Five problems related to engine failure have been reported for the 2001 Saturn LS. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
June 20, 2014 started engine on my 2001 l200 Saturn then backed it up 20ft and shut engine off. All attempts to restart engine failed. Had it towed to a mechanic who diagnosed a broken timing chain. Mechanic recommended replace engine at a cost of $2600.
The contact owns a 2001 Saturn l series. The contact was driving approximately 35-40 mph when he heard an unusual rattle from the exterior of the vehicle. The vehicle then stalled. The contact was unable to restart the vehicle and it was towed to a local repair facility for diagnostic testing. The mechanic advised that the failure was contributed to the timing chain that resulted to internal damages within the engine. The contact was able to locate NHTSA campaign id number: 07v519000 (engine and engine cooling) but was advised that his VIN was not included. The contact stated that the engine failure was similar to the recall. The failure mileage was approximately 110,000.
Engine failure, turns out that at least 1 valve is bent due to a slipping timing chain.
Engine failure due to broken timing chain 2001 l2 Saturn.
While driving the engine failed and would not restart. Fortunately, no one was hurt. The car (engine) stalled, locked up and it could not be restarted. This happened at two separate instances. I replaced the entire engine with the first instance (3/14/06) and the most of it the second time (2/4/08). I was told by Saturn that our VIN # does not fall within the recall. I find it hard to believe that this a fluke when it has happened to others and me twice.