Engine Noise Problems of Saturn LS

While driving home my car just stopped in the middle of the road. I had no idea what happened or what was wrong, it just stopped with no warning, right before it stopped it made a noise unfamiliar to me but it sounded as if the brakes had fallen off or something. I had to get my car towed at my own cost. I found a mechanic that would come out and take a look at it because I had it towed to my house. Apparently my timing chain was to loose and kept hitting something else and over time the chain broke and what it was hitting was damaged so I had to replace both and because the engine had to be dropped to get to replace, it cost me $1800. 00 out my pocket also they informed me that the rack and pinion will have to be done also. If this is a recall issue I would like to be reimbursed for the cost. Thanks.

See all problems of the 2001 Saturn LS 🔎.

My 2002 l200 has 92,000 miles. I was driving 70 mph on a crowded 5 lane interstate in the far left lane when my engine suddenly stopped. There were no strange noises or smells involved, nor was there any smoke. The rpm meter went down to zero. Thankfully, the electrical system worked fine and so did the brakes. I put on my hazard blinker and was somehow able to coast my way over to the shoulder. It is a miracle that no one hit me. The mechanic informed me that the timing chain had broken and that it had possibly also damaged the valves, so I would have to replace the engine. The cost to repair would be about $3500. That is about the same as the value of the car, so I had a difficult time deciding whether to do the repair or sell the car as is. The junkyard offered me $150 + free tow. I kept hearing from different mechanics that it is very rare for a timing chain to break. I did some further research looking for a replacement engine and was told they couldn't even keep the engine for this model in stock because the timing chain break happens so often. Then I found out that there was a recall on the 2001, but not 2002, even though the 2002 has the same design flaw. I could hardly believe it. At a minimum, I feel that Saturn should have notified me that this was a concern for my model of car, even if they didn't do a recall. Flying down the highway is the worst time to find out about such a defect. Had I known, I would have been able to have been proactive. Please extend the recall to avoid any future disasters.

See all problems of the 2002 Saturn LS 🔎.

The contact owns a 2001 Saturn l series. While driving approximately 35 mph on normal road conditions, the contact heard a strange noise outside of the vehicle. There were no warning indicators illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for inspection and the timing chain was diagnosed as the cause of the noise. Through research, the technician discovered NHTSA campaign id number 07v519000 (engine and engine cooling); however, the authorized dealer stated that the VIN was excluded from the recall. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 200 and the current mileage was unavailable.

Was on my way to work when the car started to make a noise and then just died. Had it towed to my local mechanic who diagnosed it as a broken timing chain. He had heard that this was a common problem with the l-series. Then I had it towed to our local Saturn dealership to have the work done; timing chain & guides, head, valves, pistons were only scored -- total bill of $3,700!! car is a 2002 with only 58,000 miles on it and this should not have happened. Dealership tried to say it was possibly due to "poor maintenance," but if they had looked at their records, they would have seen I had the car serviced only by them on a regular on-time basis! in fact it had been in for a service (oil change) only the week before. Let's face the timing chain was defective.

I own a 2000saturn Ls1 while driving on the highway my car just died. After my mechanic looked at it I was told one of the links in the timing chain cracked and broke the timing chain ,which wrapped around the valves and destroyed the engine. After looking on different web sites it seems to have happened to quite a few people who have said they reported it to you for investigation. My car was making no noises and gave no indication there was a problem. I contacted Saturn and because I took the car to my own mechanic and don't have all my records they say they can't help me also now they say it is because I am not the original owner. My car has about 42,000 miles and was bought pre-owned from a dealership. Luckily there was no injury or damage.

See all problems of the 2000 Saturn LS 🔎.