My 2001 saturn l200 failed to start due to a broken/damaged timing chain. The vehicle has 101,000 miles. I was disappointed to learn that this particular failure is well known on this vehicle, and in fact a recall was issued for certain vins in this same model year of vehicle. However, my VIN was not included. This damage caused me to incur $1900 worth of repairs. I was lucky that the issue occurred in my driveway and not out on the highway as some consumers have reported. Saturn and general motors are not doing their due diligence to help consumers repair their vehicles before problems occur and potential safety concerns arise.
2001 Saturn LS engine complaints
Page 8 of 12: complaints 191 to 220 of 339, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl*the contact owns a 2001 saturn l-series. The contact received a recall notice for the federal safety agency campaign id number 07v519000 (engine and engine cooling). He has made several attempts to have the vehicle repaired; however, the dealer would not honor the recall. There had been no failure to date. The VIN was unknown. The current mileage was 35,000.
Went out one morning and tried to start car and it would crank but would not start. Had towed to mechanic and was told that the timing chains were broke and needed replaced.
The fan motor has stopped working. The mechanic took the motor off and tested it and found that it works directly to the battery but not to the switch. I replaced the switch and the fuses and the fan still is not working.
I own a 2001 saturn lw300 wagon with 96,000 miles. My daughter and I were driving home from school when the car suddenly lost power. The check engine light appeared, and the car would not crank. I was fortunate to be able to coast the last one-half mile to our sub-division. The car was towed to a saturn dealer who told me that it had jumped the timing, and the engine would need to be replaced. He said that there were no new engines available, and that used a used engine would cost around $4000.00, which is the wholesale value for the car. I have declined repairs, and am looking to sell or donate the car to charity for salvage parts.
Tl*the contact owns a 2001 saturn l200. The timing chain slipped a link and caused the guides that kept the chain in place to fail. As a result, the chain expanded, damaged the valves, and caused the engine to stall. The dealer stated that nothing could be done because the VIN was not included in the federal safety agency campaign id number 07v519000 (engine and engine cooling) and gm recall number 06074, even though the defect is the same. The vehicle has not yet been repaired. The failure and current mileages were 80,000. Updated 03-11-08 *bf updated 03/11/08
Driving home from work one night and car starting making a grinding noise and just stalled on me. Fortunately I was able to coast off the main highway to a parking lot. Had the car towed to put it on a computer diagnostic machine and was told the timing chain broke and has since ruined my whole engine. Now my car sits in my yard with no good motor or timing chain and I still owe $4000 and paying $300 a month to pay for a car I cannot drive as I do not have the money for a new engine or even a used one.
Timing chain separation and failure at highway speed. Caused much engine damage with repair cost at $1,800.
Timing chain failure on my 2001 saturn ls 200 at highway speed. I understand this is not an uncommon problem.
Timing chain failure, vehicle died while driving on highway. Had repaired to the cost 3k. Now car is not shifting and is sitting in driveway, waiting to be hauled to a transmission shop.
My wife was on the on ramp to a very bust state highway when the car stalled, and she could not restart the vehicle. Turns out the timing chain broke, causing valves to bend and piston damage, which wound up costing 3746.29 to replace the engine with a used engine to repair (replacement of parts was going to cost the same amount if not more.)
I was driving my vehicle to the gym. As I was on a highway on ramp, my car suddenly stalled, and would not restart. I took the vehicle to a mechanic who stated that the timing chain went out, and when it did, it bent the valves and did damage to a piston, as evidenced by compression test failure and visual inspection. He also noted that even once the timing chain was grabbed, it could not be pulled free of the engine without complete disassembly. He stated that the parts could be replaced and engine repaired for approximately $3,400.00 plus tax, or I could replace the engine for $3,500.00 plus tax, and have a one year warranty on parts and labor. I opted to replace the engine instead of repair the defective parts. Saturn just notified me of the safety recall for this issue on my vehicle, but will only pay for replacement of the timing chain, not the damage caused when the timing chain broke.
Motor failure less than 47,000 miles.
Engine stalled while driving 70mph on interstate. Due to timing chain now dealer said that it will cost me for there problem, but not my family's life. My wife is with child.
Crankshaft position sensor failed causing immediate loss of engine power, power steering and power brakes. Failure occurred with any warning and could have caused a serious accident.
My timing chain broke while driving down zkinsie ave in racine wi. I was traveling at 35 MPH when the car just died. I lost pwr steering and pwr braking and had to wrestle the steering wheel in order to get out of the intersection and coast to the curb. I'm just glad there was no semi-truck following close behind me.
Tl*the contact owns a 2001 saturn l200. While driving 65 MPH, the vehicle shut off without warning. The contact heard a persistent knocking sound coming from the front of the vehicle. The failure occurred intermittently and she was unable to restart the vehicle. The contact stated that the instrument panel lights flickered when she depressed the brake pedal. The dealer inspected the vehicle, but was unable to diagnose the cause of the failures. The current and failure mileages were 77,535.
2001 saturn l200 with 2.2 4 cy. Engine. Timing belt broke , engine had 70,000 miles. $3000 worth of damage. Saturn had know this was problem and hid facts to owners.
2001 saturn l200 timing chain failure causing me to coast through a busy intersection narrowly missing oncoming traffic.
I drive a 2001 saturn l200. It has about 60,000 miles on it. My car was taken in to a tire shop to get new tires. The maintenance man went to turn on the car and the key would not turn. We ended up calling saturn and, at first, they said it was a worn key and that we could come in and they would make us a new one. So we did that, and the key still wouldn't turn. We had the car towed to the dealership and they said it needed a new ignition cylinder and housing. We went to pick up the car and the maintenance guy turned the car on and it started up fine. He turned it off to do some paperwork. He got back into the car, turned it on, and all it did was "spin." they came out to tell us that the timing chain broke. Now they are trying to make us pay for it, even though it wasn't in our possession at the time. I just got through reading about all the other cars of the same type that have had the same issue, only I was lucky that the car wasn't moving. More parts didn't get damage. Also, I would have had to get on the highway to come home. I'm pretty sure my car stopping on the highway during rush hour traffic due to something that is breaking in many of the same cars is a safety hazard. No parts have been placed so far, though I was told that only the timing chain would need replaced.
Timing chain on my 2001 saturn l200 broke with no warning at about 90,000 miles. I was driving at about 15 miles an hour on a city street. I was able to pull over safely after losing all power. After reading many, many posts about problems with saturns of the same year/model with the 2.2l engine, I felt I needed to report that I also experienced the chain breaking while driving. The mechanic stated that the chain "bunched up" bending several valves and breaking a piston resulting in the need to replace the engine. The car had been serviced on a regular basis. I did not drive the car for 5 months due to another issue that was not affected by nor had an affect on the timing chain issue.
I own a 2001 saturn l200, 2.2l, 4 cyl, double overhead cam sedan, VIN [xxx]. 106k miles. I maintain it regularly. I was driving to work yesterday 9/5/07 and the engine stalled abruptly making a noticable "clunk" noise. I was almost up to 55mph when the incident happened. I coasted to a stop and tried to restart but it wouldnt fire, it would turn over however. That gave me the awful feeling that the timing belt or chain probably broke. I towed the car home and tore it down and confirmed that the timing chain had broken. Also the left adjustable chain guide was also broken. Now I am worried that the valves or pistons may be damaged. After searching the internet for this problem, it appears I am definitely not alone. Gm must be held accountable for their crap designs. I'm sick of thier quality issues. After I fix this thing I will buy a honda! *js information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)
I was driving down a major interstate at 70 MPH when all of a sudden my car cut off. I had my two year old son with me. It left us stranded 5 hours away from home. We were stuck on the side of the road, and a gas station for a total of 7 hours while I waited for my dad to come get us. My son has severe asthma and the temperature that day was near 100 degrees. After being on the side of the road for an hour his whole body turned red. I had to walk 2 miles on the side of this major interstate to get us to the closest gas station where we sat and waited for help to arrive. The timing chain broke and tore up the heads on the motor. I had to have a complete top end overhaul on the motor. This cost me 1500 which was at a discounted rate because my dad knew the mechanic. Several of the past were on back order so it has now been two weeks since it has been at the mechanic and we are still waiting on bolts so he can put it back together. *jb my two year old son and I finally arrived back home at 6:00 am the next morning, my car broke down at 1.
Sudden failure of timing belt in our 2001 saturn l300 (56,000 miles, regular dealer service), causing complete loss of power and control while driving. My wife was able to pull off road with no power steering. Engine completely ruined. Dealer wants $4,000 to repair. Saturn says replace belt at 100,000 miles. Internet research shows a large number of these complaints. Dangerous loss of power.
Timing chain failure at 23,600 miles.
Not sure if I reported here already, but doing so again just in case. I own a 2001 saturn l200 ("premium certified" pre-owned). It falls squarely within the date of manufacturer of the timing chain defect (my car was manufactured 2/01). I recently experienced the timing chain failure, to the tune of $2900 worth of repair cost. As written on the repair order, this was directly related to the tensioner (sp?) problem with the chain design. My failure happened upon starting my vehicle in my driveway; however, in my research about this problem, there are many, many people who experienced this while driving and it is only a miracle there have not been any deaths or serious injuries resulting from this defect (at least, not that we know of). My vehicle had 80k miles at the time...however, most of those miles were highway (long trips down south). I wonder whether it took so long for this to happen because I started my car less often that other people. In any case, I wanted to encourage a recall, since this is obviously a widespread defect and a dangerous condition not only to the owners of the vehicles, but to other drivers, as well. Search the web and see how many sites there are with stories of chain failure in this vehicle--I guarantee you will find hundreds--quite a large percentage for the short manufacturing period of this particular model, not to mention many other saturn models with the same design. My date of failure is within a day or two--I don't have the paperwork with me.
On monday, july 9, 2007 my car had problems cranking, and then had problems taking off. My husband took the car to our local mechanic and was advised that there were problems with the timing chain. I have now had a very expensive car repair bill to have to foot. At this point, because of the unreliably and safety issues, I have now purchased a new honda that I can depend on. From the hundreds of listings I have found online I do see that this is not unique to my car but there are many, many others with the same problem. I have always had my oil changed every 3,000 miles and believe this to be ridiculous.
2001 saturn l200 timing belt failure.
Tl*the contact owns a 2001 saturn l100. When the contact applied the brakes, the vehicle completely shut off and would not restart. The vehicle was towed to the saturn dealer who stated that the timing chain, alternator, and battery were not working properly. The vehicle has not been repaired. The current and failure mileages were 83,000.
My pregnant wife was driving the car and it died as she was making a u-turn in the middle of the street. The car was towed to elk grove saturn and they stated the timing belt had broken and we needed a new engine. The car only has 51,283 miles on it. I found that there is investigation open into this issue. (dp05-008). It is a safety issue as she was on the road when it broke. I hate to think what would have happened if she was on the freeway with the kids in the car.
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