I just joined this forum and hope that you guys can help me out. I have a 2003 Ion Quad Coupe, 2.2 engine with about 110k miles on it. About three weeks ago my son was driving the car and the engine lifters/valves started making loud noises like they were out of adjustment or lack of oil. We immediately checked the oil level and saw it had plenty of oil. We changed the oil and filter but this did not help. I hooked up an oil gauge to it this evening to check that oil was being pumped to the top end and it was and did have oil pressure around 50 psi. The car starts immediately and has no other problems outside of the loud tapping of the valves. Has anyone run into this problem and if you have what did you do to fix it. Thanks for any help you can give me.

Mike3401

 

OK ... 50 psi. At least, the oil pump is still functional. Changing the filter was a good idea too, but I'm beginning to think you have a piece of gunk/junk that is restricting the volume of the oil flow to the upper portion of the engine. Things like this don't normally happen, but it is possible. Envision a pressure meter on your water faucet - you open the valve, and it reads a pressure (even if there is no flow). Lack of oil flow leads to valve train noise, leads to wear, damage, and eventual failure.

Oh, normally, one would post this message in the appropriate forum so the really smart people can find and comment .....

 

Sorry for posting in the wrong location but being new and not having used a forum like this before where do i find the appropriate forum. Thanks for your response, do you have any recommendations on trying to locate this restriction.

 

Would require you to pull the cam cover gasket and check the passages where the oil should be coming in and draining out for a blockage or debris. You should easily be able to tell if the oil is getting up there as soon as you pull the cam cover off.

 

Welcome to the Saturn Forum


Take the ION to your nearest Saturn Retailer, they know more about Saturns then LarrysLawnService&AutoRepair.

 

Is LarrysLawnService&AutoRepair, part of the same chain as Joe'sCrabShack&AutoRepair? They seem to share the auto repair vocation as secondary but they diverge at their primary vocation?

Please advise.

 

Derf --

It's a franchise. Name dependant on your location. Down here in Mississippi, we have Gary'sGatorFarm&AutoRepair, and also Sam'sShrimpStand&AutoRepair ...

 

Ocean is 100% correct

In Arizona we also have SunDevilDonuts&AutoRepair