Working on the issues with the Saturn occurred throughout Aug, Sept, and into Oct. But mostly that was just an hour here, and hour there, then leave it alone for several days. The rest of the time I had fun visiting with friends and getting my colonoscopy over and done with. It was clear and they suggested I don’t need another one.
The issues with the car were recurrent trouble lights, with them coming on and going off, too randomly to get a handle on a cause. And then, at the beginning of October I noticed that my tags would expire in January. I needed tags for the car, needed to get them before I left town, and since my address is in Multnomah county near Portland, and because the state thinks I live here, I have to have a smog test done.
I expected to be in Mexico when the tags expired, so it was imperative any testing and repairs be done now before I left town. And it would be much more convenient to get my tags early here, so I’d not have to get the testing done in another state (Oregon allows that) or do it by mail (receiving mail as I’m traveling can be problematic). In Oregon, a DEQ test, necessary to obtain new tags, is good for 6 months so getting it done early is pretty common for travelers.
Initially, I only had the SES (Service Engine Soon) light on, and word was that’s not the end of the world and didn’t need to pull the car into a shop immediately. After receiving some advice about the car’s symptoms from the experts at SaturnFans Forum, I ended up buying a ECTS (Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor) and a thermostat. The ECTS is shown in the next pic covered by a rachet deep socket. I jacked up the car on the driver’s side, removed the antifreeze overflow tanks cap to relieve pressure, so only lost a couple tablespoons of antifreeze when I removed the ECTS.
The SES light went off on it’s own after the ECTS was replaced, before I got around to replacing the thermo. I could see right off that the old ECTS was bad when I removed it, had a crack in it. Shortly after replacing that, and after a few miles of driving, the SES light went off and stayed off.
About a week after that, the S:w (Service: [wrench icon]) light came on. Gah! And 5 miles later, the SES came back on. The S:w light is a tad more important than the SES light and it means you may not pass DEQ testing. So that’s when I bought a OBDII reader. A tool that suppose to help you diagnose engine problems. Along with getting the OBDII reader I also downloaded a paid OBDII reading app from the Google App store named Torque onto my Android phone which displays the reader’s output in a pleasing user format. The reader transmits a BlueTooth signal that the phone picks up. The app displays everything going on with the car. With a phone holding window attachment setup, I had fun driving around and learning how to use the app while trying to interpret what it was telling me. It was consistently coming up with a ‘Plug #1 misfire’ code whenever the S:w light came on.
So after some more research online and some physical testing I ended up buying a set of Ignition coils, and a ICM (Ignition Control Module). After installing those items…no change, same fault code. Damnit. Well, whatever, I don’t mind paying for some parts I didn’t really need since they’d likely be needed during the time I own the car anyway…I’ll just keep the old parts as spares. Don’t want to get stuck somewhere in Mexico waiting on a shipment of those common failure items if they’re ever required. I’m thinking of it as insurance. The new coils are very well made and I was happy to replace the cheapo coils that were in the car when I bought it. The old ICM is original equipment and afaik, it’s fine. The coils probably are too, but they are of a design that invites issues and were superseded with a better made part later on in the Saturn line.
Digging even deeper into Saturn forum posts, I found a test to run to check the Intake Manifold Gasket…another very common failure item on my year of Saturn which causes similar symptoms to what I was seeing. It can cause the #1 plug misfire code and a S:w light. The gasket test is just to spray carb cleaner around the gasket area while idling and if the RPM changes, it’s a bad gasket. The gasket failed the test. Ordered that from Amazon because they had the Felpro gasket at a reasonable price. But reading forum posts told me that having a bad gasket on the intake would not cause it to fail DEQ, so even though I hadn’t replaced it, one morning, I just drove to the test station and had them test me. It didn’t fail, but their code reader said the car wasn’t ready to test. Seems as though you need to get some miles on it after you’ve reset the fault codes…which I had done waiting in line just before the test! Just waiting there with the engine running, the car in Park, the rpm jumped to 3,000 and just stayed there. WTF? So I’d reset the fault codes hoping that would help. It didn’t, but putting the car into Drive dropped the RPM down to normal. Weird.
Anyway, the DEQ tech told me what the car needed is called a Driving Cycle and I could call Saturn to find out how to do it. Instead I found a document of the test online and, wow, it’s going to take some time & miles, like at least 15 minutes and 10 miles in town and freeway per test, and perhaps up to 5 tests. If you follow that link, you can see that there’s much they leave to the imagination…like, are there any exceptions to the rules? Who lives right on a freeway ramp for instance? If you don’t, it’s impossible to accelerate to 55 just after the idling period while you make your way to an on ramp. And then you need to accel to 55, hold it, then coast down to 20. I did read on the Saturn forum that it’s not all that complicated, but does require time on the road, city and freeway. OK. Fine. But I didn’t have a lot of random time. I needed to be done with the DEQ test by Friday at the latest…if I didn’t want to pay for another month at the RV park. And I had other issues to work on, like finishing up the tow wiring, visiting friends, etc.
Went ahead and did the best Driving Cycles (DC) I could, and there was a nerve racking procedural glitch each and every trip. Did the DC road run twice the first day and you have to let the engine cool down between drive cycles. But that cool down period I spent up at Multnomah Falls gave time to wander around and hike up to the first bridge. That was fun. Then the next day, and the next, and the next I did single drive cycles. Each day with weather issues like rain. True to GMs instruction, it did take my Saturn 5 cycles for Torque to tell me I was ready to test at DEQ. Just soon enough because I was scheduled to leave Portland on the following Monday morning and it was Thursday evening. First thing that I noticed is that the S:w light did not come on Friday morning when I started the car after all the drive cycles Monday thru Thursday. And Torque showed that all the DEQ devices had ‘Complete’ codes instead of ‘Incomplete’ in the Emission Readiness tests, along with an absence of fault codes. So I rushed over to the DEQ, it passed the test! Then headed over to DMV to get my new tags. Cost was $21 for the DEQ and then $124 at DMV for the tags. But, they’re good for 2 years. So happy that I had found a car with only 60,000 miles on it, even with the small issues it’s had so far.
Whew. That’s cutting it close. Especially since the car kept randomly throwing codes…it might not have passed DEQ. But the car did so now I was ready to travel and will be heading to Mexico, with both vehicles tagged. I’ll probably have a mechanic in Mexico change out the intake gasket and the thermostat when I get down there. As an aside, the gasket is a known problem with these Saturns and Felpro says they’ve improved the design so once I change it, I should expect many thousands of miles from it.
Since all this DEQ stuff, I’ve left Portland, put another 100 or so miles on the car (not counting towed miles) and it’s much better now, the S:w light is off and stays off, only showing the SES light on occasion, then going off for long periods. When in drive, the RPMs stay low, and there’s not much reverse slam. So the Drive Cycles clear things up a bit, as far as codes and operation go. That’s taught me to not be ‘Resetting’ any engine fault codes without a good reason, like when a repair happens. I do need to change that gasket, but my mileage has improved a great deal, and it runs well, probably due to changing the ECTS, so I’ve got time. Occasionally, when I put it into P or N with the engine running, the RPMs will jump up to 2000-3000 because of the bad gasket, but putting it into D reduces that to normal range, without any clunking or harsh noises. I’ll do the gasket job, or have it done, when it’s convenient for me.
Thanks for reading!