I had a problem with my 2004 saturn ion not starting a few times last winter I thought it was related to water in the fuel or a battery problem and after taking steps to fix any defects with either I had no further problem with my car until the first cold day this winter. It has in the last month failed to start at least 6 times, all on cold mornings. It will eventually start after trying for about 10 minutes. I am no longer under warranty so I did some research before calling the dealer and found other owners with the exact same problem. I then called the dealership where I purchased the car and although they knew of the problem, they were still going to charge me diagnostic fees if I brought in my car. I contacted the saturn corporation to find out why that have not issued a recall and did not get an answer to my question. I am presenting this as a safety problem for a few reasons. It is not safe to be sitting in your car in freezing temperatures for as long as it takes to eventually start. You can't plan ahead for emergencies. Most importantly, I have automatic locks that unlock everytime you remove the key and the car will not even turn over if I don't remove the key in between each attempt. I do not feel safe sitting in my car for 10-15 minutes, late at night, after work in a dark parking lot without locked doors, and I don't want anything to happen to my family or anyone else's just because their car wasn't built properly.
2004 Saturn Ion electrical complaints
Page 12 of 12: complaints 311 to 331 of 331, newest first, as owners wrote them.
We own a 2004 saturn ion. Every time the temperature drops into the below 30 f, the vehicle will not start, even though the battery is good. Saturn has issued a technical service bulletin on this problem because it is so widespread and pervasive of a problem. This is a recall situation due to defective engineering on the part of saturn/gm, and the owners should not have to bear the financial burden because of defective engineering on the part of saturn/gm. In addition, putting a small electric heater in the compartment of the car to keep the car warm, so the car will start when it is cold, presents a dangerous situation (fire, property damage, etc) owners of affected saturn's should not have to endure.
I have had my 04 ion for one and half years now, and last year when the weather started to get cold, it would not start. I called the dealer and they told me that the grease around the ignition could not tolerate the cold weather here in nevada. So I had it replaced. Problem solved, until this year. Just today, for the first time this year, it didn't start. Now the weather here has been in the teens for the past week, this tells me that it's not just the temperature, there has to be something else. But no one can tell what. Something needs to be done.
Car wouldn't start whenever temp got below 35 degrees. This happened twice.........the second time I took the car to the dealer and they tell me the starter switch needed replaced! This on a car that has fewer than 60k on it. They also had to reprogram the bcm. Apparently, I'm one of 100's that has had this problem! Saturn dealer was very nice about the whole thing............but is this not a safety hazard if the temp is really frigid and your car needs to start to keep warm??
Starter failure saturn ion in cold weather. Half hour to 45 minutes to crank - backfiring in a closed system with fuel injection occasionally, twice blowing lid off of air-filter compartment - not a joy. "service engine" light goes on - late to work - common problem - lots of online complaints. Replaced batteries believing this to be problem. New batteries with higher cranking amps does not solve. Not a battery problem. Date given is most recent occurrence, with only one event on that date. It also occurred on 2/19/06, many times in 01/06, a few times in 12/05, and several times in 12/04, 01/05, and 02/05. It did not happen when I bought the car in 02/04 - but that was a much milder winter than years that followed. Treatment of gasoline with "heat" does not solve. Car runs like a dream when warmer weather - utterly inconvenient and embarrassing ("what? This is a saturn? New and won't start? Less than 16,000 miles on it?") when cold. Bad advertising for the company too.
I have taken my saturn ion3 in to the dealership three times now for the body control module keeps blowing fuses. The first time was the week after christmas 2005, the second was exactly a month later and the third time was o week after that. On the first visit they say that they replaced the (bcm), on the second visit they just replaced the fuse and sent me on my way and the third visit they said that they could not re-create the problem and told me to pick up my car after a week. I picked my car up on thursday evening and not 3 days later and the fuse is blown again. Their only answer was to give me a couple extra fuses in the panel area so that I could change them myself.
2004 saturn ion no crank and no start when the outside temperature is cold. Lots of complaints on the web. Lots of ions have this issue.
Dt: the contact stated digital clock was losing one minute of time per month. He had to look at his wrist watch to keep accurate time. Contacted the dealer, and they offered no free remedy.
Dt: the consumer received recall 04v547000 concerning the exterior lighting: turn signal. She had the recall repairs performed three separate times. Approximately two months after the recall work was performed, the problem recurred. After the last repair, she believed it will happen again. The service dealer informed her that the vehicle was no longer under warranty, and she would be responsible for future costs for this repair. *ak the ignition switch was replaced. Updated 11/29/05. *
Dt: the turn signals worked intermittently. Also, thee car would not start. The vehicle started after multiple attempts of turning the key in the ignition. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, who repaired the problem. They were aware of an ongoing issue with the ignition. The turn signals were repaired under a recall. Since then there was one incident where they did not work properly. The consumer felt they did not complete the repair. There was a tsb on the issue that the dealer used to correct it. These problems began in december 2004, and were thought to be corrected by the dealer. Last week after filling the gas tank up the vehicle would not start. The contact made several attempts to start the vehicle and was unsuccessful. The contact's husband came and turned the key in the ignition and the vehicle started. The vehicle was not returned to the dealer at that time. No further repairs on this matter.
As I was going to start my 2004 saturn ion this morning, it would not turn over. The car would not start. I waited 15 minutes and tried again and it would not turn on. The transmission light was on and the service vehicle warning was on. This is not the first time I have had this problem. I was late for work due to this. I could not get the car started. My car has been serviced recently, so I know it is not my fault. I contacted the dealership at 9 am and was told to bring the car in at 4:00 pm , if it would start. Otherwise it will be towed and I will receive a rental.
2004 saturn ion suddenly stalled while driving with my family. This happened on 8/5/05 and 8/20/05. Everything died for no apparent reason, which made it difficult to maneuver the vehicle without power steering in traffic. When I came to a safe stop with the stalled vehicle I pulled out the ignition key and re-entered it. The car then started just fine and there were no stalling issues since then. The problem I foresee is the fact that someone could get hurt and get in a serious accident while trying to control a vehicle without power in traffic. Also, as a reaction to the engine stall, someone might try to remove the ignition key while in motion and accidentally lock the steering wheel, which could be lethal. I also find it irritating that you would not expect a 10 month old car with approx. 8000 miles on the odometer to stall without warning (I.e. No engine noise, no check engine light, full tank of gas..etc.) while cruising along. I also believe the dealership/manufacturer will have a hard time to duplicate the problem, because the engine stall happened for no apparent reason and the car runs fine otherwise. This is why I have not yet reported the incidents to the dealership, because it would be a waste of time until more ion owners report this issue to you folks. However, I just wanted to get the word out. I looks like my ion is not the only saturn ion with this kind of problem according to the already existing car stalling complaints.
While driving my 2004 saturn ion, it dies for no reason. There are no consistencies to the problem. It has happen approximately 25 times over the last 6 months. I will be taking it back to the dealership for the 4th time this evening. The dealership claims that they cannot duplicate the problem and cannot find the source of the problem to fix it. The problem has occurred on the highway in traffic. I could be in a serious accident and have indicated to the dealership and saturn corporation that I feel I am driving an unsafe car. They have no solution for the problem.
Dt: while driving down the road the vehicle dies. Sometimes will push the accelerator and nothing happens. When first bought the vehicle did this, readjusted the computer. And now was doing the same thing again . Took vehicle to saturn, they kept saying nothing was wrong with the vehicle.
Dt: car stalls without warning while driving and when turn the car off, it will not turn back on. Dealer said they could not find the cause of the problem. Manufacturer said they cant help caller.
3 days in a row 2004 saturn ion 2 won't start. After waiting 10 min I tried again and it started. This only happens when it is cold our temp.have been averaging -4 to 13 degress.will be going into the dealers tues.there should be a recall on the pass lock sensor since I have read on another site about all the problems this is causing with saturn not starting.
I live in the pittsburgh area and have had my ion for almost a year and have never had a problem with. That is until this winter. 4 times I have came out of work at night on cold nights to start my car only to have it not start. After about 15 - 25 minutes of trying my car finally starts up. After I have sat in the cold. I can't wait for the day it decides not to start. Anyway I never left anything on , no doors were left open,nothing. I don't know if this has something to do with the battery being located in the trunk of the car or not. Everything else is fine and it runs fine after I do get it to start. We are expecting some cold days ahead were in live in the next few weeks, so I can't wait to see if it happens again. We I leave work everyone around me has no problem starting up there car different makes and years no problem. I will be giving my dealership a call tomorrow to see if they can help but I am sure as most dealerships are they won't. Anyone else have this problem?
This has happened twice. My parents bought a saturn ion 2, it is only about 6 months old. After driving the car to their location and turning it off, they came back to the car (maybe 2 hours later), to start the car and nothing would happen. The first time this happened, they called the dealership and was told to push the unlock button several times on the remote. After about 20 pushes the car was finially able to be started. They brought the car to the place where it was purchased only to have someone tell them they don't see anything wrong and don't know why it did not start. About 1 month later the same thing happened again, they called the dealership, spoke with someone in the shop area and was told they couldn't help them out but if they brought the car into the shop, it would have to left over night to see if they can find any problems. We tried to push the unlock button on the remote as we were told last time to do this - it didn't work this time. After sitting in the car for about an hour, the car finially did start. Also on two other separate occassions, on the dash panel, the mileage would dissappear and words would appear. I dont know what this was about, but when this was mentioned to the shop they said not to turn off the car and that it should be brought directly to them. On both of these occassions it was impossible to do that. When the car is turned off and started again, the words disappear. Are there any other complaints or problems like this?
Usually I charge my cell phone at home overnight. But on monday 9/20/04 I had forgotten to charge the phone and used the cell phone charger in my new 2004 saturn ion 2 sedan. I noticed that my turn signal indicator was flashing quickly. I stopped to check and found that the front turn signals were not working and the normal daytime running lights were not working. I went to the local saturn dealer. He said I needed upgraded resistors and capacitors to handle my cell phone charger. This was done under warrantee in 2 hours. From research on the internet bulletin boards I found that this problem with the electrical system happens with some but not all cell phone chargers. The saturn factory recognized the problem and put in the better resistors and capacitors to handle cell phone chargers in cars made after 5 months ago. This is a potential safety problem if people continue to drive with non working front turn signals, it could lead to an accident. I also wonder if people with the old electrical system might suffer damage to their electrical system with cell phone charges over time which could lead to a failure of the electrical system. In my case I immediately recognized the problem because my lights stopped working. What about someone who's cell phone charger doesn't turn off the lights but just strains the electrical system leading to electrical system failures.
While the vehicle parked while running the vehicle idling high on its own. The driver noticed while driving the vehicle would hesitate and would stalled. The driver tried to restart,but was able to do so. The driver was able to drive the vehicle to the dealer. The mechanic informed the driver that the vehicle was operating as design. *nm (possible valve sticking) when accelerating from stop, the vehicle would hesitate, then take off at a high rate of speed. This would also occur in reverse as well. There were times when accidents would almost occur. There would be high RPM's of 6000 plus. This was an intermittent problem. It was believed to be a problem with the vti transmission. Additional problems: wind noise when sunshade was cracked, turn signal would not cancel on turns and the chime would go off and was an intermittent problems, the driver's side dash seemed loose and or misaligned, and the wipers would not clear the window.
I purchased my 2004 saturn ion 3 on thursday june 10, 2004. On sunday june 13 there were substantial rains in the atlanta area and I noticed that the trunk was full of approximately 2 inches of standing water around the tire and battery. The box of books in the trunk along with some other personal items were damaged from the water. On monday june 14, after having had the car in my posession for only 4 days I returned it to the dealership. They advised me on tuesday june 15 that the hole where the water is supposed to drain out of if the car had a sunroof was left unplugged during manufacturing resulting in the flooding of the trunk. I was able to pick up my car on the morning of wednesday june 16. Later that afternoon, as I was using the power outlets in the car the turn signals and daytime running lights became inoperable. In order for my turn signals and daytime running lights to work I must unplug whats in the power outlet and turn the ignition off. When I restart the car they are operable again, but if I need to use my power outlets I must use them knowning that I won't have turn signals or daytime running lights. I feel that this is a safety issue because I either have to give up the use of my power outlets or my turn signals and running lights.
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