Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SERVICE BRAKES, AIR - ANTILOCK - ABS WARNING LIGHT | |||||
| 3743 | 12/13/2007 | 3743A | 10023472 | Various abs dtc's and intermittent concerns. *nj | 12/13/2007 |
| SERVICE BRAKES, AIR - DISC - ROTOR | |||||
| 070523003 | 08/01/2007 | 10022957 | Pulsation/vibration when applying brakes (repair rotor variation and install new front brake shields) *nj | 10/09/2007 | |
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC - FOUNDATION COMPONENTS - DISC | |||||
| 3679 | 10016546 | Rear disc brake drag or continuing to hold. *tt | 09/20/2005 | ||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| SERVICE BRAKES | |||
| 12/08/2011 | 80000 | 1 | |
| Abs warning light appears intermittently even after brakes were replaced. seems to be electrical issue as opening the door doesn't always turn on light or turn off radio. drained battery. now i have to pull fuse. steering wheel radio controls have never worked properly often performing opposite functions. *tr | |||
| 12/08/2011 | 80000 | ||
| Abs warning light appears intermittently even after brakes were replaced. seems to be electrical issue as opening the door doesnt always turn on light or turn off radio. drained battery. now i have to pull fuse. steering wheel radio controls have never worked properly often performing opposite functions. | |||
| SERVICE BRAKES, ELECTRIC | |||
| 01/15/2011 | 48000 | ||
| 2005 saturn relay 3: replaced abs sensor in wheel hubs 5 times because of awd being disabled due to abs light coming on. code indicated bad sensor when the problem was really the ebcm. i have seen numerous complaints from other saturn relay owners of the same problem. i don't understand why a recall has not been issued. | |||
| 01/05/2011 | 65632 | ||
| I have a saturn relay 2005 abs lights stays on,all wheel drive disable warning light stays on, replaced hub and wheelbearing three times still have abs lights come on.nobody seem to know how fix this problem, this is a safety issue.don,t trust having my kids in the car.i looked up on the computer a lot of similar complaints with the same issue with the saturn relay,there needs to be a recall before there are serious accidents and lawsuits | |||
| 04/21/2010 | 73548 | ||
| Abs system light comes on. we bought the 2005 saturn relay used from a saturn dealer. day after we got it, the abs and brake lights came on. dealer corrected it. one year later, brakes are all good but service abs system light comes on. turn the van off and back on, it disappears. then next time it is on. this has been reported in many forums. why is this safety issue not being elevated to recall status. | |||
| 11/11/2009 | 1 | ||
| I have a saturn relay with brake problems. the abs does not work properly. very scary stuff. the abs will come on with dry conditions but will not come on when we actually need them, like in the snow. saturn does not know what the issue is. keep taking my van back and nobody seems to know how to fix it. i guess there waiting for me and my children to actually get into a serious accident before anyone will do something about it. *tr | |||
| 09/10/2007 | 30000 | 1 | |
| 2005 relay. the abs lights will come on randomly. turning off the car and back on fixes it for a while, but recently the lights is almost steady and we are not able to reset it. *tr | |||
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC | |||
| 04/22/2012 | 42109 | ||
| Abs system warning light comes on intermittantly. abs system shuts down while light is on. ebcm was replaced by gm dealer, but problem persists. | |||
| 12/19/2011 | 86000 | ||
| 12/19/2011 wife was driving car on 4 lane highway when brakes engaged for no reason. foot was not even on the pedal. van lurched, tires squeeled, drastically reduced speed down to 20 mph, and car pulled to the right. she pulled off onto shoulder of road. t/c light came on. van drove normally after that until 1/5/12 when it happened again. this time it happened at a lower speed, while slowing to turn left through an intersection. made car skid and she almost missed the turn. it happened again on 1/6/11 while turning into a parking lot. same symptoms, this time car pulled to left. i inspected vehicle to find that right rear brake caliper was leaking brake fluid. thought that would solve problem, however, it was an unrelated issue. happened 5 times on 1/10/11, once again on 1/11/11 at 60 mph, and on 1/12/11 at a lower speed. diagnosis by a gm certified mechanic determined the problem to be the ebcm. currently the fuse has been removed from the abs and abs pump to prevent this very dangerous condition from happening again. switch in car to deactivate traction control was not stopping it from malfunctioning. my wife and kids use this car, and i was very worried about their safety, and i had to consult 3-4 different mechanics to brainstorm and figure out what was causing this problem. | |||
| 08/22/2011 | 104398 | ||
| When the abs and traction control sensor lights came on , it felt like the car wasn't slowing down much, at 35 mph. it was scary. i know of other people that had this same problem, there should be a recall on this. i was told is the ebcm module. | |||
| 10/01/2009 | 65000 | ||
| The abs light came on while backing out of the driveway. it has been in to the shop 3 times. both hubs have been replaced. abs warning continues to come on daily at random times. now the brake light is coming on with the abs sometimes while driving or braking. there are new brake pads and the rotors are good. but the brakes make a grinding sound once in awhile. the repairman wonders why there wasn't a recall by saturn. | |||
| 11/18/2010 | 148000 | ||
| I bought a used 2005 saturn relay 3 in january 2010. i have 2 major issues going on: power sliding doors will not recognize that they are closed and will continue to ding as if i was driving with them open...on a few occasions i have heard the power door motor start on its own as if it was trying to open the doors while i am driving! second issue is abs/traction control lights have been coming on sporadically since i purchased it. of course, no one can find the problem because they can't replicate it. it doesn't matter the driving conditions, driving time, weather or anything else. both have happened at various speeds. currently the lights are staying on more than off and yesterday while driving, the warning lights were off until i stepped on the brakes, felt and heard a clunking sound, the brake petal gave way some, and the service abs/no traction control lights came back on again. the car did stop. talked to the used car dealership that sold it to me and i am currently making arrangements to have vehicle looked at. in researching i have found numerous complaints about these same issues on a number of forums. | |||
| 02/23/2009 | |||
| Abs light appears sporadically. | |||
| 08/18/2009 | 74000 | 1 | |
| Service abs system lights coming on randomly. *tr | |||
| 05/15/2008 | 30000 | 1 | |
| I had a 2005 saturn. i loved everything about it. i would have rated it as the most liked car of my life. however, the steering or brakes failed and actually caused my car to accelerate. i was in a church parking lot, getting ready to park my vehicle and when i applied the brakes, the car accelerated and i was headed for a tree,when i ran over a piece of playground equipment that stopped my wild ride. when i took it to saturn of lakeland, they said nothing had shown up on a computer but they did test drive it and could find nothing. they told me that i must have had my foot on the gas instead of the brake. i had a similar incident, must less dramatic before that when i was pulling in to park. both times i was making a left turn. that time i was almost stopped but did run into the curb. i have driven 49 years and these are the only two incidents when i supposedly had my foot on the gas and not the brake. it doesn't seem likely at all to me. well the frosting on the cake was that about two months later, i went out and was going to start my car and when i tried to put the car in gear the shifting level fell out of position and was only held in place by the covering over it. saturn of lakeland did say they didn't think i had driven the car roughly but i did repair it at ny own cost. however, the lack of concern by saturn of lakeland, where i had purchased this car was less than pathetic. so, even though i liked the car a lot, i felt it was a safety hazard to be driving it. i gave up the fight in honor of my own safety and bought another car at a monetary loss to me. safety first saturn. *tr | |||
| 11/09/2008 | 42000 | 1 | |
| On sunday, november 9, 2008 i was backing up in my driveway when the traction control engaged briefly, stopped and the service light for both the tc and the abs remained on. i have not been able to get rid of the service lights. on monday i brought the van into the local garage. in june 2008, i had the same problem but the service lights turned off. the same garage put in new ball bearings including the one that has the sensor in it for the tc and abs. i have read the ebcm module or the sensor on the ball bearing could be the problem. *tr | |||
| 08/13/2005 | 23000 | ||
| Tl*the contact owns a 2005 saturn relay. the contact stated that the passenger side electric door does not latch properly. as a result, the door opens while the vehicle is moving. he took the vehicle to the dealer and they re-adjusted the door striker. immediately after the repair, the failure recurred. secondly, he noticed excessive vibration when depressing the brake pedal. the contact took the vehicle to the dealer and they machined his braking system. after the repair, the failure recurred. the contact took the vehicle to another dealer and they replaced the brake rotors and pads. the contact called the manufacturer and they referred him back to the dealer. as of august 7, 2008, the dealer has not successfully remedied the failure. the failure mileage was 23,000 and current mileage was 48,900. | |||
| 11/01/2007 | 8 | 10/01/2005 | |
| Failure of sliding side door to lock failure of windshield wipers failure of rear brakes. *tr | |||
| 09/14/2007 | 39500 | 2 | 09/20/2005 |
| The traction control system engaged while driving at freeway speed on state highway 153 in chattanooga, tn, causing the vehicle to veer right out of the lane. the system immediately shut off and a service traction control system/abs system/stability system warning appeared in the dash readout. after turning off the vehicle, the warning went away. then a week later the same thing happened on a city street at low speed, and again the warning appeared, and again, it disappeared. i've contacted saturn who stated the fault was in the electronic brake control module (ebcm) and it would have to be replaced at a cost of over $1,000. i have been in contact with other relay owners who have experienced the same occurrence. this is obviously a safety related issue that can cause loss of control of the vehicle and result in death or serious injury. given that the fault is seen in other cars of the same make and model, i feel a mandatory recall should be issued to fix the problem before someone is injured or killed in a crash. *jb | |||
| 12/01/2004 | 1000 | 1 | |
| 2005 saturn relay has numerous design flaws, and saturn is unable to fix. onstar disables speedometer when used, radio mutes and car must be turned off and back on to reset, abs system malfunctions repeatedly even after replacing ebcm, abs pump, bcm, lights flicker both interior and exterior, alternator found to have erratic output, new alternator did not solve problem. brake rotors warped within 25k miles. saturn will only keeping trying to repair, but is unable to solve problems. *nm | |||
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC - ANTILOCK | |||
| 02/08/2007 | 17700 | 10 | 08/01/2005 |
| Tl*the contact owns a 2005 saturn relay. while driving 5-20 mph, the brake pedal extended to the floorboard when depressed. in addition, the pedal shuttered. as a result, there was a loss of steering. the dealer stated that debris in the plugs caused the failure. they cleaned the plugs; however, the failure continued to occur. as of january 30, 2008, the dealer had not repaired the vehicle. the failure mileage was 17,700 and current mileage was 34,880. | |||
| 12/12/2007 | 1 | ||
| Purchased s 2005 saturn relay in april 06. since day one things have been wrong, brake rotors warped, axel broken, interior parts needing replacement and now it is in the shop for weeks for transmission problems. i have a file open with saturn and they are not helpful. i have 6 kids 5 of which drive in the car quite a bit and i feel the car is unsafe. the dealer admitted to not knowing what to do with the vehicles transmission. i have no idea what's being done to my vehicle they said they will notify me when they make progress. *tr | |||
| 08/11/2006 | 20318 | 2 | 10/29/2005 |
| Tl*the contact owns a 2005 saturn relay. while driving 5 mph, the contact heard an unfamiliar noise. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated that the sway bar had failed and the rotors were puncturing the tires. the dealer replaced the bar and rotors, however the failure recurred. the dealer has been unable to duplicate the failure. the current mileage is 39,170 and failure mileage was 20,318. | |||
| 02/09/2005 | 1100 | 3 | 01/08/2005 |
| Dt*: the contact stated while driving 65 mph on normal road conditions, a noise was heard from one of the tires. the right front tire blew out and the tire failure was on the outer wall. the same incident occurred several days after with the left front tire. the dealership replaced all four tires. also, the brakes made a loud noise while driving 5 mph, and the abs light illuminated intermittently. the dealership corrected the problem but the brake noise continued and on one occasion the wheels locked up. recently, one of the rear tires blew out, but the dealership did not find any abnormality for this repetitive problem. the vehicle was taken to the dealership twelve times in a one and a half year period. the manufacturer was contacted, and advised to take the vehicle to the dealership for a diagnosis. the contact was very concerned because on top of the mechanical defects, other body defects like doors opening by itself while driving constituted a severe risk to safety. | |||
| 01/09/2006 | 7266 | 5 | 08/24/2005 |
| Car purchased 8/24/05 1/9/06 = abs/traction control service lights illuminating; part repaired 3/31/06 = high speed braking vibration/pulsation; part repaired 7/24/06 = high speed braking vibration/pulsation; part repaired 8/2/06 = high speed braking vibration/pulsation; part replaced 8/2/06 = abs/traction control service lights illuminating; part repaired/replaced. *jb | |||
| 01/23/2006 | 15000 | 1 | 07/08/2005 |
| There have been several occasions where abs brakes and traction control needed to be activated. whenever they activated they failed. they will activate for about 1 second and then shut down with warning coming on the display and saying to service the abs brakes and the traction control. also, the icons on the dashboard come on, indicating the abs and traction control are shut down. until recently there wasn't a major problem , but on 1/23/2006 when brakes shut down van almost ended up in a river with 2 year old child in the van with me. according to my repair receipt the following was done. customer states when hitting bump, traction control shuts off and abs activates, technical service bulletin 0108450050 stated checked female terminals and none were loose. packed connector with grease and drove vehicle 10 miles. could not duplicate. their description of the problem isn't 100% accurate. i found another driver online who had the same problem with the same year and model van. *ak | |||
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC - ANTILOCK - ABS WARNING LIGHT | |||
| 09/07/2007 | 40000 | 50 | |
| I have a 2005 saturn relay. three weeks ago, the service traction control system warning message and light and the service abs system warning message and light started coming on intermittently (but both always at the same time). if i cut off the ignition and restarted the car, the messages and lights would go away until i started the car the next day. in a one-week period, these warnings and lights came on three to four times. the dealership warned me that when the warning lights were on, my car did not have abs or traction control. so i took my car to the dealership and, based on a computer diagnostic, paid $460 to replace the front right wheel hub and sensor. three days later, the warnings and lights came on again. this time, they stayed on even after turning off the ignition, removing the key and letting it sit for a minute. the lights have come on every time i have driven the car since. i have yet another service appt. on sept. 11. even though traction control and the abs system do not affect braking and vehicle control during normal driving situations, they are part of a safety system--a system for which i am receiving a discount on my insurance. i have also located at least ten other 2005 relay owners through online discussion boards that have had the same problem. many have said the problem is a faulty ebcm module. i will find out next tuesday when i take my car back into the dealer for the third time if this is something we should replace. however, i feel the problem is serious enough and widespread enough to warrant a recall. please, please check into this problem with the 2005 saturn relays. even if the problem has not led to a personal injury or accident, the problem is related to a safety feature that all drivers depend upon. *tr | |||
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC - ANTILOCK - WHEEL SPEED SENSOR | |||
| 09/20/2008 | 41256 | 1 | 12/01/2005 |
| 2005 saturn relay. wheel speed sensor jumper wiring required replacement (indicated by warning light). issue is the anti-lock brakes will not function based on malfunctioning sensor. gm was aware of the issue, and had a procedure in place for dealer to implement. this should be a recall issue, as the remedy requires a different wiring process than originally engineered. drivers are at risk without anti-lock brakes. *tr updated 12/10/08 | |||
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC - FOUNDATION COMPONENTS - DISC - ROTOR | |||
| 07/13/2007 | 23400 | 2 | 11/16/2005 |
| Brake rotors have warped 2 twice in the last 2 years. saturn of beaverton has resurfaced the rotors the first time and had to replace the brakes (fall 2006). the 2nd time they are going to resurface again as far as parts i do not know at this time. waiting for saturn to schedule service. (july 2007)*jb | |||
| 04/08/2007 | 10217 | 4 | 09/29/2005 |
| Rotors are warping every 10,000 miles or less, truck vibrates when braking, rotors were repaired or replaced 4 times .i am worried about an underlying problem that could cause an accident.*ak | |||
| 05/26/2005 | 15000 | 1 | 03/15/2005 |
| Brakes get so hot when traveling down a mountain that it causes the rotors to warp. the van shakes and shimmies and makes a loud sound as if you were traveling over rumble strips on the road. the van exhibited these failures around 15,000 miles. the problem still exists despite the dealer resurfacing the rotors. after driving the vehicle down hill the brakes get hot again and cause the rotors to be warped again. *nm | |||
| 10/20/2005 | 2878 | 4 | 07/02/2005 |
| Dt: the contact states there was an ongoing problem with exterior and interior lighting. while driving, the headlights and the dashboard panel lights flickered from bright to dim. also, the idle was very loud and rough. she took the vehicle to the dealer. the dealer replaced the alternator. this did not correct the problem. the dealer was unable to accurately diagnose the problem, and no further repairs were made. *ak updated 12/27/2005. the horn springs were deform which resulted in the horn being inoperative. the sliding door would chime as if the door was not closed. the tech adjusted the top middle and bottom latches. the brakes pulsated when braking. the technician had to resurface both front rotors. *nm | |||