2001 SL2 running hot and surging while driving

somebody pleez. bought 2001 sl2 in march 04, changing oil every 3-4K miles. put about 13K miles on it so far, ready to give it to newly licensed 17year old dau. and now it steams on extended idle (micky dee's drive through) and rpm surges while driving with cruise at 65mph and at 30-40mph. just about to have transaxle fluid and filter changed per service book. is the dealer the best place to go or can you recommend a chain that is good with saturns

go to the dealership. they know all the tiny little facts about saturns. did this problem just show up over night or has it progressed over time? what is the idle rpm? whats the temp gauge read? any overheating/cooling problems in the past?

go to the dealership. they know all the tiny little facts about saturns. did this problem just show up over night or has it progressed over time? what is the idle rpm? whats the temp gauge read? any overheating/cooling problems in the past? I think the idle rpm is less than 1K, the temp gauge was on the middle/half way line, a long way from the red lines when it overheated. No prior problems with anything. Had the transaxle fluid and filter changed, just before I did, it started to thump/jerk really hard when putting it into reverse, or other gears but mostly reverse. the surging is minimal now but the thump jerk is scarry. Mechanic said to drive it for a week to see if changing the fluid and filter helped. it didn't. My 99 ranger did this same thump/jerk it turned out to be the oxygen sensors. took almost a year for the check engine light to come on on the ranger and no one could tell me what the problem was until then. No warning lights are on on the Saturn, they all work/light up when I turn the car on at first. thanks so far.

ah the old slaming transmission...very common

the idle is good, the temp reading sounds normal to me, it is sorta strange how saturn programmed the fan to come on so late, but they did. some people who didn't like it added a override switch. heres how - http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/showthread.php3?s=&threadid=23668

for the trans slam there are two things that cause it in saturns. one is a dirty valve body, but this only effects reverse, sometimes it can be cleaned, simular to what your mechanic did, but with a few more steps - http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/showthread.php3?s=&threadid=23670
if that doesn't cure it the valve body will need replaced(to the tune of $600 i beleave).

the other slam problem affects all gears. a loose input shaft nut, sometimes caused by making a habit of shifting from reverse to drive while the car is still rolling back. this is a dealer only repair, and i beleave it cost around $700.