Tl*the contact owns a 2002 saturn l2 wagon. The contact stated that the timing chain failed inside the motor. As a result, the vehicle stalled and was towed to a repair shop. There were no warning lights illuminated prior to the failure. The dealer stated that they would not assist. The failure mileage was 84,000.
2002 Saturn LS engine complaints
Page 5 of 9: complaints 101 to 130 of 242, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 saturn l200. While driving 45 MPH, the contact attempted to make a turn and the vehicle shut off without warning. The vehicle had to pushed off of the road and towed to a repair shop. The mechanic stated that the timing chain failed. The manufacturer stated that there were no open recalls. The current and failure mileages were 67,000.
2002 saturn l300 . Have followed all maint. Guidelines. Though it is on it's third battery, third set of tires, power steering pump replaced, timing belt replaced, ECM replaced, two catalytic converters replaced, the list goes on and on. Less than 90,000 miles. Drove the car. Got out, pushed the keyless alarm ( original factory) got dinner, pushed the keyless entry, got into the car , turned the key..and the car was dead. Car does not start. Locked in park, had to have it towed. Tow truck driver had to use the dolly lifts to move the car, so he could position it to be able to tow it. Had it towed to a service garage, they followed gm's instructions ..no luck. The car had to be towed again , to a saturn dealership ( the only ones who have the codes) to reset the vehicle. They told me they could not reset it. Told me it needs a new bcm. Stated ECM and bcm are unable to communicate. So that until the module is replaced the car is inoperable. Stated they knew the bcm's go bad, stated they have had alot of these go bad ( alot)???. The service tech stated " they are like a computer hard drive on steroids" . Stated they burn out with no way to check them or fix them. He said they should be able tofix the car. But they do not keep any bcm in stock. It will be a week before they can get the part. After replacing the bcm I was told the cars information will not be accurate. They told me the odometer goes back to zero. How can that be the dealer just turn back the odometer isn't that illegal? I was told that sometimes there maybe some other issues also after installing a new bcm?? If they know that the bcm is a problem, and that when it goes bad, the car is completely useless! Why isn't something being done ! You are at the mercy of saturn / gm because no one else is allowed to fix the car. I will now be waiting a week for my vehicle to be repaired. Only to hope it runs correctly after it's repaired.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 saturn l200. While driving 30 MPH, the vehicle shut off without warning. The vehicle was towed to a local repair shop and the mechanic noticed that the timing chain failed and caused the engine to blow out. The contact called the manufacturer regarding the failure, but nothing has been resolved. She feels that the vehicle is unsafe because there is a recall for the 2001 l200 regarding the timing chain. The current and failure mileages were 80,000.
I have a 2002 saturn l200. I was driving on a busy highway in the dallas area (i635). When suddenly my car stalled when I tried to accelerate and then idled to about 5 MPH. I drove my vehicle to the access road where it died and the engine no longer turned. After diagnostic I am told that I was the timing chain. Since I was driving on the highway my valves and engine heads cracked. Now something that should have cost me $500 is now going to cost me $1500. I practically have to get a new engine.
I was driving on the highway at 55mph and my 2002 l200 saturn's engine stopped. No noises beforehand or warning lights. My mechanic told me the timing chain broke causing severe damage to the engine's cylinders. Estimated cost is over $2,000. The car only has 82,000 miles on it. No crash or injuries occurred.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 saturn l100. While driving at an unknown speed, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was towed to a mechanic, who stated that the timing belt failed. The mechanic also stated that it should not have failed at only six years old and with less then 75,000 miles. The dealer advised her to bring in the vehicle for a diagnosis. The vehicle was not included in the federal safety agency campaign id number 07v519000 (engine and engine cooling), although the failures were identical. Currently, the vehicle is still at the dealer being inspected. The failure and current mileages were 79,003.
My husband was driving down the highway when the car shut down without warning. The vehicle would not start back up. He was able to get the car to the side of the road. He called a roadside service to give him a jump with no luck. The service tech informed him it was probably the timing chain. It was after hours so we had it towed to a garage. We were unable to find someone to look at the vehicle and could not afford to have it towed to the shop. I spoke with the dealership and they said if the vehicle stalled while driving most likely the cylinder head was damaged. We were finally able to get it towed to the dealership. They said the timing chain was out and the cylinder head needed replace along with some other repairs. The dealer informed us that our vehicle does not fall under the recall on previous models. The total cost would be $2527.84. We have not repaired this as of yet. I have researched all of the other complaints and all are similar and I believe this should be recalled.
I was driving about 60 MPH on the highway and felt a jerk. The engine died and I had to quickly move over to the side of the highway. Turns out the timing chain broke. The auto repair shop said that the engine valves were bent. Total repair cost would be around $3,500.
On august 18, 2005 at 72,863 miles, I paid $2360.71 to have my timing chain replaced. Not repaired but replaced due to its malfunction. The car had been serviced as dictated by saturn's maintenance schedule and via saturn of roswell prior to this issue. I have every receipt from each service appointment since I drove the car off the lot. I couldn't believe something this major went wrong with my vehicle at such an early point in time. The car simply quit running. The engine died and I could get no response from brake pressure or steering. Luckily I was able to coast to the side of the road without causing harm or injury. I had the car towed back to saturn of roswell where they took 10 days to find the issue and when it was found they declined any warranty coverage or the opportunity to negotiate the price of the repair though I bought the car from them and had maintained the car with them. I was fortunate that my timing chain went out at 1:00 am on ga-400 with no traffic around me. At the average speed of 70 MPH had this occurred at 1:00 pm or any other time with a greater level of traffic I or someone else would've been dead. My fear is that saturn is waiting for someone to die and only then will there be a mass recall for all vehicles not just a relatively isolated few.
My 2002 l200 has 92,000 miles. I was driving 70 MPH on a crowded 5 lane interstate in the far left lane when my engine suddenly stopped. There were no strange noises or smells involved, nor was there any smoke. The RPM meter went down to zero. Thankfully, the electrical system worked fine and so did the brakes. I put on my hazard blinker and was somehow able to coast my way over to the shoulder. It is a miracle that no one hit me. The mechanic informed me that the timing chain had broken and that it had possibly also damaged the valves, so I would have to replace the engine. The cost to repair would be about $3500. That is about the same as the value of the car, so I had a difficult time deciding whether to do the repair or sell the car as is. The junkyard offered me $150 + free tow. I kept hearing from different mechanics that it is very rare for a timing chain to break. I did some further research looking for a replacement engine and was told they couldn't even keep the engine for this model in stock because the timing chain break happens so often. Then I found out that there was a recall on the 2001, but not 2002, even though the 2002 has the same design flaw. I could hardly believe it. At a minimum, I feel that saturn should have notified me that this was a concern for my model of car, even if they didn't do a recall. Flying down the highway is the worst time to find out about such a defect. Had I known, I would have been able to have been proactive. Please extend the recall to avoid any future disasters.
I have a 2002 l200 saturn which has 97,000 miles. Three days ago while I was driving the car on a city street the engine just shut off. Luckily I was able to coast into an empty parking meter space. If this had happened a mere five minutes before, when I was on a traffic-packed interstate, I would have been in very serious trouble. My saturn was towed to the dealership and they explained that the timing chain had broke and damaged the engine cylinder heads. They stated it would cost me $2,800 to fix the damage. This makes me extremely upset as I bought this saturn brand new from a saturn dealership. I have taken very good care of this car and have performed all the saturn required maintenance in a timely fashion from the same saturn dealership. I feel that saturn should be held accountable for fixing this problem. I have performed some online research and there are many other individuals reporting timing chain or timing belt problems with their saturns. I know one recall (for the 2001 year I believe) is already in place. Please start a recall for the other years as well. Saturn needs to acknowledge that many individuals are being negatively impacted by these timing chain/belt problems.
Catastrophic timing chain failure.
Are you guys even hearing us??? What happened to me was just a few weeks ago. I was going to fix my problem and that was it.....but my problem ended up bigger that I thought and was costly!!!!! I read almost all of these complaints and they are saying one thing,,, timing chains are not supposed to break!!!!! Ask a saturn mechanic when are you supposed to changed a timing chain? It's never!!!! Ask,,please!!!! Another thing is that the timing chain in the 2001 was recalled,, right??? Listen closely,,,, that same chain was also used in the 2002!!!!!! But wasn't recalled???? Why?? How many more stories do you need to know that we have a problem.... Goto odi 10265182, 10255749, 1025270, 10234562, 10209272, 10186650 read them, there was a problem with the chain oiler.... It wouldn't let enough oil pass through to lubricate the timing chain... Aka brass insert.... You wouldn't know because you took it to a saturn shop or your own. My uncle find mine, only because after reading all of the problems on the internet. I have 2002 l200 2.2 sedan and yes that brass insert in the chain oiler was in mine and I can prove it..... So I believe all you had the same thing........I do know we all had the same chain, which had a weak link in it...... It was recalled??? But not the 2002???
Six days ago I was on my to work in my 2002 l-series200 2.2 liter that only has 77,000 miles on it when it just died on me. I was almost hit by another car cause I couldn't get out of traffic, so I had to pull into a ditch. That day my uncle helped me towed it back to his personal work shop cause he knows how to work on vehicles. He tried everything to find out what was wrong with without getting inside the engine, well it came to that. The timing chain is broke and he showed it to me and said he said it looks like this link was weak.. You can see how it was stretched, just that one.. And because of the chain breaking the chain oiler is broken also, the bolt holding it up was completely bent, so we think the chain hit it.. Because of the warranty was already out we were going to fix it ourselves. I went to go get a timing chain and the chain oiler, but the clerk ask me if saturn had replaced your chain oiler? I told him no, and he asked me if my valves were bent because when the chain breaks that usually happens. So I asked my uncle and he went ahead to check and yes they were. So I went back to the car parts store and told them yes that the valves were bent.. I come to find out that there was a recall on the oiler because of a brass insert that in the oiler. But he said it was only for the 2001 not 2002. My uncle search around in the oil pan and he found pieces of the oiler along with a brass insert, so I think my car was also installed with part. So that's when I went home to get online to do research on this and found pictures of that recalled oiler, it look similar. And then I find out there are so many owners with this same year model that also had their timing chain broke.. I called saturn and they are not going to do nothing and plus I find out that there is an investigation on this matter. My car is still at my uncles shop and I kept all the broken pieces in hope saturn will help with this matter.
Please see #dp08002 this is the exact problem that my mechanic told me that I have. Essentially, the timing chain components are poorly designed and create the need to replace the entire engineer when the timing belt components fail.
I had no pre-indication of this. 2002 saturn l200. Purchased 6-2002. ~78,500 miles. Date of incident: 3-9-09 @ 10:00am. My timing chain fell apart. It happened while I was driving. I was turning a corner and the stearing wheel locked. (the engine is quiet enough I couldn't hear it shut off). I managed to get to the side. Saw the oil pressure light on & shut the car off. It then wouldn't start up & was towed home. My boyfriend is a mechanic & has been working on it. It was hard to find the problem, since the car was on at the time the valves stayed open, he thought it was the starter (-$200). The chain's pin fell out and has literally fallen apart. We have kept the chain thus far and will investigate if I am allowed any refund for the time, money and/or hassel of this. We are worried about pieces getting up into the engine and creating more problems with that, and looking into a new vehicle possibly. (having feedback on what to do now would be greatly appreciated. Do we stop work and take it to a shop or continue to fix it? I need a car soon. Are there other problems with this car? Do you know of how I can get reimbursed? Do you know what the chances are of pieces reaching the engine).
On january 13, 2009 I took my care to saturn to have a couple issues assessed in regards to several lights that were on steady or blinking on and off on the dash. I dropped my car off the night before the appointment. The technician noticed ny inspection sticker was about to expire and asked if they would be taking care of that this visit. I told him no I was more interested in what was going on with the lights at the present time. On the following morning the technician called me and told me what they found wrong with the vehicle. I was told the following repairs were needed: body control module (shorted), thermostat - engine oil cooler (leaking), oil pressure switch (leaking) and driver's front axle seal (leaking). I was quoted a price in excess of $2,000 for the repairs. I have kept my car, purchased brand new, well maintained and don't see how my car with less than 50,000 miles should need this kind work at one time. None of these issues are normal wear on a car. Something must be awry somewhere. This is unacceptable.
Timing chain broke at 93,000 miles. The engine suddenly lost power, luckily we were on a country road traveling about 30 miles per hour. Will cost nearly $2000 to repair.
Car was purchased in november of 2004 used from saturn of fayetteville nc. In february of 2006 while entering highway my car suddenly shut down. I had vehicle towed to find that the timing chain was the problem. I had a used engine put in my vehicle which only lasted me just over a year and cost me over 1,800.00. In october of 2008 I went outside to start my vehicle to find it would not start, thinking that the battery was bad I replaced it, it was not the problem thinking it might be the spark plugs they were replaced as well. Frustrated I had the vehicle towed to the place that replaced the first engine and again to my surprise guess what bad timing chain. I have had this vehicle for only 4 years still owing on this vehicle I am very frustrated. I have called saturn and I was informed that my vehicle was not under recall. I have been online to discover that I am not the only one with this horrible problem.
Timing chain failed on 2002 l200 with 111k miles on it. Car has been well maintained with no major defects or complaints. This was a very unsafe situation as the engine completely stalled and would not restart. I was able to maneuver into a parking lot safely without involving any other vehicles or pedestrians. The car is currently in the shop for repair and it has been determined that not only did the timing chain fail but the hydraulic tensioner has completely come loose and ended up in the oil pan. So far the repair, including the labor and chain kit, will run around $1500 if there is no other damage caused by the failure. I am having mechanic keep old parts since there is currently a preliminary evaluation underway. I want my parts available should they be needed. Since there was a recall on the 2001 model with the same engine and timing chain component I feel there should have been one on all models with this same engine/chain combination!
1. Events leading up to failure, none 2. The failure, timing chain link separates while car running, and will not restart. 3. Have to replace timing chain.
Saturn wagon lw200 had a catastrophic failure, I.e., its timing chain failed while being driven on 9/20/08 which destroyed the engine and put my spouse at risk of harm as the vehicle was no longer drivable. The vehicle had been fully inspected and serviced on 9/13/08 at a local saturn dealership where it had been faithfully serviced since its purchase. The timing chains on this model of vehicle were recalled for model years 2000 and 2001 and the mechanic at haslett marathon where it was towed for inspection reported this was the same part. The vehicle was not salvageable.
My saturn l200 stopped in traffic. I had it towed to a mechanic and was told the timing chain was broken and saturn had added a part to the engine to get more oil or lubricant to this chain so it wouldn't brake. I have had my car at saturn dealerships and they have never mentioned this part that should be added. I called the local saturn dealership and was told they are replacing the engine in l100 models when the timing chain breaks, but not the l200's. The l100 and l200 have the same engine.
Timing chain failure.
Re. 2002 saturn l200 model w/2.2 4cyl. Engine...vehicle suddenly stopped and would not restart....I had to have the vehicle towed in to a local garage where the problem was diagnosed as a broken timing chain.....I have 69,000 miles on the vehicle and have maintained the correct maintenance procedures.....saturn has been issued a tsb in 2003 regarding a replacement oil nozzle to facilitate the oiling of the timing chain....I plan on contacting my local saturn dealer regarding this manner and plan on going higher up with the complaint if necessary....I am not a happy camper over this and hold saturn entirely responsible for this problem. Sincerely, bonnie l. Krueger
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 saturn l200. While driving 70 MPH, he noticed a sudden jolt. He also experienced loss of acceleration and the steering column failure caused the steering wheel to lock. He was able to safely maneuver the vehicle to the emergency lane. There where no warning indicators prior to the failure. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, inspected and advised that the timing chain failed. The dealer stated that the repair cost would be $2,500.00. The repairs have not been performed. The contact will notify the manufacturer. The VIN was unavailable. The failure and current mileages were 152,000.
My car stalled on highway and would not start. Had it towed to a local saturn dealer and they charged me $85 to diagnose the problem. It is a defected timing chain that destroyed my engine. The cost of repair will be over $3,000. My car is a 2002 series and does not fall under the recall for timing chain failure. We have contacted the main saturn headquarters in detroit to voice our complaint and waiting to see what can be done with this car defect.
11-2006 failure #1 normal driving. Car slowed and became undrivable as if out-of-gas. Would not re-start. Towed back to dealer. Remedy replace timing chain. No old part. 11-29-2008 failure #2 engine oil warning light and bell on temporarily (meaning no serious event, according to saturn vehicle manual) after 20-30 minutes of operation before parking car. This happened three times over two days. On final third day after 15 minutes of operation grinding rumble became increasingly louder. At traffic light engine stall. Car restarted. Kept rpms above stall threshold. For five more minutes before parking. Engine crankcase void of oil. Added two quarts. Upon starting engine. Fresh oil was seen exiting upper rear of engine. Drove to dealer. Tear down halted when metal shavings were found in oil pan. Car currently parked at dealer. Recommendation full engine replacement.
Driving on the highway, the engine quit (stopped running and decelerated). I have had it checked and been told that the timing chain failed and the pressures inside the engine are bad. Spoke with saturn and was told if I repaired it and there was a subsequent recall like the oct. 2008 complaint, I would be reimbursed.
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