New to Saturn Forum, 2000 SL
 

Hello everyone! I'm new to this forum, having come over from Saturnfans (which as of today is apparently defunct). I have a blue 2000 Saturn SL with the 5-speed manual transmission and the 1.9L SOHC engine. I've owned this vehicle for over 20 years now, having bought it in 2003 from the local Saturn dealer for $6500 (not including tax, title, etc.) with 52K miles. It now has over 155K miles and still runs great. The only major problem I've had with it was the intake manifold gasket failing around 80K miles or so; this was a common problem with engines from that generation of S-series. I had that replaced at a shop. One time it overheated a bit while my son was driving it (kudos to him, he pulled over into a parking lot and shut the engine down immediately) because we had forgotten to reconnect the cooling fan after replacing the radiator (which was recommended by our friends on Saturnfans because S-series radiators are known to fail when they get old). We've tried to maintain this car as best we can with new hoses, new plugs and wires, new brakes, regular coolant changes (and we now have it on green antifreeze, not the Dexcool crap), tires, batteries, new ECTS sensor, new 188 deg thermostat, manual tranny fluid change to synthetic, and other items. The headliner is in shreds, so our next project on this car will probably be to replace that.

Anticipating the question (LOL), it burns about 1 quart of oil every 2000 miles or so and I have run it on synthetic 5W-30 oil for as long as I've had it (Amsoil or Mobil-1). I typically change oil around every 2K to 3K miles because we don't drive it very many miles per year.

As most of you probably know, the SL has virtually manual everything: manual windows crank, manual door locks, manual steering, manual brakes, etc.! And I'm not complaining about that, because it means fewer things to go wrong!

Thanks for running this site, lots of great info here.

I mostly drive this vehicle for local errands around town and in the region, but I think it would be very trustworthy on longer trips. However, I am a bit older now than I used to be, and it is not the most comfortable vehicle for long hours behind the wheel.

Welcome!

Welcome aboard.

Welcome. I'm surprised to hear how much your SOHC burns. Not a common issue with the SOHC in general. 3rd generation, well, who knows.

Indeed these cars are not the most comfortable for cross-country travel. But they get the job done, they get you there, and they are reliable when maintained.

Are you positive it is not leaking?
Cam cover gasket? Rear main seal? Any oil tinge to the antifreeze?

Well, as old as this car is I can't be positive it is not leaking somewhere, but there don't seem to be any telltale drips on the garage floor (which is where I keep this car when not driven). I have replaced the valve cover gasket at least once as it did leak there at one time years ago. No oil color in the antifreeze that I can see.

From what I read on Saturnfans, most folks' Saturn S-series cars burned oil, regardless of whether SOHC or DOHC and regardless of generation. From what the expert Saturn mechanics over there said, it had to do with the piston design and very few oil return holes (and return holes that were prone to plugging up). I think someone said they did change the piston design on the 3rd gen vehicles but it didn't improve it much. My SL has been pretty consistent in burning oil at the same rate, roughly, between changes now as when I bought it over 20 years ago and over 100K miles since then. I'm not sure how my car was driven before I got it, but apparently it was driven quite a bit (52K miles in about 3 years, so over 17K per year) and I'm not sure the oil was changed as frequently as it should have been during that time. Even the owner's manual (which is by far the BEST owner's manual I have ever seen for any vehicle I've ever owned) tacitly admitted that these cars burn oil and that the rate at which it is burned depends on one's driving habits! I'm not overly worried about the oil consumption; I just keep an eye on the oil level every couple of months or so and add oil or change it as needed. Fortunately, our other vehicles use very little or no oil between changes.

Welcome to the forum. As a former owner of two SC2 and one SC1 model, I can honestly say that my SC1 didn't use more than a half-quart of oil between 5,000 mile oil changes. I had transmission issues with it, but never any engine problems. Anyway, moot point as you seem to be taking great care of yours. Kudos to you.