2008 Saturn Aura: engine overheating

Filed Jan 1, 2022 · Transmission · IN

The list goes on. Shifting issues started and we've been trying to figure it out among other issues.. Transmission shift cable. Power train transmission. Car randomly won't accelerate while driving. Dials not moving periodically. Coolant holds normally then randomly is emptied like their is a leak. Fill it up & it sucks it on like it won't hold it. Thirsty. Coolant leak but no service light. Car overheated for awhile but now doesn't. Wouod just shoot up to red zone. Got a call last night that it wasn't shifting right & sounded bad. Wks before randomly hard shifted. Our kid was stranded in the cold. Got to him & the car wouldn't shift from neutral. It rolled backwards on him & he threw on the parking brake thankfully!! Scary ordeal & thankful he is ok. When shifting gears, the shifter moved but sounds like it's not connected to anything & the gears don't shift. It stays in neutral. Car won't start. He also randomly has battery issues when his alternator & battery are good. Car just won't start randomly. It is available for inspection once we get it home.. I was led here thinking, it has to have recalls & we weren't notified then I saw recalls for this make & model, just not ours. No warning lights this time. Service engine has came on before them go off intermittently. We've had it connected at auto zone & fixed a few codes it through then service light went off. It's reduced engine power while driving & doesn't accelerate. Drives slow. Reduced power. All these previous issues now the shifting cable. :(

Filed Apr 27, 2020 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 152,840 miles · FL

I bought my 2008 saturn aura xr used off a car lot last year around march I started having starting issues in may shortly after buying the car . I have replaced the starter battery & other costly things but still have the no start no crank issue with my car it's still driveable but when the car heats up my car wont start until after the car cools for about 30 minutes to an hour my car is not showing signs of overheating this problem is very stressful & dangerous I'm tired of being stuck when I go places also sometimes my car doesn't go past 20 MPH & I have to pull over shut the engine down and wait 15 minutes & my driver seat stopped working

Filed Jul 10, 2019 · Driver assistance, Engine · 93,986 miles · OH

Traction and ESC service warnings come on randomly. Car reduces engine power randomly. Car jerks randomly and will not accelerate in traffic. Coolant leaks but coolant warning does not activate, car overheats.

Filed Sep 21, 2014 · Engine, Transmission · 66,728 miles · NC

While driving home from work, my temp gauge shot up just beyond the 3/4 mark into the red zone. I pulled over and waited for about 14 minutes till the gauge came down to just under 1/2. I began to move the vehicle again and the gauge kept jumping up and down till I got home. I looked under the hood and noticed that the radiator fluid reservoir was about empty. I added radiator fluid and left the car parked till the next day. Drove the car around for almost 29 days when it began to overheat again. Once again when I looked under the hood, the reservoir was about empty again. I look up the problem on the internet and have found that a lot of gm owners with vehicles that have the 3.5l or 3.9l engines have been experiencing the same problem but gm will not fix the issue (gasket leak at the side of the block). According to what I have read, this is a known issue with these engines but gm has not done a thing to correct the problems.

Filed Jun 20, 2013 · Electrical, Wheels · 73,200 miles · NC

I purchased and 08 aura about 1.5 years ago for my teenage daughter. Other than a few minor problems the car was fine. A couple of months ago she experienced a dead battery and was able to have a friend "jump start" the car and as for the battery, it has been fine since. The problem was that the tire pressure monitor system (TPMS) was inoperative and would not reset manually. These TPMS, I believe, came about due to the inability to be able to visually see that a tire is "low" with todays "run flat', low profile, and stiffer sidewall, tires and that the majority of drivers do not know how to check tire pressure anyway. I was therefore concerned about my daughters safety as well as other that could be involved in a crash that resulted from poor handling or worse, an overheated tire and blowout. I did some searching and discovered that gm had issued a technical service bulletin (tsb) explaining that the TPMS failure was due to a "low voltage" incident that causes the control module to lose memory. The fix, according to the tsb, was to reprogram the module with updated software. This being a known condition and safety concern, I did not expect to have to pay for the repair. I contacted gm who refused to cover the repair and I ultimately paid about $60. My concern is that this is a safety concern on multiple vehicles from gm including most of the 08 saturn line as well as the pontiac g5 and g6, and chevy cobalt. I also found that the federal safety agency found reason for recall on some gm SUV's a couple of years ago due to a programming error on the TPMS which is what this is. As these 08 cars age they are now reaching the expected life of their battery and replacing them which is causing the TPMS system to be inoperative. I believe that gm should for sake of the safety of their customers recall these affected cars and prevent future accidents. Some may have already happened.