Saturn Lw300 2002
Model Lw300 made in 2002 by Saturn got 43 consumer complains there are 3 investigations as well as 3 service bulletins. Consumer complaints with reference, among others things, to electrical system, engine and engine cooling and exterior lighting. Technical service bulletines regarding engine and engine cooling. The car had one investigation (engine and engine cooling). The car has one 3 engine.
Model 2002
| Engine [L] | Cylinders | Transmission | Drive | Estimate MPG (city/highway/combined) | Unadjusted MPG (city/highway/combined) | Fuel | Fuel cost | Class | Release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 6 | Lockup/automatic, 4 gears | F | 21/29/24 | 22.8928/36.8749/27.6026 | Regular | 938 | MIDSIZE STATION WAGONS |
Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | |||||
| 3135 | 01/01/2004 | 10010045 | Pop noise from engine area during heavy throttle input. *tc | 11/03/2004 | |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE | |||||
| 3933 | 09/29/2006 | 10020485 | Timing belt replacement. *kb | 10/26/2006 | |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE - GASOLINE | |||||
| 01T01A | 02/01/2002 | 01T01 | 629386 | Some customers may comment about a vibration or boom noise inside the vehicle while at idle and the air conditioner is on. *jg | 04/02/2002 |
Investigations
| NHTSA ID | Manufacturer | Date open | Date close | Subject | Recall campaign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | ||||||
| DP08002 | GENERAL MOTORS CORP. | 06/18/2008 | 10/16/2008 | TIMING CHAIN FAILURE-STALL | ||
| On june 6, 2006, odi opened an investigation of timing chain failure resulting in engine stall while driving with no restart in approximately 20,514 model year (my) 2001 saturn l-series vehicles equipped with 2.2l engines (l61) built from november 2000 through february 2001 (ea06-009).the vehicles built during those months exhibited higher failure rates than similarly equipped vehicles built before and after.gm introduced a new timing chain design in production in may 2002.odi closed its investigation after gm initiated a safety recall on november 7, 2007 (recall 07v-519). on may 22, 2008, the north carolina consumers council (nccc) submitted a defect petition to odi requesting the expansion of recall 07v-519 to include all my 1999 through 2003 saturn l-series vehicles with 2.2l engines using the same timing chain design as the recalled population.the petition states that the nccc continues to receive complaints from consumers that have had a timing chain fail in vehicles built outside the production range covered by the recall.the petition also notes that odi has continued to receive complaints.since the closing of ea06-009 odi has received 80 new complaints from consumers who had a timing chain fail in a my 2000 through 2002 saturn l-series with the 2.2l engine that were not covered by recall 07v-519 and were built prior to the timing belt change in may 2002.the complaints describe the same failure mode as the recalled population where the timing chain can break suddenly and without warning, resulting in engine damage and loss of motive power.the defect petition has been granted. a preliminary evaluation (pe08-061) has been opened. | ||||||
| PE06006 | GENERAL MOTORS CORP. | 01/24/2006 | 06/06/2006 | TIMING CHAIN FAILURE | ||
| On december 12, 2005, odi received a defect petition (dp05-008) requesting the investigation of timing chain failures that could cause stalling in saturn vehicles equipped with the 2.2l (l61) engine. odi opened pe06-006 on january 24, 2006, with 24 vehicle owner complaints that alleged a broken timing chain caused the vehicle to stop operating.on april 12, 2006, odi received information from general motors (gm) concerning timing chain failures in approximately 412,000 model year (my) 2000 through 2003 saturn l-series and ion vehicles with 2.2l engines. gm's response included 1,020 owner complaints and field reports concerning timing chain failure, including 228 that alleged the failure caused the vehicle to stall while driving.gm also provided warranty claim data that showed 1,902 subject vehicles receiving timing chain repairs, including 261 which indicated that a stall while driving resulted from the failure.the gm complaints, field reports and warranty claims that did not contain sufficient information to determine that a stall while driving occurred were provided in the category other.gm stated that the majority of these incidents probably occurred while the vehicles were parked since the timing chain is more likely to break during high chain load situations, such as engine startup.gm's data showed elevated failure rates in approximately 20,500 my 2001 l-series vehicles produced during a four month period from november 2000 through february 2001.over one-third of gm's total complaints and field reports (34.3%) and warranty claims (38.2%) involved l-series vehicles built during the 4-month period, which are only about 5% of subject vehicle production.the timing chain failure rate in the vehicles built during this range is over 10 times greater than the remaining subject vehicle population. for the my 2001 l-series vehicles built during the 4-month period, the 36-month failure rate for repairs involving stall while driving is slightly under one percent.however, if the incidents coded as other are added, the 36-month failure rate rises to nearly five percent for those vehicles.odi and gm are continuing to assess the number of complaints and warranty claims coded by gm as other that involve incidents of stall while driving.gm's statistical modeling of the failure data initially concluded that the failure rates were declining with age and mileage for any set of warranty data analyzed (e.g., stall while driving, other or combined).however, subsequent analysis showed that the failure rates are increasing. based on the high complaint and warranty rates for timing chain failure in the 4-month production period for the my 2001 l-series vehicles, this investigation has been upgraded to an engineering analysis to further assess the frequency of stall incidents due to timing chain failures in those vehicles (ea06-009). | ||||||
| DP05008 | GENERAL MOTORS CORP. | 12/20/2005 | 02/06/2006 | TIMING CHAIN FAILURE | ||
| Analysis undertaken in response to the petition identified 26 complaints alleging timing chain failures in my 2000-2003 saturn l-series vehicle equipped with the 2.2l l4 engine.most complaints of timing chain failure reportedly resulted in a sudden loss of engine power and stalling.odi also noted that certain my 2002-2003 saturn vue and my 2003 saturn ion model vehicles with the 2.2l engine vehiclescovered by a technical service bulletin (03-06-01-017) that addressed timing chain design and service procedure changes, exhibited no complaints of timing chain failure.odi will grant the petition and open a preliminary evaluation to assess the frequency, trend, scope and safety consequences associated with the alleged defect in the subject vehicles.refer to pe06-006. | ||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | |||
| 08/08/2011 | 67637 | ||
| Car would not restart. no warning. faulty ignition switch. replaced at a cost of $365. | |||
| 05/18/2012 | 75500 | ||
| I was driving my car to work and leaving my street to turn onto a busy highway. i lifted the turn signal lever to indicate my turn and the blinker did not work. i tried the other turn signal direction and that did not work either. the hazard button did work. i instinctively use the turn signals and have heard a buzzing sound coming from the center of the dashboard, near the hazard button/switch. blinkers work if i press the hazard warning light, use the turn signal and then depress the hazard button. upon research on the internet it seems that the hazard warning switch may be the culprit. i've contacted gm customer service to notify them of this problem and am waiting for their reply. it seems that there has been a recall on this part for the 2000 saturn ls but not for my model and year. | |||
| 01/01/1901 | 1 | ||
| 2002 saturn lw300. consumer states electrical, body control module problems would like more information regarding the problem. *tgw | |||
| 11/01/2005 | 64000 | 12 | 11/30/2001 |
| Failure of body control module causing random instrument panel warning displays, possibly causing inability to start vehicle, or possible vehicle drivability issues. *jb | |||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - BATTERY | |||
| 03/05/2006 | 2 | ||
| 2002 saturn lw300 with approximately 40k miles (bought new). positive terminal of ac delco battery found leaking. i replaced it with a sears diehard. afterwards car would not start and was locked in park gear. disconnecting the battery activated the anti-thief system which i could not reset per owners manual. dealer said it must come in for reprogramming. at dealer i was told that the bcm unit was bad and would cost $600 to replace. i did nothing wrong when changing the battery, and the car was fine before. ac delco 78-6yr (false labeling) is owned by gm and their leaky side-terminal batteries are a well known problem. i believe these batteries and saturn's bcm units are designed to fail and generate profit. as an electrical engineer, i can't understand how changing a battery can kill a module like this. i am 56 and have replaced many batteries, all correctly. i have found many cases like this on the internet. in some cases the cars stop dead in their tracks due to ac delco side-terminal batteries. i am amazed at how many dealer try to immediately blame the customer for doing something wrong (as i was by saturn). *nm | |||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - IGNITION - ANTI-THEFT CONTROLLER | |||
| 03/05/2006 | 2 | ||
| 2002 saturn lw300 with approximately 40k miles (bought new). positive terminal of ac delco battery found leaking. i replaced it with a sears diehard. afterwards car would not start and was locked in park gear. disconnecting the battery activated the anti-thief system which i could not reset per owners manual. dealer said it must come in for reprogramming. at dealer i was told that the bcm unit was bad and would cost $600 to replace. i did nothing wrong when changing the battery, and the car was fine before. ac delco 78-6yr (false labeling) is owned by gm and their leaky side-terminal batteries are a well known problem. i believe these batteries and saturn's bcm units are designed to fail and generate profit. as an electrical engineer, i can't understand how changing a battery can kill a module like this. i am 56 and have replaced many batteries, all correctly. i have found many cases like this on the internet. in some cases the cars stop dead in their tracks due to ac delco side-terminal batteries. i am amazed at how many dealer try to immediately blame the customer for doing something wrong (as i was by saturn). *nm | |||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - WIRING - INTERIOR/UNDER DASH | |||
| 08/01/2002 | |||
| Consumer states the headlights and dashboard lights dim when approaching a stop. the problem is intermittent. the dealer duplicated the problem but states it is normal for the third time being in. please provide more information. mr | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | |||
| 07/15/2007 | 59000 | 1 | 09/10/2001 |
| 2002 saturn lw300 stalled without warning when it was traveling at @ 40-50 mph. it would not restart and had to be towed. vehicle mileage is @ 59k. *tr | |||
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING - BRAKE LIGHTS | |||
| 10/06/2006 | 49800 | 4 | 09/11/2002 |
| Rear tailgate brake lights burn out frequently. i have had car for 5 years and had to have several replaced over 4 times. *nm | |||
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING - HEADLIGHTS - CONCEALMENT DEVICES | |||
| 08/01/2002 | |||
| Consumer states the headlights and dashboard lights dim when approaching a stop. the problem is intermittent. the dealer duplicated the problem but states it is normal for the third time being in. please provide more information. mr | |||
| FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE | |||
| 11/15/2010 | 98000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2002 saturn lw300. while the vehicle was parked it filled with a gasoline smell while the ignition was off. it occurred when the ignition was off or on continually. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for repairs. the approximate failure mileage was 98,000. ds | |||
| 10/31/2010 | 80000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns 2002 saturn lw300. while the vehicle was parked the vehicle was filled with a gasoline smell while the ignition was off. it occurred when the ignition was off or on continually. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for repairs. the approximate failure mileage was 80,000. ds | |||
| 02/10/2009 | 125000 | 1 | |
| Fuel smell and small leak. dealer says fuel tank is leaking at seam of vent cover plate of fuel tank. also, fuel pump output fittings are plastic and become brittle and are leaking. become brittle is the dealer service writer's words. i googled this and found at least two more instances in a 5 minute search. other instances from google were very recent also! november 2008. this might be a disaster waiting to happen. please catch it early! *tr | |||
| FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE - DELIVERY - HOSES, LINES/PIPING, AND FITTINGS | |||
| 1 | |||
| Consumer called complaining about having fuel line problems. fuel line came apart and started spilling gas all over the engine. dealer was contacted, and stated that they had contacted the manufacturer, and the manufacture advised to check the fuel line connection. they have not been able to find or explain anything wrong with the vehicle.*ak | |||
| FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE - STORAGE - TANK ASSEMBLY | |||
| 12/23/2003 | 18000 | 1 | |
| When parking on an upward angle and the tank is a quarter full engine becomes inoperative. dealer states if the owner keeps a fuel tank that will fix the problem. *ak | |||
| G (PWS) | |||
| 05/18/2012 | 75500 | ||
| I was driving my car to work and leaving my street to turn onto a busy highway. i lifted the turn signal lever to indicate my turn and the blinker did not work. i tried the other turn signal direction and that did not work either. the hazard button did work. i instinctively use the turn signals and have heard a buzzing sound coming from the center of the dashboard, near the hazard button/switch. blinkers work if i press the hazard warning light, use the turn signal and then depress the hazard button. upon research on the internet it seems that the hazard warning switch may be the culprit. i've contacted gm customer service to notify them of this problem and am waiting for their reply. it seems that there has been a recall on this part for the 2000 saturn ls but not for my model and year. | |||
| LIGHTING | |||
| 05/18/2012 | 75500 | ||
| I was driving my car to work and leaving my street to turn onto a busy highway. i lifted the turn signal lever to indicate my turn and the blinker did not work. i tried the other turn signal direction and that did not work either. the hazard button did work. i instinctively use the turn signals and have heard a buzzing sound coming from the center of the dashboard, near the hazard button/switch. blinkers work if i press the hazard warning light, use the turn signal and then depress the hazard button. upon research on the internet it seems that the hazard warning switch may be the culprit. i've contacted gm customer service to notify them of this problem and am waiting for their reply. it seems that there has been a recall on this part for the 2000 saturn ls but not for my model and year. | |||
| OTHER | |||
| 09/09/2003 | 1 | ||
| Consumer can't identify the problem, and will provide further details.*ak | |||
| SUSPENSION - REAR | |||
| 07/15/2003 | 22000 | 1 | 10/05/2001 |
| The tires on my 2002 saturn lw300 wore out at an excessive rate, requiring replacement at 22,000 miles. i brought my car into the dealership describing steering wheel vibration at high speed and excessively worn tires. although the symptoms i described met the symptoms in existing tsbs for my vehicle, the saturn dealer ignored these and until i did research to find the tsbs, was not going to cover this under warranty. from my research, the excessive wear on the tires is far from an isolated incident and adversely affects the performance, and therefore safety, of the vehicle. the dealer also informed me that there was cupping on my rear tires making them out of round.while there is a tsb out for this incident, certain saturn dealers are choosing to ignore this even when customers report the problems directly related to the tsbs. since this is a known issue to saturn and is related to the configuration of the suspension and saturn's selection for tires (firestone affinity hps), there should be a recall on the vehicle to correct the manufacturer's defect, and avert future safety issues relating to low tire traction. furthermore, the fact that this tire wear occurs at such an early period in the car's life that many consumers will not even know that they have worn out tires until they have a failure leading to an accident. thankfully that did not happen in my case but tread life is not something i would normally be checking on a car with 22,000 miles because there is no reason for tires on a new car to wear out at 22,000 miles.*ak | |||
| TIRES | |||
| 06/01/2005 | 14000 | 1 | 10/18/2001 |
| Consumer tires make noise at 33898 miles. *ts updated 11/7/2005 - the original tires were replaced at 15968 miles. the consumer had the tire rotated regularly. at 30545 mile the dealer claimed that the tires had begun cupping due to lack of rotation. the consumer didn't notice any cupping. the consumer requested that the manufacturer reimburse him for the cost of the new tires so he could purchased another brand. the manufacturer denied the consumer requested and install the same brand tires as the original. *nm updated 11/02/05. *jb | |||
| 12/31/2004 | 37199 | 1 | 01/30/2002 |
| My saturn lw300 has approximately 42,000 miles. the tires were replaced due to cupping on 11/20/03 or 21,875 miles. a service bulletin was put out for the shim kit. on 12/31/04 or 37,199 i brought my vehicle back to the dealer and questioned the wear and tear of my second set of tires. i had only had this set of tires on for 15,000 miles. they offered to replace the tires at dealer price. i refused there is something wrong with the fact that the tires on my tire eating vehicle only seem to last for a very short period of time. i am now needing to replace the tires again and this will be the third set in 42,000 miles. that's only an average of 14,000 miles. my tires are now down to the unsafe area of the tires and i must replace them for the third time. after contacting the saturn corporation they said that they have received new alignment specification and would only pay for one set of tires. if the shim kit was installed properly i would not have to be replacing the tires for the third time. *nm | |||
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER | |||
| 02/04/2011 | 61648 | ||
| Engine light came on. took car to mechanic and a faulty thermostat was diagnosed; engine running too cold. thermostat is located beneath the intake manifold and therefore difficult and time-consuming to access. cost to replace the thermostat was approximately $450. | |||
| 07/11/2011 | 66906 | ||
| Turned on the a/c and it did not produce any cool air. faulty a/c compressor clutch. dealer wanted $1165 to repair. | |||
Car dealers selling
| State | City | Zip | Name | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CA | LOMA LINDA | 92354 | SATURN OF LOMA LINDA | 909-799-9900 |
| CA | SAN JOSE | CAPITAL EXPRESSWAY SATURN | 408-979-5000 | |
| NC | CHARLOTTE | 28273 | SATURN OF SOUTH BOULEVARD | 7045560922 |
| VA | STERLING | 20165 | SATURN OF STERLING | (703) 450-8500 |
| VT | BURLINGTON | SATURN OF SOUTH BURLINGTON, VT |