Four problems related to steering have been reported for the 2002 Saturn LS. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Vehicle was in motion at 30 mph on city street, engine completely stopped working with loss of power steering and power brakes. Coasted vehicle to a side street & stopped. Had car towed to a mechanic. We were quoted $1700 bill to repair due to broken timing chain. Researched recalls and found that NHTSA had a recall #07v519000 for 2001 Saturn l100. This seems grossly shortsighted on the part of NHTSA, as there have been dozens of duplicate complaints. This prompted the state of north carolina consumers council to issue a defect petition for 2000-2003 Saturn l series with the 2. 2l engine with the NHTSA. It is surprising how little effort the NHTSA has made in light of the scope of this problem.
The contact owns a 2002 Saturn Saturn Ls. While driving at approximately 55 mph, the steering wheel began smoking, the headlights flickered, and the check engine light illuminated. In addition, the engine was smoking and stalled. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where the failure was undetermined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 186,000.
The contact owns a 2002 Saturn l200. While driving 15 mph the contact heard a pop and the vehicle suddenly came to a rolling stop. The vehicle would not restart and the steering wheel locked. The vehicle was towed and the mechanic diagnosed the failure as needing a new timing chain. The vehicle was in the process of being repaired. The current and failure mileages were 43,000.
2002 Saturn l100 made clanking noise when turning the wheel. ** answer required*** the consumer was told there was a leak in the power steering shaft and there was wear in the cradle bushings and eventually they would have to be replaced.