97 SC2 Problems

New user, hey, all. :)

I'm beginning to think I've gotten a lemon. I purchased a used Saturn in Aug, 2003. Two weeks into owning the car, it overheated. I took it in, had the oil changed, and the radiator flushed. They had to flush it 3 times!
2 days later, it overheated again, in the space of about 4 minutes, and was completely dry when checked. There was no steam issuing from under the hood to indicate a leak in the cap.
After that, a friend that worked at a Saturn lot looked up the repair history for the car...which Carfax does not show. It's been in 2-3 times since a year old for the same overheating problem, and never been properly repaired. I'm the 4th or 5th owner, if I remember correctly.
I started carrying antifreeze and water for just in cases. Even when full, during the hotter days, if I got stuck at a light, the car would overheat. When cold, if I got stuck in traffic, the car would overheat. The only time it doesn't overheat is when it's moving at least 50mph...doesn't matter what the temp for the day is.

The kicker is last night...I may be able to deal with having to pull over and check the water/af levels when it runs hot, or just to let it cool off(I'm not currently in a position where I can pay to have it scoped out by a mechanic, and definitely not a Saturn mechanic), but the engine just quiting on me is something quit different.

I was on my way to the store, got about a mile & a half from my house, and the engine just shut off. No warning lights, power was still on for lights and radio, the engine just shut off. No strange odors, smoke, or steam, either.

What the heck? I read through the forum, and saw that someone else's daughter had had a similiar problem...but her car started again...mine won't. I forgot to mention, when starting the car, sometimes it would start right up, other times it would turn over and over before finally starting.
When the engine quit last night, and I tried starting it again, it dragged the power down with each try(the lights would dim). Power was fine once I stopped trying to start it.

I'm very disappointed in this car. I've always heard how great Saturns were, and was so excited to finally own one. It's such a sharp little car, handles well, gets good gas mileage, and I haven't had the oil burning/usage problem a lot seem to have. I get the oil changed regularly, and in just under 7 months, have only had to add a quart once to top it off....of course, that was just 4 weeks ago.

Has anyone else had these exact same problems? If so, what was done to get them resolved? What repairs or parts replacements had to be done?

Thanks in advance. :)

Answer to your questions if anyone else has had the same problem that answer is YES. It baffeled me for months, after talking to a friend of a friend whom owns a saturn and works with professional mechanics I found out what the probem was it was the Coolant Tempature Sensor.

I flushed the coolant a few times, i replace the cap twice what was up with all the overheating? The coolant temperature sensor was telling the computer the coolant temp is OK but in reality it was HOT so without the coolant temperature sensor to tell the computer the Termostat was not opening on time and the Engine compartment fan was off, (unless the a/c is on) The part was $27 at the dealership, and the install was really quick just remove your air intake hose from filter to upper manifold and use a 10mm wrench to remove the old sensor (after disconnecting wire) and put the new one in. Here is a trick i came up with, when you remove the temperature sensor from the manifod coolant will pour out and you have to install the new sensor with coolant flowing out of the manifold. So jack up the driver side of the car and the coolant will stay in the motor and you can replace your coolant temperature sensor with ease.

It has been told to me this is a common repair that comes into their shops and allot of saturns have this problem, the same advice has told me the red GM coolant that the owners manual tells you to use is CRAP and to replace it with conventional coolant.

Thank you so much for your answer. I will try that, although I don't know if it will do any good now. We towed the car home the day after it quit, and checked after reading online about the oil problems...it was empty of oil.
It's attempted to turn over twice since then, but hasn't started. Looks like it's gonna need an engine replacement.

But, your post did remind me that I seldom heard the fan come on...so that was probably exactly what was wrong with it in the first place. Easy and inexpensive enough to replace it and see what happens after that!