Almost from the start the steering column would lock up trying to start the car. Front and back lights have water inside, brakes have never worked right going all the way to floor with no air in lines. Sunroof also quit. Front driver door metal cracks when opening. Engine also looking like trouble. *Tr
Engine & cooling
2002 Saturn SC Engine problems
Owners have filed 5 complaints about the 2002 Saturn SC's engine & cooling with NHTSA - 13% of all its complaints, most recently on March 29, 2014. They describe 0 crashes, 1 fire and 0 injuries. Stalling, loss of power, oil consumption, overheating, head gaskets, timing chains and engine failure.
- Complaints
- 5
- Recalls
- 0
- Crashes
- 0
- Fires
- 1
- Injuries
- 0
- Deaths
- 0
Engine complaints
2002 Saturn sc1 lost engine--oil in coolant at 80,000 miles. The mechanic that disassembled the engine stated that the camshaft journals were worn so bad that the engine could not be re-built. Replaced engine 5 months ago, last week, auto transmission stopped engaging reverse gear. Discussed with local saturn dealer who offered no help. This is my daughter's car. My car--2002 saturn sc2 had to have an engine overhaul at 46,000 miles due to burned valves in #2 cylinder. Extended warranty covered repairs. Oil...
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consumption prior to overhaul was excessive (qt every 1000 miles--dealer said normal) my automatic transmission has an intermittent extremely rough downshift, which was reported to saturn dealers 4 times while in warranty. Each time, they said they could not duplicate the problem. Our family bought the car new, and recommended maintenance has been performed. At this time, I feel that saturn has some well documented problems with both the single cam and twin cam engines, as well as the automatic transmissions. *Tr
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 saturn sc1. While driving at any speed, the contact smelled coolant in the cab of the vehicle and noticed smoke coming from the tailpipe. The dealer has not inspected the vehicle. The failure mileage was 60,000 and current mileage was 90,000. Updated 02-01-08 *bf updated 02/01/08 *tr
At around 75000 miles I pulled into work, put it in park, and all of a sudden my engine started to rev, (increasing without leveling. I immediately turned off the car to stop the increased revving. I tried to turn the car on again , hoping it was a fluke. And it started again. I got it towed to the dealership, and they told me it had a vaccuum leak and had to have the intake gasket replaced. And that it was going to be extensive work to replace it. *Ak
On 2/1/07 my car started running rough, with no ses light coming on. After a couple of weeks the ses light came on and I took the car to the dealer for repairs. A defective intake manifold gasket had caused the rough idle, and the dealer said that if I left go to long enough it could have caused the engine to seize up. My car has only 37,315 miles on it and is garaged when not in use. A new intake manifold gasket was replaced for a cost of $463.44. I do not hot rod this car or abuse it in any fashion, I am 52 years old. If I had ignored the ses light I could have had an accident if the engine would have failed in traffic. *Jb
Saturn SC engine complaints by year
SC engine problems, every yearSource: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked . Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data