Engine Problems of Saturn LS - part 1

During normal driving on I-35 in dallas, vehicle died, driver was able to coast to side of road. After towing vehicle, it was determined that timing chain had snapped. After determining engine was interference model & viewing NHTSA campaign id number: 07v519000 I called Saturn to determine if the 2002 was covered under this. Saturn replied it was not. Not repaired yet but awaiting further inspection to determine if entire engine must be replaced of if damaged head can be rebuilt. Lower end will also have to be inspected and possibly repaired if head is rebuilt.

See all problems of the 2002 Saturn LS 🔎.

While driving 60mph in my 2002 Saturn l200 lost all power on the I-5 freeway. I was somehow able to coast to the shoulder. I then had my car towed to a local shop. They said that the engine had a timing chain failure, and they may also need to replace the cylinder head and pistons. This is very unsafe. Lucky it happened to me and not my younger sister who is inexperienced with situations as above. There was a recall for the 2001 Saturn l200 with the same 2. 2l engine for timing chain problems. I don't know why they didn't include the 2002-2003 years as they all use the same defective parts from the factory. Please issue a recall. We do not need anymore close calls as this one. I have serviced the engine oil every 3,000 miles since new. I even have receipts for proof.

Driving along highway 610 in montgomery county, va at approximately 45 mph before a large, sweeping turn, my 2002 Saturn l200 lost power. Power steering and power brakes were lost and the car headed towards a guardrail. I was able to pull the parking brake and skid to a stop just outside of the ditch. The timing chain broke, at 83,000 miles, catastrophically. A recall on the same engine and timing chain configuration was issued on 2001 Saturn l200s, but for no apparent reason not on the 2002 Saturn. Complete loss of power unexpectedly with routine oil changes and maintenance is very dangerous and caused me to loose control of the vehicle.

As I drove, up hill, while using the speed control feature, the engine began to rev high rpms. It then jerked and began to overheat. I was able to slowly drive it to a safe location and then have it towed to a repair facility. At the repair facility I was told it was a timing chain issue. I began researching the issue and found a recall had been issued for that issue for the 2001 Saturn l200. Nhtsa campaign id number : 07v519000 gm recall number:06074 I then read that the north carolina consumer council petitioned (NHTSA action number : dp08002) to have the recall expanded to include all 1999 to 2003 Saturn vehicles that used the same timing chain.

The engine on my 2001 Saturn lw 200 (73k miles) suddenly quit while I was driving on an interstate freeway in seattle. I was lucky to be able to pull off to a shoulder without getting rammed. My mechanic found a broken engine timing chain, which he said is unusual for a car with that mileage. I checked on-line at NHTSA and saw that only a limited number of 2001 l series Saturns were recalled for correction of this potentially life-endangering problem. When I contacted Saturn, such as it is in 2010, the representative said that my particular vehicle (based on VIN) was not covered by the recall, and that I was out of luck. I was nearly killed because of this defect, which many others have reported on-line. Saturn should be responsible for the repair costs, which are in excess of $2,000.

See all problems of the 2001 Saturn LS 🔎.

The timing chain on my 2002 l200 with 75,000 miles snapped while driving lost control, but was able to guide the vehicle to the shoulder of the road with out being hit thankfully. There was a recall for the 2001 model but the 2002 was never issued.

The contact owns a 2000 Saturn Ls. While driving at 55 mph, the contact noticed that the vehicle was shifting abnormally. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealership where the contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced because of the timing chain. The current and failure mileages were approximately 92,000.

See all problems of the 2000 Saturn LS 🔎.

2002 Saturn lw200 2. 2l engine. I was pulling out of a parking lot when the engine stopped and would not restart. Had the vehicle towed to my mechanic who informed me that the timing chain had broken and ruined the engine. I have read that the 2001 model has a recall for the exact same problem.

I have a 2002 l200 Saturn it has the same engine as the 2001 that has a recall on the timing chain. I have had the same problem occur. Saturn is not acknowledging the problem that obviously is still there. There needs to be a investigation on this problem. A quick search pulls up a lot of people that have had the same problem. The timing chain broke while starting the car in my driveway. It is currently at the shop to look at the extent of the problem.

Today, while traveling 70 mph (on cruise control) on a busy interstate, my 2002 Saturn l200 (with 75,000 miles) started losing all power, making it difficult to control the car. Luckily I was able to get over to the median and waited for a tow truck. The dashboard lights showing oil and battery were lit up before turning the car off. Not knowing what was wrong, I tried starting the car twice, both times resulting in the car not turning over. After running diagnostic tests on the car, aaa found out the timing chain snapped. At this point, no repairs have been made, as I am waiting on quotes from various mechanics.

Timing chain of Saturn l200 failed a second time within 35,000 miles of first repair leaving the car stranded on the roadside again. The car has been well maintained, but the timing chain in this model seems to be poorly designed leading to failure.

Have ticking coming from timing chain area on engine. Luckily I have caught it before the chain breaks causing the engine to seize and need replacing. Called gm and they said my vehicle is not part of the recall list. My timing chain design is exactly the same as the recalled vehicles. A petition was opened from north carolina but closed due to "further investigation of this matter would not be an efficient allocation of agency resources. . Read more...

The contact owns a 2001 Saturn l200. Whenever the contact attempted to drive the vehicle, she noticed that the vehicle would not accelerate over 40 mph and that when idling the vehicle will began shaking. The vehicle has not been diagnosed by the dealer. 2 days prior to the failure, the vehicle would not start. The current and failure mileages were 148876.

The contact owns a 2002 Saturn l200. After coming to a complete stop the contact attempted to accelerate and noticed that the vehicle suddenly shut off. A local mechanic informed the contact that the timing chain was broken and needed to be replaced. There were no prior warnings and the current and failure mileages were 87000.

The timing chain on my 2002 Saturn l200 stretched and destroyed the motor. The car has only 67,000 miles on it. The car would simply not start in my driveway, had it towed, to a mechanic in my town, iowa city, IA. I contacted Saturn-- they didn't offer to repair-- but suggested that I have the car towed the 40 miles to a former dealer to have it 'diagnosed' I decided this was not much of an offer! the mechanic here in my town has located a user motor with 47,000 miles and has quoted $2,500 to fix it. However, now I am concerned that the motor he has ordered will also have this timing chain defect. To replace the timing chain on the new motor will be an additional $500. Total> $3,000. Given that the car has to be safe for me and more importantly my children, I have no choice but to proactively fix the replacement motor. What a mess!.

Saturn l200 timing chain broke while driving on highway - no indication that there was any type of problem with engine.

I was driving on the highway when I suddenly lost all power with no warning. I am told by the dealership that the timing chain was broken. I now need to replace the engine - at a cost close to what the car is worth. I see that the 2001 cars have this same problem and were subject to recall. Why not the 2000?.

I have a Saturn l200 with the 2. 2l engine and 64,100 mile on it. While driving home from work on July 9 2009, my timing chain broke. I had just cleared an intersection and the car fortunately had enough momentum for me to pull off the road. The was no prior warning before the chain broke. The engine required extensive repairs. The valves were bent and the cylinder head was wrecked. All told with parts and labor, the bill came to $2,142. 33.

I was driving about 60 mph on the highway and felt a jerk. The engine died and I had to quickly move over to the side of the highway. Turns out the timing chain broke. The auto repair shop said that the engine valves were bent. Total repair cost would be around $3,500.

2000 Saturn l series driving to work and timing chain broke. Car had approx 60,000 miles on it. Saturn says 1 in a million no warranty. Had to have engine replaced at a cost of 4500. Now car has 132000 and same thing happened again Saturn says sorry another engine would cost 5000 it seems by researching the internet l series Saturns have a flaw or defect with their timing chains.

Timing chain failed while driving at highway speeds. Failure also destroyed engine valves and head.

Car stopped running would not restart. Saturn dealer said timing chains failed causing catastrophic engine damage. Replaced engine at my cost approx 1 year ago. On 2-11-09 the same damn thing happened.

Timing chain on my 2000 Saturn Ls1 broke while traveling at 50 mph. Car glided to a controlled stop. Estimated repair cost $2800 due to bent valves as a result of the timing chain. It is my understanding that nccc has previously requested NHTSA to expand recall to include earlier model years on this known Saturn defect. Is there a status update?.

Re. 2002 Saturn l200 model w/2. 2 4cyl. Engine. . . Vehicle suddenly stopped and would not restart. . . . I had to have the vehicle towed in to a local garage where the problem was diagnosed as a broken timing chain. . . . . I have 69,000 miles on the vehicle and have maintained the correct maintenance procedures. . . . . Saturn has been issued a TSB in 2003 regarding a replacement oil nozzle to facilitate the oiling of the timing chain. . . . I plan on contacting my local Saturn dealer regarding this manner and plan on going higher up with the complaint if necessary. . . . I am not a happy camper over this and hold Saturn entirely responsible for this problem. Sincerely, bonnie l. Krueger.

In Dec 2008 I had to replace the engine in my 2001 Saturn l200, which had 63,220 miles, due to faulty timing chain. The mechanic called Saturn and was told there was no recall, however I am finding out there is a recall on timing chains(per Saturn VIN#s 1y504884-1y559453). My car falls within that range and I am told it is not included. I called NHTSA and was told they are not given VIN specific information. It is ridiculous to find this many problems with a vehicle and nobody wants to help consumers.

My wife's car quit running suddenly. We had it towed to the dealer who reported that the timing chain had broken and repairs would cost $3200, indicating additional damage besides the broken chain. There was no accident, nor were there any injuries. We purchased the car new from the dealer and have had all recommended maintenance performed by the dealer. The car has ~97000 miles on the original engine.

Timing chain failure. No restart of vehicle, towed to nearest repair shop, ( not Saturn) was told by Saturn no recall was issued for this vehicle, therefore I had no recourse available to me. Engine damage occurred. Options are replace engine or purchase new vehicle.

We were driving on rt. #98 running about 40 mph and the motor just stopped. We didn't hear anything so coasted to edge of highway. Got out and raised the hood and could see nothing out of the ordinary. Tried to start the engine and it just cranked over and would not restart. This is the first problem we have had with this vehicle. Called aaa road service and they towed car back to my home since it was late in the afternoon. The next morning I checked it all over and decided that I could not discern what was wrong. I then had it towed to msc repair here in marysville and their mechanic found out the timing chain had broken so I had him go ahead and repair this at an estimated cost of $1500. 00. After he had it back together and before he tried to start it he ran a compression test and found out that the valves were bent so the head had to be taken off to assess the damage and depending on how bad it is it could run another $2000. 00 to fix it if it can be fixed. So far all gears and timing chain,balance kit and gaskets have been replaced and will not know for sure about other parts until the head has been evaluated.

The contact owns a 2001 Saturn l-series sedan. While attempting to merge onto the interstate at approximately 40 mph, the vehicle completely shut off and would not restart. The vehicle was towed to a repair shop and the mechanic stated that the timing chain failed, which caused further engine damage. Recall 07v519000 is related to the failure; however, the VIN is not a part of the recall. The VIN was unknown. The current and failure mileages were 100,000.

2000 Saturn l series with 80,000 miles has damaged timing chain.

I had just exited from interstates 440 when my timing chain snapped and rendered the vehicle without any engine power or power steering in the middle of a busy road.

I received a recall notice on my 2001 Saturn l-series vehicle concerning the timing chain in Jan. 2008, when I called to schedule the service, I was told that my car was not in the recall population. I questioned why I had gotten the recall notice, but was not given a reason. However, the technician assured me that the timing chain in my car was good and would not be a problem. However, eight months later - the timing chain is out in car. After investigating, I realized that my car was built in March 2001 and the recall population ended with cars built in Feb. 2001. I have contacted Saturn and they were extremely unhelpful. My car is being fixed at my cost. The car just refused to start one day without warning. There was nothing to indicate that anything was going bad. I have since found out that Saturn was aware that the timing chain parts were faulty, but did nothing about it.

The contact owns a 2001 Saturn l-series. While driving 70 mph, the vehicle lost power and the power steering and brakes failed as well. She pulled the vehicle to the side of the road and, after several attempts to restart the vehicle, it was towed to a local Saturn dealer. The dealer stated that the cause of the failure may be computer related. A mechanic stated that the failure was the timing chain, which damaged the valves. The repairs would cost $2,700. The contact was informed of a possible recall and, through online research, she called the manufacturer and was informed that the VIN was not included in the recall. No repairs have been made. The failure and current mileages were 108,000.

My 2002 Saturn l200, purchased from Saturn of schaumburg in December of 2005, no longer runs because of a 'serious design flaw in the timing chain mechanism'. The vehicle has only about 48,000 miles on it and the timing chain broke while I was driving. This caused the valves in the engine to bend. I was told by Saturn of schaumburg that this problem did not effect my make or year, only 2001 vehicles. I was further 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 also spoke to tim in Saturn's customer service center, who said he would try to get the diagnosis charged waived, but probably wouldn't be able to. He also informed me 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 driving at a steady speed (cruise control) of 72 mph, having just raised the speed setting from 70 mph. Engine speed increased to 4200 rpm while increasing vehicle speed. 1 to 2 minutes later, the engine stopped producing power and I quickly lost speed. I pulled over the shoulder and stopped. This could have proven to be disastrous had I been in a left lane with no shoulder or had the engine seized and lock the wheels.