22nd Dec 2005, 20:03

I own a 97 SL2 Saturn all power. It has 72K miles and pretty decent shape except for the plastic body paint chips. I recently went to change oil and could not for the life of me find the oil filter. I almost took the trans axle filter off by mistake. I still have yet to locate the oil filter. Other than that my Saturn runs like a charm. Any buffs out there who can tell me where the oil filter is?

29th Dec 2005, 11:05

I have a 95 SL-2. Currently has ~132000 miles on it and burns a lot of oil. I'm putting in at least a quart per gas fill up. Other than that, this has been a great car. I bought it new. If I can just cut the oil burning, I'll be happy with it until 200K. I'll try the MMO fix. Maybe go to synthetic oil, too.

5th May 2006, 20:12

Well... Mine finally went. Chalk one up to the power of the internet, because I found this page soon after I bought my 1997 SC2 two years ago when it had 138k on it. (I picked it up for $3500, and to the previous owners credit he also told me it burned some oil when I bought it.) I researched my car on the net and found this page, and with the oil treatment trick on the faulty seals and rings, I managed to push it to 197k, till today. It was due for an oil change, and in spite of having plenty of oil in it, one of the valves just clattered to a rediculously loud end. Obviously oil is now everywhere, all over my driveway, where I was lucky enough to be when it died. I've treated it with slick 50 with the last oil change, so it will still spin and actually fire off, but I'd be shredding valves if I did that thanks to pieces now floating around in there. I have to say, that car was a real piece, and saturn is the worst car company ever for this (and other) crap, regardless of the fact I was able to squeak that many miles out of it.

Lemme tell you another thing that saturn maintenance tries to screw people on, and how I beat them on it, just in case anyone has this problem. There is a plastic piece that connects the shift linkage to the shifter. When it breaks, your shifter just goes floppy in your hand. I discovered this because I was out in the boondocks when mine broke, and it was rig it up or not get home. I took it apart, and literally tied the shifter to the linkage with nylon string, and managed to limp it home. Anybody have the floppy shifter problem and get that fixed? saturn wants to make you replace the entire shift linkage for a $.50 plastic grommet, which is all that breaks. Oh hell no! I drilled the ball off the bottom of the shifter, got 2 big rubber grommets and a bolt from Ace hardware for less than $5, and bolted the shifter back to the linkage. 1 hour and $5 later, I was shifting better than I ever had on their cheap plastic crap. What was saturn going to do it for? $400, replace the ENTIRE shift linkage, because the plastic piece was connected to it.

Anyway - don't buy a Saturn. The SC2 is a deceptive monster - you've heard great things about saturn thanks to their media blitz - you see a sporty little SC2 somebody is willing to sell cheap... don't buy it. The car or the hype. I got lucky and saw this page right after I bought mine, so I was warned and yet mine still died. Tomorrow I'm buying a Honda.

11th Jul 2006, 11:30

The oil filter on any sl or sc car is on the back of the engine on the right side. If you slide under the car from the front it is on your right side mid way up. The oil will drain out and onto your passenger side frame. It is very easy to change as well, even with a oil filter wrench.

31st Jul 2006, 14:15

$5000 for a new trans? Was it made of gold? You got duped--and bad. Why doesn't anyone shop around anymore? You would find that this car has a pretty common and reasonably priced transmission.

20th Aug 2006, 18:47

Oh thank God I found this website. I have a 1997 SL1 that has 130k miles on it. I paid 1k in repairs to get it inspected, because the windshield wiper motor burned itself out and a bunch of other little crap. Well, last year the shifter cable clips just randomly broke on me and I only could get into 3rd and 5th gear. Also, my radiator is leaking like CRAZY. I just looked in the engine to replace the thermostat because it's overheating also, and there's a big honking crack down the right side of my radiator. Plus, nothing (not even the battery) is easy to get to to work on yourself. I will NEVER buy another Saturn in my life. 1979 Volkswagen Rabbit Diesel for me!!!

16th Oct 2006, 09:50

To all my Saturn friends. I'm sorry to hear all these problems, and yes I am a new member to the family with problems.

I purchased a used 1998 SL 5 speed manual with 138,425 back in May of 2006. Had it for about five long hard months.

First problem was the linkage to the shifter cables. Was at a Mc Donald's drive through and it just went limp. I called a tow company and they told me that it could be fixed on the spot. So I started to wonder why? I removed the center console and found that a plastic piece that connected the two together had broke. I said to myself well if they're going to charge me to fix it, I'll just try my shoe lace and to my surprise it worked. Drove it for about another 100 miles. Then had the cables replaced - cost $478. But now I know from one of our family members here that if it happens again, just drill the ball out and replace it with a rubber fitter and a bolt. I'm going to try that when it happens again because we all know its going to happen again.

Now my next problem is rough idle, changed everything from plugs to idler, still same problem. Maybe it's because it a 4 cylinder or just poor design? We all know American made anything is not worth the money.

Oil is my next problem - I have to add at least a quart every other week. It's something we all have done once or maybe even a few hundred times a year dealing with Saturns. I'm just going to run it until it dies. And get a more reliable car. Never again will I buy anything made here.

For all you people looking to buy a Saturn I say to you don't!!! It's not worth the headache.