Saturn SL Problems... :(

Well, my car has been messed up for some time and just have not had time and money to fix it... I think i have a problem in trans... The car seems to have trouble shifting sometimes, more so in the summer, and seems to be better but is still hard to get into gear sometimes... Getting the car to move and then shift into first ususally seems like the easiest way to get it into gear, but it's on and off.

Next, egr valve has sufficient flow according to AutoZone. SES light is on and off ALL the time... More so on when I drive the car hard which isn't that hard, but still probably shouldn't, eh?

On top of all that, the car is BURNING oil like a mother! It's on and off, but can get as bad as a quart a week and as long as a quart to 1.5 months. Took it to a mechanic back in the day who suspected it would be the piston rings, which I hear is common with Saturns, that or the valve seals... Though about a DOHC swap for some power but don't know if I still want to do it. Maybe just buy some seals? Replace those and if it doesn't help then do rings? Well, anyways. What are your suggestions... I almost just want to fix it slightly and sell it. I have emissions soon I believe and don't believe I'm going to pass... So I do want to act as quickly as possible, but who knows how that's going to go with me... I've been talking about some of these problems for some time now.

Possibly thinking about selling it, but I got it for almost 4,000 a year ago... So I don't want to lose a WHOLE lot. Anyone be interested maybe around 3,000? The interior and body are great! :)

Thanks for the time guys.

get a wet dry compression test done... guarantee its the rings... if you're gonna replace them then just sell the car for like 500 dollars cuz its not worth the time or effort to install the rings

don't sell it! i have to go so i'll make this short, but i will go into detail later.

1. check/change trans fluid, use Mobil 1 ATF synthetic. sycros may be worn.
2. don't trust the people at autozone, just get the code and walk away, if the SES light is steady, remove the EGR and clean, if the SES light blinks, check plugs/wires.
3. do the "MMO soak", you can find it on saturnfans.com, replace the PVC valve with an OEM one from the saturn dealership.

carguy - remember there are two sets of rings, the compression rings and the oil control rings. a compression test tests the compression rings, it will not detect stuck oil control rings.

ahhhhh thank you... i was looking into replacing my rings and my mechanic was like hey its alot of labor and probably not worth it.

I was going to buy the true seal rings off of SPS

did you know that they charge you a dollar for their stickers when i didnt even order the stickers?

One other thing I forgot to mention. I live in WI so COLD weather. But... My SL cannot run without the low coolant / coolant light flashing. Today... Went like 20 minutes away and noticed when coming back that the light flashed 3 times... Coolant levels are fine... You think it may be freezing up? Today it was probably like 10 degrees or so outside... Got any ideas there... I've never done a coolant flush... Would you recommend doing one... Oh... And keep in mind... I'm able to work on car because I do have a shop to work in... :)

what color is the coolant? have you tested it... mine will hold up to -20

No... Have not tested it yet... But I also forgot to mention that I am not having cooling problems though. Enigine takes longer to heat up... But never goes above normal temp as far as I've been watching...

three letters - E C T

Engine coolent temp sensor, well known poorly made sensor on saturns, design was revised in 2001, the replacement should come from a saturn dealership and should be brass tipped.

http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24003

yes but, you said the same thing to me... how much does this thing cost?

about 15, 20 max

The "eating oil" thing.....it usually does mean bad rings. I should know, my '95 SL2 just experienced that fate...cracked rings in Cylinder #3...less than 30 pounds of compression. Time for a new car!

Edit...car was at 130,000 miles...previous owner must've been hard on the car because I was faithful with oil changes.