Tl-the contact owns a 2004 saturn ion. The contact stated that in the mornings the vehicle will not start. The vehicle will start after many attempts. This failure has occurred every day over a period of four months. The contact received the recall notification related to nthsa campaign id number 14v047000 (air bags, electrical system), however parts are not available. The vehicle was taken to independent mechanic who could not diagnosed the vehicle. Vehicle has not been repaired. The manufacturer has been notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 94,127. Rg
2004 Saturn Ion engine complaints
Page 2 of 3: complaints 11 to 40 of 56, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I used to own one of the gm vehicles in the news lately regarding the ignition switch issue. I want to make sure people are looking at the ignition switch issue correctly. My vehicle was stopped at a red light when the engine simply shut off. This happened twice in the years I had owned it, but I don't remember the key being moved to the accessory position as is indicated on many of the new reports. I thought it weird, but thought I may have banged something, let the oil go far too long, or needed new spark plugs. Additionally, if you search online you'll find many instances where the car owners of this vehicle frequently have a key switch issue where an attempt to turn on the car randomly will activate the anti-theft system when trying to turn on the car despite having a perfectly valid and well used key. Gm probably has an internal note about this and it might relate to the parts that need to be fixed/recalled. Finally, I once did have my key come out of the ignition while the car was still running. I was trying to turn the car off quickly and the key just came out without going all the way to the off position. Perhaps I had a faulty ignition switch, but I want to make sure the investigators see this to ensure the proper fixes are applied for our safety.
We were driving on the highway at 70mph when the car stalled out and we lost power steering ability. We started the car again while it was in motion and it caught but it happened again a few more miles down the road. Since our saturn dealership was no longer in business, we had a trusted mechanic take care of it not knowing there were issues. I researched three recall notifications from saturn. One involved the left turn signal which we had to have fixed twice with a harness and bulb replacement in on 2/5/05 and again on 10/24/05. Another was a faulty ignition switch replacement also on 10/24/05. And then the third was the faulty electric power steering which as you know we had repaired on 10/4/12. I contacted gm about a reimbursement and they said no because we were past 10 years or 100,000 miles, and that the reimbursement form must be received by 8/31/11. My question to gm is, how can you put a limit on something that was faulty from the beginning? The new ignition and injectors in march 2010 ($758.94) and the new starter in august 2011 ($324) after having related problems/repairs due to the recall in oct 2005 show that something just wasn't right in the manufacturing of this model. And the power steering motor replacement ($177) in oct 2012 should also be reimbursed because gm already admitted it was a problem with the model year so regardless of whether we had 10,000 miles or 160,000 miles, it was faulty. Now we learn that they knew these were problems all along and did not take ownership of them. What really bothers me is that I inquired about all of this with them in december 2012 - this is supposed to be "a new gm" different from the company back in 2001? If they were different why did they refuse to reimburse me the $2,177 we spent in repairs, or admit that there was a recall? Is it because we did not die in an accident?
Tl- the contact owns a 2004 saturn ion. The contact stated that the vehicle will not start upon placing the key in the ignition. The vehicle makes a clicking noise, the service engine soon light illuminates and the vehicle shuts off. The contact has to wait a moment to restart the vehicle. The vehicle also stalls without warning on multiple occasions. The vehicle was diagnosed by an authorized dealer and an independent mechanic multiple times and the failures still recurr. The diagnosis was to replace the power steering magnets and replace the power pack. The repairs were made and the vehicle is still not safe to drive. The power steering shorts out at random. The instrument panel shows an error light for the power steering. After the vehicle was repaired multiple times the failures still recurr. The vehicle was taken to independent mechanics and authorized dealers. The power steering failure was not able to be diagnosed. The contact was also included in the federal safety agency campaign id number: 14v047000 (air bags , electrical system) and stated that the parts were not available. The dealer advised that part was not available to complete the required repairs. The manufacturer was contacted and provided an unreasonable estimated date for when the contacts vehiclewould receive the recalled repairs. The vehicle has not been repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 50000 and the current mileage was 63000. Dyd
This issue has been a long ongoing problem for me, with this car. I do not know the actual dates of the occurrences but it has been frequent enough that I have developed a method for starting my car that if I do not feel rushed, I can get the car to start most every time. If the key is inserted into the ignition and immediately turned to the full on positing in an attempt to start the car, it will, on occasion, turn over once and then go completely dead. If the attempt is repeated, the auxiliary lights will come on but the engine will not turn over. I had my car towed to a garage and replaced the battery, two different times before reading about a potential passlock issue with saturns. When I do have the problem now, I have found that waiting roughly 8 minutes(10 minutes to be safe), for the car to reset itself, which is an incredibly long wait, will generally allow you to start the car without further ignition difficulty. I have also discovered more recently that if I put the key in the ignition and turn it to the auxiliary mode, pause in this position for about 5 seconds(until the indicator light in the shape of a padlock turns off), then attempt to start the vehicle, it will start without issue every time.
Traveling up a steep hill in a residential area, the power cut out. All dials dropped to zero. Warning light indicators flashed and then turned off. Power steering cut out. I had enough forward momentum too get the car to the side of the street and out of traffic. After turning the key to the full off position I restarted the car and continued to work. I have not had that exact problem repeat itself since.
2004 saturn ion. Consumer writes in regards to electronic power steering failure. *smd the consumer stated she first started having front suspension problems, which the dealer fixed free of charge. The exhaust was leaking and she paid to have it replaced, along with the catalytic converter. Also, the horn stopped working. The consumer received a letter in july 2012, from gm stating the warranty was being extended because the electric power steering could fail. On december 16, 2013, the power steering failed, as the consumer was leaving a parking lot. She had to use extra force to turn the steering wheel. After a couple of minutes, it was back to normal. A test revealed, there was indeed a failure. When the consumer called gm, she was informed the extended warranty had expired on 11/28/13 the consumer no longer owns the vehicle. Updated 02/5/14
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 saturn ion. The contact stated that while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle stalled without warning on several occasions. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnosis but they were unable to duplicate the problem. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was notified. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 42,000.
This car will not start on cold days. When you try to start it starter engages and quits. Then you have to wait 10 to 30 mins for the car to start. I found out that saturn has faulty ignition switches and they have no recalls on this why? This is a safety hazard. Please make this a priority to have these switches recalled.
When starting the saturn on a cold morning, the ignition fails to start the car. I get a service message. After waiting about 10 minutes the car will start as if the security was resetting itself. I've read several complaints of this problem on the internet. Gm will not own up to a faulty product that leaves saturn owners completely stranded. This problem occurs at random times, even on warm days. A recall must be approved for this massive safety problem. It's a safety concern because in an emergency the cars shouldn't have to sit for an additional ten minutes or stall out in unsafe areas. The problem seems to correct itself after this ignition switch inside of the steering column has been replaced based on hundreds of testaments. I have replaced my stater and battery before realizing the problem was a faulty ignition switch that numerous other saturn owners have had the unpleasant experience of dealing with.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 saturn ion. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 MPH the vehicle stalled without any warning. The vehicle was unable to restart and was later towed to an independent mechanic. There has not been any diagnosis. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure and current mileage was approximately 89,000. The VIN was unavailable.
For the second time the ignition lock cylinder broke. Today we unable to turn off the engine. We had to remove fuses to kill the engine and disconnect the battery. The first time it happened we were stuck in the grocery store parking lot because the key would not turn to start. In both cases we had to break the ignition lock in order to remove the lock cylinder. With the cylinder removed we can use a screw driver to start the car. The screw is much more reliable.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 saturn ion l3. The contact stated that after removing the key from the ignition, the vehicle failed to shut down. The contact stated that the battery cables were manually disconnected so the engine could shut down. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 142,750 and the current mileage was 142,800.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 saturn ion. The contact stated the vehicle intermittently would not start. On numerous occasions, the contact would have to push the vehicle until it started. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure and the vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 107,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 saturn ion. The contact stated when the vehicle was turned on it failed to start. The failure occurred intermittently, and on one occasion the vehicle stalled without warning. The manufacturer took filed report 71948037911 and advised that they were not aware of the failure, and there were no related recalls. The vehicle will be taken to the local mechanic for diagnostic testing. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current miles were 58,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 saturn ion 3 coupe. The contact was approaching a traffic stop when the vehicle began to idle hard and displayed several attempts to stall. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic where a diagnostic was performed and the contact was advised that the catalytic converter would need replacement. He then contacted the manufacturer and was advised to take the vehicle to an authorized dealer. The dealer advised there were no recalls on the vehicle and the vehicle was not diagnosed by the dealer. The vehicle was not repaired and the failure became progressively worse to the point where it would stall sporadically and without warning. The failure mileage was 88,000 and the current mileage was 93,640.
My 2004 saturn ion will not start on cold days. I live in vermont so there are plenty of cold days. It usually takes me about 10 minutes to1/2 hour to get it started, if it starts. When it finally starts I have to leave it running so the engine will warm up because if I don't I have to start the process over again. This is a huge inconvenience! Everyone I've brought it to doesn't seem to know what the problem is. I love my car but could definitely do without this problem!
When the weather gets too cold, my car does not start. I either have to keep trying to start the ignition every 5 minutes and then in half an hour it starts or I have to wait until the sun comes out for my car to start. I've had this car for a couple of years now and I only have this problem from november-february. These are the coldest months and every morning during these months I have this problem of not being able to start my vehicle.
Driving down the road car shuts off, I was going 20mhp the road was straight came to a right hand bend in the road and car was off no ABS, no pwr ster, there were cars sitting at the stop sign. Luckily I was able to get the car stopped. To get the car started I had to put in park turn key off then turn key over and it starts right up. This is now the 2nd time this has happened. First time sitting at a red light car was running light turned green gave it the gas mid way through intersection car shut off again and drifted to side of the road with a bunch of cars honking. I thought I needed a tune up and that was 3months ago. That happened until two days ago. Car shuts off while driving with warning, if I was going any faster I would have hit the back end of the car that was stopped @ a stop sign. 2004 saturn ion 2.2l I have not done anything with this part do to no income right now.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 saturn ion. The contact started the ignition; however, the engine failed to start after several attempts. The previous day the vehicle was used to jump start another vehicle. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer for diagnostic testing. The technician stated that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle has not been repaired at this time. The battery has been replaced on three separate occasions. The failure mileage was 82,000.
Our 4 cylinder 2004 saturn ion has had unintended sudden acceleration problems for several years. I am a patent holding software and hardware engineer and I can state absolutely after observing the behavior over at least 4 years that this is a software issue and/or a sensor issue and not a sticking mechanical control. It is not necessary to even touch or move the accelerator pedal in order for this to occur. Under certain conditions of temperature and humidity, either some sensor malfunctions or some connector becomes intermittent or the software misreads something. At startup the engine runs at an unusually high idle (~800 RPM), and as soon as you put it in gear, the car lunges forward or backward hard and you have to put it in neutral to avoid having it run away with you - all this without touching the accelerator pedal. When you put the car in neutral the engine runs at between 3,000 and 4,000 RPM on the tachometer for a few seconds and then slowly drops back to an idle (~800rpm). As soon as you put it in gear again, the car lunges once again - throw it in neutral - 3,000 - 4,000 RPM, slowly recovers. After two - three minutes the engine stabilizes and the problem is gone. Please note this is all without touching the accelerator - ever! This happens when the vehicle is cold and usually during high humidity or rainy conditions. It is so unpredictable that I have never sought help from a dealer. It is not repeatable in a way that the dealer would be able to diagnose since it happens fairly rarely (sometimes a couple of times a week - sometimes once a month) and inconsistently. If I was an inexperienced driver and if this was a more powerful car, I would no doubt have had a serious accident by now. I have learned to pay attention to the motor when I first start the vehicle. If it sounds like it is idling a bit fast then I know it will try to run away with me when I put it in gear so I just wait for it to idle down to normal before putting it in gear.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 saturn ion. The vehicle would not start whenever the temperatures outside were low. The vehicle has not been diagnosed by the dealer and there were no prior warnings. The current and failure mileages were 63270.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 saturn ion. After driving for approximately ten minutes the vehicle intermittently stalls. The vehicle was in the process of being taken to the dealer for inspection. However on the internet she discovered many complaints describing the failure. The failure mileage was 55,000 . The vehicle identification number was unavailable.
I tried to start my 2004 saturn ion at about 11 pm last night and it took fifteen minutes for it to turn over. The temperature was about 28 degrees (f). This has happened several dozen times over the past few years, always when the temperature is below freezing. I know that saturn is aware of this problem and that it is acknowledged to be a problem with the ignition. I have found reports of hundreds of other ion owners who have experienced this problem. I think this needs to be recalled and fixed by saturn as sitting for 10-20 minutes or more in freezing temperatures waiting for one's car to start is not safe, especially at night. Please make this a recall issue!!
I purchased vehicle in 2004 brand new. The car continues to have a high idle creating a very dangerous driving situation. I must reset the battery once a week to restore it to normal. It seems to be fine for a week and high idle comes back. I have difficulty starting the car in the cold winter months. I must turn the headlights on to warm up the battery before trying to start car. Saturn was no help. Now I am stuck with a lemon! Help!
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 saturn ion. Whenever the contact attempts to start the vehicle in cold weather, it fails to start. On occasion, he must allow the vehicle to rest for 15 minutes before it will start. Other times, he must jumpstart the vehicle in order for the engine to start. The contact has not had the vehicle inspected by the dealer or a repair shop. He found a recall online pertaining to the failure, but it was unable to be found on the federal safety agency web site. The manufacturer was aware of the issue and stated that no recall was issued. The failure mileage was 70,000 and current mileage was 95,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 saturn ion. The contact had to make several attempts to start the engine successfully. There were no warning indicators illuminated on the instrument panel. The failure occurred more frequently in cold weather conditions. The authorized dealer was notified of the failure and they stated that it was a common occurrence. The vehicle is in the process of being taken to an authorized dealer for repair. The VIN and mileages were unknown.
I am 75 years old and this is the only car I have and I cannot rely on it to start when I need it. On several occasions, I have been headed to a doctor appointment and go to start the car and it will be as much as 30 minutes or more before it starts. It is criminal for saturn to know of this problem and not issue a recall to correct the problem. I do not know when they realized the problem and fixed it, but I'm on a fixed income and I put out a lot of money for this piece of junk! I thought saturn was a good company but I see now that don't really care about their consumers. I am very disappointed in them.
While running the A/C, it will leak water all over the front passenger side floor.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 saturn ion. The contact stated that when the vehicle and weather are too cold, the vehicle takes longer to start or will not start at all. The dealer stated that the oil that enters the engine does not heat up normally. The repair would cost $2,000. In addition, the power steering fails while the vehicle is in motion. The steering becomes very difficult to turn and must be done manually. The dealer stated that they would have to go into the steering column to repair the failure. The failure began a year after the vehicle was purchased and has become worse over the years. The failure mileage was 111,899.
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