We just bought this car today, a 2002 Saturn SL1. The dealer calls its problem a "shift flare" and says there is a Saturn bulletin on it. This bullentin states to replace the transmission.

Basically, I have a 2 second delay before the car goes into reverse, with a nice solid clunk that lightly shakes the car, while driving if the car reaches the need to shift down, say to pass another car, the car shifts, then immediately jumps back into the prior gear. Other than that the car is perfect, and show room new condition looking especially nice for a 2002 model with 67K on the odometer.

This is my daughters car, she needs this for school, and work. so Any help you can offer would be of immense help.

I have read this is a reoccurring problem with this model, and that entire transmissions have been replaced with no avail, or the symptoms return in a couple of years. This would lead me to believe replacing the transmission is not the solution, but rather a band aid to some other problem causing this.

What about replacing the TPS, and PCM?

Any ideas? My many years of mechanics has taught me, that if things like a fuse blows, and you replaced it, and the next one blows, then the problem is more than likely not the fuse,.... same for repeating problems in anything!

Im up for ideas!

Please share what you know.

Thank you

 

Sounds like the transmission valve body needs to be replaced or rebuilt.

 

Who did you buy it from? Any warranty/return clause?
Did you drive it before you bought it? Did it display this behavior at that time?

It is generally illegal to not disclose known problems with a vehicle when you're selling it -- so I'd go after the seller and prove from his service records (ask for them but don't say why) that he knew about the issue and failed to disclose it.....

 

Yes we drove it, but on normal driving it drives perfect like a brand new car. But if you push hard on the gas, it pops in and out of the lower gear.

The reverse gear was also noted when back at the lot.

The dealer disclosed the info to us. No warranty offered on the car.

Im thinking about replacing the tps, pcm, and the valve body along with the linkage bushings if any to ensure everything possible is covered. This is her primary vehicle for college, and work so it needs to be as reliable as possible.

Any words of wisdom on this project? like maybe some good parts places that wont break me, and sell good new parts, not junk.

 

I don't understand why you are contemplating the replacement of the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS). There was nothing in your thread that indicates a problem in that area (unless I totally missed it).

If you're into changing sensors just for 'the heck of it', I'd do the Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor (ECTS) long before I'd do the TPS.

 

Not the kind of vehicle I'd purchase knowing it needed to be a primary car for my offspring. Tranny problems (improper downshifting) can result in dangerous on-road conditions where you can't get the car where it needs to be ---and out of harm's way.

Just do the valve body and ECTS. And search the forum for "reverse slam" for some other hints.

Any SES codes we need to address?

 

The reason Im looking at replacing the tps and pcm is the tps, sends signals to the pcm, and then to the transmission. So if any of these are out of whack or giving erroneous signals, it can cause problems too.

Derf,
The reason we bought the car is its condition, its litterally brand new, inside and out. The car looks straight off the showroom fresh, with only 67K miles on the odo. The only problem with the car is the tranny. Even if we buy and replace the transmission, Ill install it, thats no issue, were still in the black as we purchased the car for 2K. The blue book on this car is 7K.

And another thing, the next time someone does these repairs can someone make a photo tutorial on whats involved? I know the geo metro forum does that for all kinds of repairs and it really helps out members.

For the moderators, making a new section for this would be of great help especially for common to the model fixes and repair like this tranny problem.

 

7K? for a 7 year old saturn?

Anyway, PCMs are pretty solid on these cars. If they go bad, you'll know b/c all kinds of weird poopy crops up out of nowhere.

If the TPS is a problem, you'd know in other ways because the EGR valve position, spark timing, and a whole host of other things would make the car run like crap. Usually TPS problems show as a hesitation at a particular pedal position. Test with a multimeter before changing it for no reason.

Unplug the TPS sensor wiring harness at the TPS. The resistance between terminals A and C should be above 200 Ohms and should change smoothly as the throttle is moved.

Measure the voltage between A and ground. With the key on/engine off, should read 5 volts.

With key off, check for continuity betw B and ground.

________
Valve body
ECTS

 

I know that the tps can have something to do with an erratic shift pattern. It happened on my daughter's L series. As far as hesitating and clunking while going into reverse...not so sure. After experiencing an erratic shift for several weeks, the ck. engine light came on, indicating tps issues.I changed it and no more trans problems. She has been driving event free for at least three weeks now.