25th Mar 2008, 15:37
Hello, my 1995 Saturn wagon lost the manual shifter the other day. (Easter Sun. brunch, 2008) The crummy little rubber boot that holds the linkage together, fell apart. (very common from what I'm reading) It was stuck in 4th gear. I drove it home in 4th (I live at the top of a 1500 foot hill) Starting from a stop in 4th on an up hill, is tons of fun. (I can still smell the clutch) After I got it home, I just pulled out the center console and wrapped some bailing wire around the linkage. Works like a champ! There is very little stress on the wire because it's just holding the ring on the steel ball. The steel ball takes all the stress. I just wanted to know how you guys drilled out the steel ball to install the bolt? That sounds almost imposable. I got this car for $1200 to haul my dog around and so far it has been fairly good. I have over 200,000 miles and other than sucking oil, it just goes. (what do ya want for $1200)? Thanks for reading and Good Luck...
2nd Apr 2008, 09:07
I recently bought a 97 Saturn wagon SW1. The car works very good so far. My only problem is that the rear wiper doesn't work. The washer works fine, but not the wiper. I tried replacing the fuse, but that didn't help. My next guess is the wiper motor. Is this a big job? Any advice as to how to do this?
15th May 2008, 23:14
Well for the people that are having a problem with oil consumption, take off the hose that comes from the valve cover and connects to the intake pipe. I did this over 3 months ago and ALL OIL CONSUMPTION HAS STOPPED. What I'm guessing is that the intake sucks oil from this valve on the cover. Try it out and see. Also, Lucas oil stabilizer helps and it makes the engine run smoother.
15th May 2008, 23:20
I posted a comment a little while ago, I forgot to mention that when you take off that hose, also clean your intake throttle body. It's probably going to be filled with gunk and oil from the throttle suction. You'd be amazed at the wonders this would do to the responsiveness of the car. It also took away this annoying check engine light I had; the gunk probably messed with the TPMS.
13th Jun 2008, 16:46
My daughter has had her 97 SC2 for 7000 miles since 83000.
Her car does use about half a quart ever oil change at 3000 miles.
9th Jul 2008, 16:27
I could just cry. My wife and I bought our first new car ever in the spring of 1997. It was a 1997 Saturn SL1. The dealership was awesome and the entire experience was incredible. The first 3 years was a dream compared to the nightmare that followed. Non stop problems with the front top motor mount breaking every 3-6 months. I go through more oil now than I do gas. It only has 150K miles, but the last 50K was the toughest.
Every time I speed up after a stop, I feel like I'm in an old spy movie because of the smoke cloud I leave at every intersection. Now the transmission is going out. The infamous "coolant low" light trick started 6 months ago. You know the one, the light comes on and you freak out, pull over and check the level and it is completely full. I will never give my money to GM ever again.
This is supposed to be the best that an American auto producer can do? I know all cars series have a few problem children, but this is down right embarrassing as an American product. I guess for a quality product I still need to buy foreign. What a sad, sad day.
12th Jul 2008, 04:45
I have a 96 Saturn SL1 that I bought 2 years ago. Goes through about 1/2 qts of oil every 3 fill-ups.
I did my research before buying this car. Knew being 10 years old, work would need to be done. All 4 motor mounts, front struts, tensioner, idler pulley, belt, alternator, brakes. Saturnfans.com is an awesome site to find fixes or just general questions as to what to expect. If you go into it with eyes open, you're fine.
I am a woman and not overly mechanical, but my 15 year old son and I can work on this thing. Previous owner replaced engine due to letting it burn all the oil and never checking it. So the engine is a 2000. Body has about 150k miles on it, and engine has about 80k now. Still runs great, and is a fun car to drive.
My 20 year old son has decided to snag it from me upon his return from his military station, so I went and bought a 97 SC2. You just have to know what you're getting into.
Do the MMO soaks for the oil consumption (don't be surprised if your gas mileage suffers a bit for a while), and do Seafoam to clean out the throttle body. No big deal.
31st Jul 2008, 22:09
After my parents bought a wonderful 2004 Saturn Ion 3, I decided to buy a Saturn for myself.
After much searching, I found a shiny red 2000 Saturn SC1 with 77000 miles on it. I bought it for what I thought was a steal!
I was so impressed by the car, especially the handling and great gas millage. Sure it was a basic commuter car, but it was my car and I was proud of it, until I realized how badly abused it had been by the previous owner.
After some better inspection, I discovered that the car had been in a slight accident that was not reported to the insurance, and a quick fix repair job to the exterior of the front bumper. No big deal right, until the paint started peeling from improper paint techniques.
Next I had discovered that my car was leaking oil. So being an 18 yo guy I fixed it myself with a new drain plug seal (A very easy fix)! However, my car also uses varying amount of oil, which can be quite annoying, considering I drive it to and from school on breaks at 300 miles each way.
While buying the car, I was told that all SC Saturns use oil, so while it is sometimes annoying, I was prepared.
All of these things being said about the negatives, Saturn customer service has been great and my car runs very well. And let me tell you I drive a lot; I have put over 10000 miles in less than six months (no exaggeration).
This Saturn is a great basic car for anyone, and I will always continue to own them, even though it has quirks.
And to those who say Saturn is not an honest company, I disagree; I have dealt with different dealers around my region, and all have been very honest and straight-forward.
Best of luck to all those who decide to make the plunge and buy one!!!
PS check your stinking oil; it's basic common sense!
10th Jan 2008, 21:07
Thank you for the kind comments and boost of confidence from January 5, 2008. You've certainly gotten your money's worth out of your Saturn if you were able to get it to 283K. Wow! I had trouble with a shifter retaining clip falling out of both of our '97s (once in each car). I was immediately locked out of anything under third gear. Fortunately, the repairs were cheap and allowed full function immediately thereafter. This condition may be similar to the shift problem you experienced.
As for continuing the report on the synthetic 5w30 in the 97 SW1, I just put in my second quart at about 1200 miles from the oil change I did just before Thanksgiving. I am averaging somewhere between 500-700 miles before I burn off a quart. Judging from the smoking pattern, I'm sure that it occurs almost exclusively just at initial warm up. I guess that's not too bad after all, so I also switched my wife's '97 SL2 to synthetic this week. These are economy cars and one should not expect them to function like a Bugatti Veyron especially when they're well above 100k. Wash and take care of these mostly plastic covered little beasts and they'll look and run fine for years. From 50 feet, ours still look new.
By the way, I also recently performed a first time serpentine belt job on both cars. If you take the front passenger wheel off and remove the lower plastic access panel in the wheel well, the operation is very easy. Who would ever imagine that you'd have to pop off wheels and access panels to gain access to a serpentine-oh well..
Thanks again.
Onward!
Rex.