14th Sep 2006, 07:05

It may help, but I would recommend replacing the weatherstripping along the door frame (the dealer will have the parts... this is cheap and not uncommon).

Also, some have reported success by adjusting the door striker / plate so the door fits more snugly onto the car.

Enjoy your car!

26th Sep 2006, 20:48

I recently bought a 1995 Saturn SW2 wagon with only 67,000 miles on it, great shape! Bought it for my delivery route. Everyone has said they are so reliable.

Each day I have to add 1/2 of oil, go so sick of this that I now just buy that cheap $1 SAE 30 non-detergent oil for it.

Also Transmission fluid leaks out a qt about every 500 miles.

Muffler rusted out so bad it blew a hole in it while going up a hill.

Other than that it's ok so far, but the oil leak is just so annoying.

I thot it was maybe just my car until I searched the web and see that it's the car!

Saturn...just more American trash!

1st Oct 2006, 14:13

To the comment about the cooling fan not kicking in -- I just had to replace the motor on my fan, as well as the computer because according to the mechanic, when the motor blew, it took the computer out with it. The fan seems to work now, but only when the coolant temperature gauge reaches 3/4 close to the red line. So I think the problem is not completely fixed yet.

A bizarre anomaly -- if I run the A/C, the fan will kick in earlier, and the temperature gauge drops dramatically. You might try this.

As far as other Saturn 95 anomalies -- my car eats oil, even synthetic, at a rate of about 1 quart/1500 miles. I've had the leaking windows, and the leaking AC. My car also makes a rough gravelly noise when going up hills (and regardless of the gear I'm in) but no mechanic has been able to solve that yet.

Another weird aspect: I can now no longer down-shift into second gear, but have to lean the gear into first then pull it into second. I suspect it has to do with the linkage of the gear-selector fork, but I've found a way around it so I won't fix it for now.

Has anyone noticed that A/C airflow will vacillate? Sometimes even when I put the fan on high, the air will not exit the vents and it sounds like it is blowing inside the dashboard. At other times it works beautifully.

All quirks aside, I've had worse cars.

22nd Dec 2006, 18:03

In response to that problem with the cooling fan. The A/C switch is linked directly to the fan and will turn it on at any time. My guess is that your ECTS (Electronic Coolant Temperature Sensor) is bad or going bad. The ECTS tells the computer to turn on the fan, when it goes bad it takes a much higher temp to trigger it.

I would also suggest changing the coolant and replacing the thermostat. When I did that it made the car run much more smoothly as it was reaching the correct temperature instead of getting too hot or too cold. As an added bonus it also gets better mileage now.

The only reason I can think of for the A/C to go goofy is the plenum inside the system is not moving correctly, this could be due to a weak signal from a switch or about ten other things. I'd just try to move the selector back and forth a bit to loosen things up and see if it helps. If you do tear into it make sure that the moving bits are all lubed well before putting it back together.

22nd Jan 2007, 17:19

I bought my 95 Saturn SL1 in August (2006) at 70,000 miles. I only paid $700 (canadian) because it had been sitting for years. I was willing to work on it (replaced trans. seal, PCV valve and timer belt the day I got it and did a full fuel line cleaning and coolant cleaning/replacement). The engine was (and still is to some extent) really dirty, but I get oil changes frequently and it seems to be a lot cleaner lately. Also added a cleaner and that definitely helped after a few changes.

I drive for work A LOT (on all types of roads, idling, speeding, etc etc). In 4 1/2 months I'm up to 80,400 miles. I have a lot of similar problems, but over all, I agree it really is how you treat the car. Whoever had this car before me treated it like crap, didn't do regular mainteance and it shows. I'm sure I could have gone up to 100,000 miles without these issues had the previous owner respected it.

Bad things:

-when I first bought it my "service engine" light went on after a few minutes of driving over 50mph. We couldn't figure out what was wrong because it was driving fine, I thought it was just a faulty light. One day it started sputtering and I lost all engine power and steering. Replaced the fuel filter and all was fine for a while (3 months)

-Started sputtering again recently and this time it was the EGR valve, I couldn't afford to replace it ($400), so I had it cleaned. Works fine again. I read on another forum someone had this EXACT same pattern and eventually the EGR valve had to be replaced outright, but then all was fine.

-My fan will not go on while idling anymore, thus overheating. But cranking the heater to full blast is 100% effective. I'm sure this is a fan motor issue. I guess come spring I will have to get this fixed, but right now I'm fine with it as a temporary solution.

Everyday issues and positive things:

-Burns oil like a sonofagun, but HAS AMAZING FUEL EFFICIENCY!!! I think people really underestimate how important the last bit is. I don't care about adding oil. $30 (canadian) of gas lasts me for 275 miles. No joke. So buying a $7 4Ljug of oil every 3 weeks or so is totally unimportant to me (remember I drive a lot, 2000+ a month)

-seems that the previous owner had the same problem as a lot of you with the door leaking, I see staining on the ceiling, but it has never once leaked for me! Maybe he fixed it?

-I had minor traction issues, but bought good winter tires and now it's GREAT (I realize this doesn't apply to a lot of you)

-RUST FREE BODY!! (some fittings are rusted under the hood, but that's it.)

All in all, I'm happy with the car for the price I paid. It's only quit on me twice in 10,000 miles and was easily fixed. Despite the initial money I put into cleaning it/fixing it up (probably another 700), I have really only fixed the fuel filter and EGR valve, along with regular maintenance (brake pads & wiper arm bolts)

I can see how some people would be upset if they paid a lot for it used or bought it new and had these issues. It's all in what you want out of a car and it really is how you treat it. I'm willing to work on it to some extent. If it comes to an engine/transmission needing a replacement it's garbage, but like I said, I wouldn't be upset if that happened because of the price I paid and the miles I already got out of it.

Don't buy a 95 car of any "mid-range price" brand and expect it to have no major problems!!! Every car manufacturer has it's bugs. Saturn's seem to be with the EGR valve, door leaking and oil burning. Better than some of my other old cars!