2001 saturn stalling & engine clicking

[erinmiran]

Hi.
I have a 2001 Saturn L200. The last couple of months, after I start my car, my engine makes a clicking noise that continues for about five minutes (the car warming up seems to be a contributing factor to the clicking going away). The more I accelerate, the more it clicks.

Today out, it was really really cold. I started the car, same as what I wrote above. However it stalled out on me twice, both times at a red light (car in drive, foot on the brake). The RPMs just... drifted down. It started up right away when I turned the key off and on. It briefly flashed both the oil lamp light and the battery light when it stalled the first time. However, my battery is only a few months old, and I had an oil change *yesterday*. I do have a small oil leak, but the guys at Firestone said it only needed to be checked every week or so (so it's not gushing out).

A coworker said the clicking might be attributed to the lifters (I know nothing about cars) and oil not flowing through everything while it's cold, and when the car is warmer, the oil begins flowing fine and thus the clicking stops. However, it's never stalled *twice* on me before.
Ideas?

[RahX]

You might have the wrong oil filter on it. There was a TSB about using the wrong oil filter causing engine damage due to lack of oil pressure.

[J-Ri]

Does that TSB apply to the Ecotec engines or just the old 1.9? I thought there was only one filter that could fit in the Ecotecs. Actually two, but the only difference is a very small change in length, and the longer one is quite uncommon as of yet; we don't even stock them at work (and we stock 12 of the LF548s for the "regular" Ecotecs).

Either way, the car should continue running with zero oil pressure until the bearings seize. The reason for the lights is that when the engine starts running very slow, the oil pressure drops and the alternator stops charging (the battery light means that the alternator is not charging, and the vehicle is running on battery power. I think it's just easier to "draw" a battery and everyone recognizes it). I think the dying is most likely a separate issue. I'd start by checking and cleaning the IAC valve, from what I've seen this is the number one cause of Ecotecs stalling at stops. If it's been a while since a tune-up has been done, check the spark plugs as well.

[RahX]

They didn't have the ecotec in 01 did they?

[J-Ri]

Yes, it first showed up in '00 in the L-Series. GM tended to "experiment" on Saturns before releasing things in the rest of the GM lineup. I think all other cars got them in '02 or later.