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Old 07-12-2014, 08:34 AM
denisond3 denisond3 is offline
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Re: i love my saturn

my94baby: If you use the car regularly, a fuel cleaner wont do much if anything that the normal fuel doesnt do. But it wont hurt anything either.

When a Saturn "S" series car has plenty of miles on it, they can get a thirst for motor oil. This is a well known Saturn thing, and there isnt any easy fix. Just keep track of the motor oil, and add as necessary.

The odometers are driven by a little motor, and its not unusual for the motor or the electronics that runs it to quit working. While a nuisance, its also not cheap or easy to fix. The fuel gauge problem can be a bad connection on the instrument cluster, or a worn resistance slider on the fuel level pickup. Neither of them is an easy fix. I dropped the fuel tank on my 95 SL2 to replace a fuel pump that had quit (mostly from sitting unused for 6 months at a time), and found the slider on the fuel pickup was broken. A new fuel pickup element solved the problem; though at the expense of dropping the fuel tank. Im a hobbyist so I did that myself - and it was a lot of work.
While the fuel gauge was not working, I just made sure I never drove it long enough or far enough to run, before I would refill the tank.

Other Saturn oddities; sometimes the wipers will start working when you first start the engine - but usually will stop & repark in a few seconds. Thats a bad wiper control module; another part hard to find and not so easy to install. If the car suddenly wont start, i.e. the starter doesnt spin, dont think its the starter. There are relays involved, part of the 'security' system. With mine, the dome light quit working at the same time, and it was a fuse that ran the dome light AND the relays in the security system.
If your car has ABS brakes, and the brake light comes on and the pedal moves too close to the floor - mechanics may say it needs a new ABS module; but its more likely there is a leaking wheel cylinder on the rear brakes or a leaky caliper on the front brakes. Anyway, new ABS modules are either unavailable or cost huge amounts of money. On any older car, wheel cylinders WILL eventually leak, and they cost about $30.
Good Luck with your car.
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