Eight problems related to timing tensioner have been reported for the 2001 Saturn LS. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
I was driving the vehicle down the freeway at 65 mph when the battery light came on and shut off. Within the next minute the coolant light came on and shut off and then the car seized right there on the freeway. The car would not start so we had to have it towed. Once the shop looked at it they diagnosed that the tensioner had broke and the serpentine belt had melted. We are now looking at having to replace the entire engine.
The contact owns a 2001 Saturn l200 (n/a). The contact stated that while driving at unknown speeds, the vehicle stalled without warning while ascending an incline. The contact inspected the vehicle and performed a diagnostic and found that the timing chain tensioner had separated from the cam shaft. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure and current mileage was 51,000. Updated 06/18/lj the consumer stated there is a recall but, is being denied a repair under the recall. Updated 06/20/2013.
A strange noise sounded when I cranked the car to return home from the lake wales medical center (located about 15 miles from my home) after the car idled for a few minutes I was able to drive it home. When I drove it to the repair shop the noise got much louder. The repairman diagnosed the problem as noise from ting area due to tensioner pulley bearings; timing had jumped causing internal valve damage. Head work required: removed and replaced all 12 intake valves, ck'd and resurfaced both heads, installed timing belt kit, headset with bolts, camshaft seals, etc.
The contact owns a 2001 Saturn Ls. The contact stated while driving approximately 55 mph, the driver heard a pop and the vehicle powered off without any warning. The contact merged to the emergency lane and attempted to restart the vehicle and it failed to start. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing where the mechanic stated the timing chain needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign recall number: 07v519000 (engine and engine cooling). The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 53,116 updated 04/30/lj the consumer stated the vehicle had to be towed twice. The timing chain and tensioner broke. Also, four intake valves were bent, and two exhaust valves were bent.
While driving 55 mph the engine shut down. Safely steered car to shoulder of 2 lane highway. Tried to restart car. It would not restart. Had car towed to a Saturn certified mechanic. Mechanic found the timing chain had failed. Mechanic is not sure what failed first. (the chain, tensioner or oiler?) mechanic did state the chain guides did not seem excessively worn for the mileage of the car. Mechanic told me gm had problems with the timing chain, gear and oiler sets in this year make and model. Did some research online and decided to report this. We purchased this car new in 2001. Had it serviced every 3,000 miles at the dealer till warranty had expired. Serviced it my self from then on every 3,000 miles. From 36,000 to 157,000 miles we always used full synthetic 5w30 engine oil.
2001 l300 Saturn 2. 2 l v6 timing belt tensioner seized while driving in late April 2008. Timing belt broke and engine jumped time and bent all valves according to Saturn of rt. 33, pennsylvania. Vehicle does not start, nor will run. Saturn dealership offered to change engine for $4500 and Saturn hotline offerred discount on new or used vehicle. No recalls were mentioned. Engine has 57-58,000 miles.
Not sure if I reported here already, but doing so again just in case. I own a 2001 Saturn l200 ("premium certified" pre-owned). It falls squarely within the date of manufacturer of the timing chain defect (my car was manufactured 2/01). I recently experienced the timing chain failure, to the tune of $2900 worth of repair cost. As written on the repair order, this was directly related to the tensioner (sp?) problem with the chain design. My failure happened upon starting my vehicle in my driveway; however, in my research about this problem, there are many, many people who experienced this while driving and it is only a miracle there have not been any deaths or serious injuries resulting from this defect (at least, not that we know of). My vehicle had 80k miles at the time. . . However, most of those miles were highway (long trips down south). I wonder whether it took so long for this to happen because I started my car less often that other people. In any case, I wanted to encourage a recall, since this is obviously a widespread defect and a dangerous condition not only to the owners of the vehicles, but to other drivers, as well. Search the web and see how many sites there are with stories of chain failure in this vehicle--I guarantee you will find hundreds--quite a large percentage for the short manufacturing period of this particular model, not to mention many other Saturn models with the same design. My date of failure is within a day or two--I don't have the paperwork with me.
Engine knocking badly. Dealer listed cause as "weak timing chain tensioner"told it was not normal for the mileage (77468). Chain pkg cost $733. 86 (parts/labor) I've heard that there are many Saturns with this type of problem.