Just Bought a 2001 Saturn SL1 5 Speed

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richpin is awesome...always used his videos when doing the maintenance on my car for the ECTS, Throttle Body etc.

I have to replace my fuel filter soon and I'll definitely use his video as a guide.
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Oh, you guys are the best!

I checked the tire pressures and of course they were low; front 21 & 24, back were 28 & 32...
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All at 38 now!

It is pulling to the left, so I suspect it'll need an alignment.

Sucked the Power Steering fluid out today & put in fresh Prestone PS fluid.

Put 60 miles on it tonight, what a difference from my 4x4 truck to almost sitting on the pavement!
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I'll do the 100 mile work commute in it tomorrow, then change the oil/filter to your recommendations here this weekend as the "change oil soon" light keeps coming on, so the MMO will only have 200 miles to work before the drain...
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Originally Posted By: eljefino

The theft proof radios on these lose their settings when disconnected. Most stock radios you'll see on ebay are locked, and it costs .5-1 hour labor at the dealer to reset.


A 2000+ should only has theft deterrent "feature" if has the double DIN factory Cassete/CD combination. Most examples those years had the single DIN CD with a small storage bin below it. It has no shuch lock IIRC, at least the one in my VUE does not.
 
That isn't true that all 2001 Saturns have the new ECTS with the brass tip. My Saturn was manuf. in Jan of 2001 and it had a ceramic one in there, and with 98,000 miles on the odo (when I replaced it) the ceramic tip was already cracking.

A tip....when you do change out the ECTS, jack the car up on the driver's side so when you remove the ECTS you get less coolant spillage. Just make sure the coolant has cooled for 24 hours before doing this, and keep the pets away from the coolant.

I got my ECTS from Advance Auto for ~$5. You don't need to go to the dealer for this part. Just make sure it has the brass tip before you purchase it.
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A bad ECTS can hurt gas mileage, report incorrect thermostat readings, cause rough idle, cause stalling etc. Some have even sold their Saturns thinking it was something major when it was the $5 sensor all along making it a steal for the person who knows these cars.

http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37884
 
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First gas mileage check was 38.5 MPG at 30% city & 70% freeway at 75 MPH!
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I changed the BLACK oil in it yesterday - the oil filter was hard to find and had to spin the splash shield out of the way to get to their Fram orange can of death...

I put in Pennzoil 10-30 & the LONGER Motorcraft oil filter you mentioned; it's way longer.

I replaced the sticky PCV valve with a NAPA one.

So, we'll see what that takes the MPG up to. Then I'll change the OLD plugs to new NGK's.
 
I ran a SL1 from 116k to 206k. Bought it with a cracked head..threw in a junkyard engine and drove the snot out of it. Eventually sold it when it was burning so much oil, people thought the car was on fire (quart every 250).

Otherwise a great car, and I sure miss the gas milage.
 
Originally Posted By: Virtuoso
I ran a SL1 from 116k to 206k. Bought it with a cracked head..threw in a junkyard engine and drove the snot out of it. Eventually sold it when it was burning so much oil, people thought the car was on fire (quart every 250).

Otherwise a great car, and I sure miss the gas milage.


You can get them around here for next to nothing. Craig's list if full of them from 500-1500 bucks. If you can turn a wrench at all, you can keep these going a long time. Great little engines. I see them all the time with 200,000 miles + on them.

The biggest things with these is keeping the oil level full. Drop the oil level low on these and they are toast.
 
Tires update:

I went with BF Goodrich's Touring T/A's. 70,000 mile tire, great, quiet ride. Oh, man, the old tires were shot!

Got 'em at Sam's Club for $58 + lifetime rotate & balance.

Plus, I put a bottle of Amsoil P.I. in the tank last night...
 
Originally Posted By: GMFan
Some have even sold their Saturns thinking it was something major when it was the $5 sensor all along making it a steal for the person who knows these cars.


I got a one of those for $250... PO thought the fuel pump was going out but it turns out it kept flooding when starting. I floored the gas (clear flood mode) and it roared to life, LOL.
 
tpitcher:

Have you driven the car enough to ascertain what oil consumption is like? Some of these drink oil, others are no worse than other cars. Would be interesting to hear what category yours falls into....
 
Hey addyguy,

Well, I have 400 miles on it in the 3 days after the oil change (
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). I was careful to put the oil right at the top of the fill mark. In those 400 mainly freeway miles, it is still right at the full mark.
 
Originally Posted By: tpitcher
Hey addyguy,

Well, I have 400 miles on it in the 3 days after the oil change (
crazy2.gif
). I was careful to put the oil right at the top of the fill mark. In those 400 mainly freeway miles, it is still right at the full mark.





Continue to keep an eye on it. Mine burned no oil at 48K. Then at around 60K it started using a couple of ounces. I am now at 104K and I am at 6 ounces. I suspect at 150-200K it'll use darned near a quart, but it doesn't bother me. These are great little cars. I keep my R's down really low and never go faster than 65 mph.

I did a little experiment where I ran 70-75 mph and put my foot into her and wasn't so gentle in driving it. It burned nearly a quart during 3000 miles, so I dialed back my speed and driving habits and I have had minimal consumption so far.

My little 00 SL1 has the lowest cost of ownership of any car I have owned, foreign or domestic. And at 104K I am still always mid 30's city MPG and low 40's highway MPG's. I have measured every tank since 48K.
 
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Ahh Saturns...

Drove an '93 SL1 for a short bit with 161k miles that wouldn't burn a drop of oil.

I was as surprised as any body, I knew full well that it should. ahah

Didn't burn a drop.
 
I have a 96 SL2 and the advice that the others have given you is spot-on.

I would also consider these items:

- Replace the struts and the front strut mounts. KYB GR-2 struts are firm, but they work great on Saturns. The original struts are usually shot by about 60k anyway.

- Some of the older SOHC engines had issues with the head cracking. I'm not sure if it's still an issue on the newer ones, but it's definitely something that you'd want to watch out for.

- Some of the manual transmissions had some bushing??? problems. I'm not familiar with the problem, but apparently it can render the car inoperable. And the "proper" and official fix is quite expensive, but supposedly there's a cheap hack fix that works just as well.
 
Yikes Saturn_Fan!

I hope this car doesn't ending up costing too much.
 
Originally Posted By: tpitcher
Yikes Saturn_Fan!

I hope this car doesn't ending up costing too much.


That was the only money I have spent on the car at all since I have owned it, so 330 bucks for 56,000 miles is pretty darned good to me!

In fairness, the wheel bearing is a solid 1.5 hours per multiple suspension/front end shops. I compared prices and all of them said it was a royal PITA to install a bearing in this vehicle.

Also, the bill would have been less, but I went with a MOOG brand tie rod end over a Chinese piece of [censored] one that was 20 something bucks.
 
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