Piston Slap: A Saturn Wagon's Bad Timing (Update)

Sajeev Mehta
by Sajeev Mehta

Dave writes:

Hello Sajeev,

Well, better late than never. I did get my Saturn running again. Due to weather, parts delays and misdiagnosis I spent a lot more time and money than I planned or had to, but she does seem to be in good shape now. Although the timing chain was still in place and looked OK, I replaced it. I actually did the whole timing set replacement, which includes chain, crank sprocket, two cam sprockets, fixed guide, top guide, adjustable guide and chain tensioner.

The timing chain alone costs about 50 bucks and the whole set was 150. I briefly considered just getting the chain to cut down on costs that I had already put into this high mileage car, but then realized how stupid that would be. Closer inspection of the old timing set parts also revealed clearly that they were totally worn out and the reason for my jumping chain. The adjustable timing guide was made out of some kind of hard plastic and had deep grooves in it. The guide at the top of the timing loop which must control chain jump between the cam sprockets was also damaged. I thought it was just metal, but when installing the new one I realized there was supposed to be a hard plastic contact service that clipped on. This had worn so badly on the old one it had broken off. I had seen a piece of it early on in the job after I had removed the valve cover, but didn’t realize at the time what is was. Once I realized it had broken apart in the engine, I did as one of the commentators on your blog suggested and removed the oil pan to look for the rest. I did find some, but not enough to reconstruct the whole piece. I am hoping most of the rest of it had already left the car during previous oil changes.

I had a brief scare after putting the car mostly back together. I ran a preliminary compression check with the newly installed timing set and had expected/hoped to see vastly improved compression values. Although they were better than before and one cylinder was a bit above 100 psi…they were not good. After calming myself from a brief panic, I decided to put the rest of the car back together in the hopes my compressions were just bad, because the car had been sitting so long. That proved to be the case as it fired right up. Checking the compression again after the engine was warmed up gave me values for all four cylinders between 170 and 190 psi.

I am now in Calhoun, GA having driven the car from Maryland with no issues. I will be traveling onto my end goal of Texas in a few days. I anticipate no further difficulties on the journey, but if I have any, I’ll be sure to drop you a line.

Thanks for the help!

Sajeev Answers:

This website (and others) occasionally stuff our comments section with the notion that America is full of auto-wieners that wouldn’t know a master cylinder from a smog pump, and never did an oil change in their lives.

Dave and is Saturn L-series Wagon is proof to the contrary.

Too bad neither him nor I knew to ask Google the right keywords about the Saturn’s initial diagnostic failure. Sorry about that. I had no idea it has the same colossal timing chain failure of the Cadillac Catera. Thanks to the Best and Brightest, we (collectively) nailed it. A question remains: does Dave have any compensation/recourse because this was a recalled item?

Thanks Dave, your epic roadtrip to Texas gives me a lot of faith in automotive humanity. If Houston is in your travel plans, dinner is on me.

Send your queries to sajeev@thetruthaboutcars.com . Spare no details and ask for a speedy resolution if you’re in a hurry.


Sajeev Mehta
Sajeev Mehta

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  • Redmondjp Redmondjp on Dec 19, 2011

    Thanks for the update! I'm glad that the car is up and running again. It's nice to be right once in a while as well.

  • Krhodes1 Krhodes1 on Dec 19, 2011

    Sajeev, I think you are confusing two engines here. The Saturn L series did share a V6 engine with the Catera (and the '99-'03 Saab 9-5 V6 in turbo form), but that engine uses a timing belt, not a chain. The 4cyl L-series uses a version of the Ecotec, which does use a chain obviously.

    • DweezilSFV DweezilSFV on Dec 19, 2011

      ^^^ this. Indi500:The 2.2 ECOTEC was hardly an "unhappy collaboration". The Ecotec, after suffering from a timing chain oiler that was inadequate in it's early usage [00-03]has proven to be long lived,reliable and versatile. It's used in the Malibu as the 2.4 today and there are millions of them on the road providing dependable service in all of it's versions. This is one part of GM's engine line they got right. Mated to GM's 4 speed auto they've been bullet proof in the hands of their owners. The rest of the product is typical GM parts bin garbage, unfortunately.

  • Jeff Not bad just oil changes and tire rotations. Most of the recalls on my Maverick have been fixed with programming. Did have to buy 1 new tire for my Maverick got a nail in the sidewall.
  • Carson D Some of my friends used to drive Tacomas. They bought them new about fifteen years ago, and they kept them for at least a decade. While it is true that they replaced their Tacomas with full-sized pickups that cost a fair amount of money, I don't think they'd have been Tacoma buyers in 2008 if a well-equipped 4x4 Tacoma cost the equivalent of $65K today. Call it a theory.
  • Eliyahu A fine sedan made even nicer with the turbo. Honda could take a lesson in seat comfort.
  • MaintenanceCosts Seems like a good way to combine the worst attributes of a roadster and a body-on-frame truck. But an LS always sounds nice.
  • MRF 95 T-Bird I recently saw, in Florida no less an SSR parked in someone’s driveway next to a Cadillac XLR. All that was needed to complete the Lutz era retractable roof trifecta was a Pontiac G6 retractable. I’ve had a soft spot for these an other retro styled vehicles of the era but did Lutz really have to drop the Camaro and Firebird for the SSR halo vehicle?
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