2009 Saturn Outlook Engine Problems

The contact owns a 2009 Saturn Outlook. The contact stated that stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle made an abnormal sound and stalled. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to veer to the side of the road. The vehicle failed to restart and was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed and determined that the timing belt had failed and needed to be replaced. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was not covered under GM Campaign Number: 10287C since the campaign had expired. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

I was driving and my car started to lurch and went into reduced power mode. I quickly pulled over and turned off the engine. It was towed into the shop, and we found that the timing chain had broken. We had just had our engine mounts replaced and the oil changed. The vehicle has been well maintained. I have seen the issue with the timing chain failure is a common problem in Saturns/GM from internet research. It looks like there was a service bulletin to bring the car in if Service light comes on and you “think” it’s due to premature wear of timing chain. Now we are told the engine needs to be replaced because it was damaged by the timing chain failure and it seems like a known defect that should be covered because it exceeded the value of the car to have such a fix.

THE TIMING CHAIN IS GETTING STRETCHED IS WHAT THE CODES SAY AND NEEDS TO BE REPAIRED FEELS LIKE IT'S LOOSING POWER

WE ALWAYS CHANGE OUR OIL ON TIME. TOOK IT TO THE OIL CHANGE PLACE HE SAID THERE WAS BARELY ANY OIL IN IT , WE STILL HAD 200 MILE BEFORE RECOMMEND OIL CHANGE. THEN THE WHILE DRIVING THE ENGINE LIGHT WENT ON, WE TOOK IT AND MY MECHANIC SAID THAT'S THIS MOTOR IS BURNING OIL. AND CAN AFFECT ENGINE TIMING CHAIN.THE MECHANIC SAID TO START PUTTING SYNTHETIC OIL IN PER GM. WE WE'RE NEVER NOTIFIED ABOUT OIL ISSUES OR CHANGING WHAT TYPE OF OIL TO USE. NOW WE ARE GOING TO NEED AN ENGINE TIMING CHAIN WHICH IS EXTREMELY COSTLY. WE HAVEN'T BEGUN THIS PROCESS YET. BUT FROM WHAT'S I UNDERSTAND GM USB HAVING TONS OF ISSUES WITH MOTOR. AND WE HAVEN'T NEVER BEEN NOTIFIED ABOUT ANY PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE OR CARE.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 SATURN OUTLOOK. WHILE PLACING THE VEHICLE IN PARK POSITION, THE CONTACT HEARD AN ABNORMAL SOUND COMING FROM THE AIR CONDITIONING AND HEATING VENTS. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE EVAPORATION CORE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 66,603. ...UPDATED 03-10-16 *BF *TR

I WAS WAITING AT A STOPLIGHT AND HEARD AN UNUSUAL NOISE FROM THE ENGINE. WHEN I ACCELERATED ON THE GAS PEDDLE, I NOTICED THAT THE TRANSMISSION WOULD NOT SHIFT NORMALLY AND WOULD NOT EXCEED OVER 30 MPH. I MADE IT TO WORK BUT WHEN I TRIED TO REVERSE OUT OF THE PARKING LOT, THE CAR WOULD NOT MOVE AT ALL AND DISPLAYED "CHECK ENGINE LIGHT" ICON. I HAD TO PUSH IT OUT OF THE PARKING LOT THEN DRIVE FORWARD SLOWLY BACK HOME. I CALLED AROUND TOWN TO CHECK THE BEST SOLUTION FOR THE PROBLEM. I ALSO CHECKED ONLINE AND DISCOVERED THAT OTHER SATURN OUTLOOK OWNERS HAD THE SAME ISSUE AND THE SAME BROKEN PART WHEN IT WAS DIAGNOSED AND REPAIRED WHICH LEADS ME TO BELIEVE THAT GENERAL MOTORS IS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM AND FAILED TO RECALL MY VEHICLE AND ADD THE FAILED TRANSMISSION PROBLEM TO THE RECALL LIST. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 SATURN OUTLOOK. WHILE DRIVING 30 MPH, THE OIL PRESSURE WARNING INDICATOR ILLUMINATED INTERMITTENTLY. THE DEALER STATED THAT THE OIL SENDING UNIT AND BRACKET NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED AND THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 51,000.

THE ENGINE ON THIS VEHICLE HAS ISSUES WITH THE CYLINDERS AND MISFIRES. THIS ISSUE FIRST STARTED LAST YEAR AND WAS TAKEN INTO THE DEALER FOR SERVICE AT ABOUT 45,000 MILES. THE DEALER COULD REPLICATE THE ISSUE AT SPEEDS OF ABOUT 55 MPH WHERE THE ENGINE WOULD MISFIRE AND CAUSE A LACK OF POWER. HOWEVER DUE TO A LACK OF ENGINE CODES THEY COULD NOT BEGIN TO SOLVE THE ISSUE AS TO WHY THIS WAS HAPPENING. LAST WEEK THE ISSUE BECAME WORSE AND RESULTED IN A LOSS OF POWER ON THE HIGHWAY. FORTUNATELY THERE IS NOW A CODE FOR THE ENGINE ISSUE SO WE KNOW THAT THERE ARE CYLINDER MISFIRES AND IT CAN NOW BE FIXED. THIS IS A DANGEROUS ISSUE FOR DRIVERS AS THERE CAN BE A DISCERNIBLE ENGINE PROBLEM THAT CAN NOT BE DIAGNOSED BY GM'S DIAGNOSTIC EQUIPMENT UNTIL THERE SUCH A LOSS OF POWER RESULTING IN A SAFETY ISSUE. *TR

I HAVE A 2009 SATURN OUTLOOK. MYSELF AND SEVERAL OTHERS HAVE HAD OUTLOOKS AND GMC ACADIAS THAT HAVE HAD TO REPLACE THE WATER PUMPS. THIS SEEMS LIKE EITHER A DESIGN OR DEFECTIVE PART ISSUE WITH THESE GM CARS. IT SEEMS LIKE A RECALL SHOULD BE DONE. *TR

ENGINE WOULD STUTTER AT AROUND 70MPH. ISSUE RESOLVED BY CONTINUING TO REPLACE IGNITION COILS. FINALLY A TECHNICAL NOTE WAS ISSUED SAYING THE ECM HAD AN ISSUE THAT WOULD OVERHEAT AND MELT THE IGNITION COILS. LAST VISIT TO DEALER IN JAN 2014 REPLACED ALL IGNITION COILS AND THE ECM. ISSUE HAS NOT RETURNED YET. IF GM KNOW ABOUT THIS ISSUE, SHOULD THEY DO A RECALL BECAUSE IT'S A COMMON PROBLEM ACCORDING TO THE DEALER. *TR

CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON WHILE DRIVING AND VEH IMMEDIATELY LOST POWER. COULD NOT DRIVE OVER 30MPH, AND ENGINE BEGAN SMOKING. DEALER STATED FUEL INJECTOR WAS "DUMPING GAS". (GUESS THAT WOULD EXPLAIN THE BAD GAS MILEAGE). FUEL INJECTOR AND CATALYTIC CONVERTER CHANGED. 5 MONTHS LATER CHECK ENGINE CAME ON AGAIN AT 44,000MI. DEALER STATES COMPRESSION PROBLEM WITH FUEL INJECTOR. THE FUEL INJECTOR WAS REPLACED AGAIN, BUT NOW THE DEALER IS SAYING THERE IS ALSO A PROBLEM WITH CAM SHAFT. MY VEH IS STILL IN THE SHOP AS OF TODAY, SO I AM STILL NOT SURE IF THE PROBLEM HAS BEEN RESOLVED. *JS