One problem related to engine clicking and tapping noises has been reported for the 1996 Saturn SL2. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
There was a clicking sound in the engine; when I tried to press the gas it just revved the engine but had a hard time getting up to speed; I was driving home with my two daughters; going about 30 mph and I heard a loud noise and then stuff falling under my car. . . . The car died. I pushed the car about a block and half to my house. My children and I then went to pick up the pieces of the engine. . . One of the pistons had blown out of the block. There was a huge whole on the lower right of the engine. I had several mechanics come look at it and they said it was a "freak" accident. There was still oil in the engine so I had not ran it out of oil. The noise just started and immediately the engine was bad. I bought it with 113000 miles on it and had it only a 6-8 weeks when this happened. I had 117000 mile on it when it broke down.