2000 Saturn LS: misfire or rough idle

5 of the 382 complaints about the 2000 Saturn LS describe misfire or rough idle.

owner complaints: 5
of this car's complaints: 1%
recalls: 0

Is there a fix? 51 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below

Misfire or rough idle by model year

2002
7
2001
3
2000
5

What owners say

Filed Nov 7, 2007 · Engine · 83,000 miles · OH

My car was paid off in may 2007 and the timing chain broke in november 2007. I brought it into the dealer about a year ago with poor fuel economy, rough idle in the morning, oxygen sensor failure and random cylinder misfire. The dealer could not isolate the problem. They pressurized the fuel system to check for leaks. Cleaned the injectors and charged me 150$... Did not help. They said it was probably a bad injector... Had the injectors checked and they were fine. Had the oxygen sensor replaced 3 times. Nothing helped. Turns out the tensioner on the timing chain was failing. The dealership never thought of this even though it is a very common problem on this motor. Well the problem persisted until the chain jumped and the car would not start. 1250$ is the estimate to install the updated timing chain kit not to mention the cost of a rental car, the time and aggravation caused by a saturn design flaw. Ps. My car has 83,000 miles on it.

Filed Mar 31, 2007 · Engine · 36,303 miles · MA

I wish to report the same defect already identified by action number pe06006 (and subsequently ea06-009). The timing chain defect was discovered before complete failure due to very rough idling, and after getting a first opinion from my saturn dealership and a second opinion from a local garage, I paid $820 for a timing change. Saturn refused to cover this obvious defect under warranty.

Filed Nov 15, 2005 · Engine · 25,994 miles · CO

Dt: the consumer stated that her vehicle experienced rough idle. The consumer then took the vehicle to a mechanic. The mechanic discovered a problem with timing chain. The timing chain was replaced by the mechanic. The consumer paid for the repair out of pocket. *nm (12/01/05)

Filed Mar 10, 2003 · Engine, Transmission · 12,000 miles · ME

Over 3.5 years that I have owned my 2000 saturn lw2 wagon, there have been recurring problems with severe engine misfires and extremely rough shifting of automatic transmission, accompanied by "service" or "service engine soon" dashboard lights coming on. Two different saturn dealers have repeatedly investigated and found "computer diagnostic codes" proving that "something" did happen, but repeatedly say that there is neither diagnosis of the root cause nor cure that can be applied, other than the band-aid of "resetting the computer" and telling me to go on my way, that will be fifty bucks please. In two cases this problem caused a complete breakdown requiring the car to be towed.

Filed Jan 16, 2001 · Electrical, Engine · AR

Engine check light would come on. Vehicle may or may not be able to start. Computer will not recalibrate itself. This causes motor to misfire. Mechanic would reset computer, but did not have a fixed remedy. Computer was defective.