Help!

The "service engine soon" light came on earlier today in my 1999 saturn sl, and i can't find my owners manual anywhere! can someone tell me what that could mean?

Take you car to AutoZone or a similar type mass marketing auto parts store. They should be able to scan the codes for free. Just don't listen to any advice given by the counter jockey. Get the printout and report back here with the codes. Oh, yeah, don't panic.

I've learned to ignore that light as long as the thing is running fine. Ok it makes me a little nervous. Both my Saturn and a Venture van will do this once in a while (once or twice a year for the Saturn, more often for the Venture) and after a several on/off cycles of the engine, it turns off. They both pass emissions with no problems.

I've learned to ignore that light as long as the thing is running fine. Ok it makes me a little nervous. Both my Saturn and a Venture van will do this once in a while (once or twice a year) and after a several on/off cycles of the engine, it turns off. They both pass emissions with no problems.


Usually not a good idea. It may seem like it's running fine but you could be wasting fuel.

Yeah I know my advice may not be the best, but if you've ever owned a Chevy Venture van you have to get cold to the "dreaded light" or you'll go crazy. It goes on then off again on its own probably 6 times a year. All the while running fine, getting great mileage and passing emmisions. As for the Saturn it gets 38 mpg highway like clockwork.

Yeah I know my advice may not be the best, but if you've ever owned a Chevy Venture van you have to get cold to the "dreaded light" or you'll go crazy. It goes on then off again on its own probably 6 times a year. All the while running fine, getting great mileage and passing emmisions. As for the Saturn it gets 38 mpg highway like clockwork.


Yep, Saturns kick butt. My SL2 has 242,000 miles and get 30mpg city. I haven't taken it out of town yet, so I don't know what kind of highway mileage it gets. There's a guy on another Saturn forum that has almost 500,000 miles on his and gets something like 43mpg highway. Another guy has modded his Saturn to get 50+mpg highway. That's better than most hybrids.

the saturn manual doesn't help you, it just says that the SES means you have an emmission related problem (sensors, etc.). A Chilton/Haynes saturn manual will tell you most of the trouble codes definitions for the saturn car or post them here.