94 Sl1 Sohc

i recently aquired one and i was just curious what kinda problems i should expect and what kind of shoould know to fix before they become something larger. so for every thing seems fine with it excep a bit of a low milage thing and a bit of cosmetics. im not trying to supe this thing up or turn it into something its not. i just wanna makes it lasts and that itll hold up as reliably as ive heard most saturns do. i dont mind gettin a lil dirty when it comes to my car. thanx

all i can say is, thats not a great choice for a reliable car. probably the most common probably across the sohc are cracked heads. other common problems are those that plague most other saturns, like ects, belt tensioner, stupid cam code, and other things that arent so big of a deal but get to you because it seems so much worse.

oh and low gas mileage as in what? tbi sohc arent all that great on gas. dohc motors usually get better gas mileage then all the sohc.

whats the average milage i should be gettin on a single? is it simple to do a switch or should i just buy a whole new car?

all i can say is, thats not a great choice for a reliable car. probably the most common probably across the sohc are cracked heads. other common problems are those that plague most other saturns, like ects, belt tensioner, stupid cam code, and other things that arent so big of a deal but get to you because it seems so much worse.

oh and low gas mileage as in what? tbi sohc arent all that great on gas. dohc motors usually get better gas mileage then all the sohc.


Aren't you thinking of 96 and up heads cracking? I didn't think 1st gen Saturns were that prone to cracks.

1st gens arent known as well but they still do.

typical gas mileage in the tbi is probably a absolute max of 35mpg. normally see around 30 would be my guess.

is there any alt way to test milage with a broken odometer?

i think there are odometers that stick onto wheels. dont know where to find them. just better off getting the stock thing fixed.

whats a cam code?

there is nothing wrong with a 94 SOHC. the heads aren't common to crack more like the mid-late 90s. the SOHC TBI is better on gas mileage then the DOHC, but the SOHC SFI was even better. the horse power rating is down a little, but thats not everybodys game and it still has a nice torque curve considering. the cam code mentioned above only applys to 96+ cars. here is your repair option for the odometer - http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48348&;

actually the dohc do better on gas mileage due to mpfi. the tbi isnt as good at fuel metering. and its a dog to drive. sohc mpfi do pretty well about right there with dohc, but mine and a couple other guys with dohc were tops in gas mileage with 38mpg practically anytime and crack upwards of mid 40's on straight highway.

from http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/sbs.htm

1994 SOHC - 28 city/37 highway
1994 DOHC - 25 city/34 highway
(both with manual trans)

in general MPFI is better then TBI, but the design of the heads, cams, and transmission have a greater effect on fuel useage.

ah, i dont care what that thing says, i only once went below 30mpg and that was because i was letting it idle so i could check everything out. i drove it 200 miles and the rest of the time it was idling. if i got as low as they said while driving, i would say there was a problem. and i even looked up my car. highway i would easily get 38mpg or better, 38 mpg is on alot of heavy throttle.

power and gas mileage, definitely dohc. gas mileage, any of them (tbi sohc, mpfi sohc, mpfi dohc)