Hello to all, I'm or I should say my Daughter is a new owner of a 2002 sl1 with a 1.9 ltr. and it does have a rough idle. The previous owner says he put in new plugs and wires but he says it has been sitting fot a month or so. I've had it filled with Mobil premium fuel and added a can of seafoam to the gas. (I've had very good luck with this pruduct in motorcycles) My question is. Is there someplace to access parts and repair manuals for these cars? Thanks to all. I'm praying and hoping that this is a good car for her (brand new driver)

 

The chilton, Mitchel or other similar manual makers can be found at Auto Parts places that have a Help or something similar section such as Autozone or Checker (O'Reily's) and they are generally adequate although as you will find abreviated.
If you feel you need a factory manual they May be available directly through a GM dealer. Some specific Dealers make a big deal about continuing Saturn Service along with being able to order parts. Others may be able to but have not checked. Since locally when the Saturn dealer closed it's doors, the Chevrolet dealer next door has been advertising Saturn Service and can order parts directly through the Chevy parts counter.
I think you will find that being computor controlled they can be (as any computor controlled car can be) finicky some times trying to figure out why something obscure is taking place. Once you get by that they are an easy car to maintain and work on and in many cases both the car and the service information go hand in hand for certain repairs and it is important to have it to get things done the easiest way. At least the S series car.
Rear disc brakes are 20 min a side from the time you pick up tools to the time you put the tools down (if you have read the instructions). And the list goes on. Silly things such as changing your own oil.
The owners manual will say (owners manual? YUP the one that generally gives you 5 pages of starting the car with a key) will tell you to jack up the passenger side slightly higher than the drivers side because there is a drain channel built in to the body so oil that pours out of the Filter will travel down the drain channel into the catch bucket (or all over the floor) and the list goes on.

 

All that isn't necessary for the oil change. The oil gets all over the subframe and inner cv joint regardless (unless your creative with the oil filter box cardboard lol). Just change the oil and filter every 3k and make sure the oil level is checked once a week or so unless you know its losing a lot more then check it accordingly. Other than that these cars seem to run forever. And yes, dealers may make a big deal out of ordering parts because once they do, they are stuck with them so usually you have to pay up front. Other than that its no big deal as long as the parts weren't discontinued.

 

Thanks for the info.The only reason I put the premium fuel in was for the extra cleaning possibilities.This car car threw a code Po301 for a #1 cylinder miss fire. It idles fine but when you put it indrive it does have a bit of a miss.I'm going to check the intake gasket this weekend.The plugs are burning fine (the plugs and wires were just replaced).

 

note to SaturnSSerieS --

With all the throttle position sensor failure being reported over the last six months, maybe we need to add 'replace TPS sensor' at the same time one does throttle body cleaning (100k)

 

Thanks. Saturnsseries you were spot on with intake gasket.I replaced the intake gasket and cleaned the throttle body and it is like a totally different car.I could not believe how nasty the inside of the intake was. Thanks again.