failure.

Timing chain broke causing engine damage, traffic holdup, and having to push car out of way. Was told by Saturn this vehicle did not qualify for recall, but incident happened exactly how it was described in recall.

My 2001 Saturn l200, purchased in December of 2006, no longer runs because of a serious design flaw in the timing chain mechanism. The vehicle has only about 90,000 miles on it and the timing chain broke while I was driving. This caused the valves in the engine to bend. I was told 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 was informed from Saturn's customer service that since I purchased the vehicle used, if Saturn did decide to cover something it was highly unlikely that they would cover 100%.

I was at a stoplight here in town. When I went to accelerate, without warning, my Saturn died. I had it towed to the mechanic. The reason for loss of power -- broken timing chain which caused (ironically) a chain event.

My 2001 l200 Saturn had a problem with dash lights/and gauges dimming and at times I had no interior dash lights. . . . It ended up being a main module which cost me $595. Seems like reading all the other complaints similar to mine they have been numerous problems. I think this is a Saturn problem and they should have taken care of this for free. I have replaced the steering box, struts front/rear. . . Stabilizer rear bar, catalytic converter twice. . . . . I am very disappointed in this car. I have put more money in this than my other two Saturn's which I had only normal things; tires, brakes, etc. I wish I had never bought this 3rd one.