Saturn problems

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My 1995 Saturn SL1, which has only 28,000 miles on it, blew its timing chain
the other day. The engine damage will cost more than the blue book value to
repair, so I think I'm better off just getting a new car (not a Saturn!).
But, isn't it odd that the car would have such a serious problem after only
28,000 miles? I asked if the warranty would cover repairs, but Saturn said
that it was 36k/3 years whichever came first and it's been nine years since
I bought the car.

Any thoughts or suggestions? I'm looking for constructive suggestions, this
problem came out of the blue for me, there were no warning indications of
any problem.

 

A 95??? With 28,000 miles??? You think the fact that nothing stayed
lubricated from it sitting so much might have had anything to do with
it? Cold starts alone equal a good 80% of engine wear. Your starts were
probably dry from all the oil draining back down and hard do to lack of
oil changes I'm guessing.

 

I agree.

Saturns are great cars. Possibly if you used synthetic oil you would be
able save a engine with that little amount of use.

 

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LOL, yup. I'm self-employed and work at home, so all I ever have to do
are minor local errands.

Er...didn't occur to me, no. I did *drive* it every day, just not much. I
guess that isn't enough?

Yup, I wasn't good about oil changes. I took the "every 3,000 miles" line
too literally, I fear, meaning it got an oil change maybe once a year at
best.

 

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Would you recommend the use of synthetic oil in non-Saturn domestic cars?

 

When you take short drives your engine doesnt get a chance to warm up,
things dont seat correctly, your oil never burns off contaminants but
rather builds up more contaminants. The next car you get you need to
take longer drives in every once in a while and change the oil a little
more. With your driving habits 3 month changes would of been very
beneficial to your car. Most people shun the 3 month deal but it was
deduced just for people like you.

Yes. Synthetics work in everything.
What you need to know if you buy a new car:
Dont use synthetic oil for the first 6000 miles. Put 6000 miles on it in
the first year if you can. Go 500 miles, change oil and filter, go
another 2500, change oil and filter, go 3000 change oil and filter, go
3000 more and switch to synthetic. For the first 3000 keep your rpms
down and dont load the engine, highway miles work best. That will break
your engine in nicely and prolong its life. From there on out drive like
you do with some long drives added in and no more than 6 months on the
same oil.

 

3,000 miles a year? Uh oh.

It sounds, as others pointed out, like a lubrication problem. Cars need
to be driven regularly, or bad things happen - condensation gets into
the oil, the oil flows away from bearings, gas goes bad, etc.

The absolute worst conditions for a car are those little short slow
trips. The poor engine never spins fast enough to get hot enough to
burn off all the junk that's been accumulating in it. And parts never
get fully seated in place.

Not if it's that old. It's simply not being driven enough. And I know
this sounds weird, but it's true of ANY car, not just a Saturn.

You can save yourself this problem in the future easily - simply take
the car out on the highway and drive it for 20 or 30 miles at highway
speeds at least once a week. This ensures that it stays highly oiled,
plus it gets hot enough to burn off the crud in the oil, which is
harmful to the engine too. And as someone else pointed out - change the
oil every three months.

Driving it every day is good, but you have to get it running at
sustained high speeds frequently in order to clear it out. A side
advantage is that this will clean out any carbon buildup in the car's
engine.

With daily driving, but low mileage, a weekend drive of 20 - 30 miles,
or more, will go a long way towards helping keep your engine clean.
Today's cars like running pretty hot, and they're designed for highway
driving. Going 60 - 70 sounds like punishment, but virtually all cars
today actually do this best. Sustained highway speed driving is by far
the best for a car - the engine's running at a good speed, the
transmission's locked and in overdrive, everything's gotten warm enough,
and the cooling system's working to regulate. You're not touching the
brakes much, and you're not shifting much. Cars love this, seriously.

I've got a '92 SC2 with over 230,000 miles on it, mostly highway. We
redid the head at 210,000 miles, and precautionarily replaced the timing
chain, but our old chain was still in good condition. The cylinders
still had their cross hatching, the carbon buildup was light, and the
bearings were all just fine (then again, ever see the mains on a Saturn
motor? Huge).

Change the oil every 3 months or 3,000 miles, and drive it on the
highway, and it'll last forever.