Am I confused or do you have a different valve cover?
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You don't have the plastic cover??

Your picture looks like the incorrect oil cap cross threaded in the cover and the top broken off. All the valve covers that I have seen look just like the one I pictured. You might remove what you have and see if the correct cap just screws in . 2/3 of a turn.

My Ion-2 is an 05. I think that "extra" piece is there to help with the space the plastic cover produces.

I don't think the oil cap is aftermarket or incorrect. If you Google Saturn Ion 2.2 engine you'll see other images that look like mine.

2006 Saturn Ion LVL 3 ENGINE ASM-L4 CYLINDER HEAD AND RELATED PARTS
This lists the part you need. #3 is the spacer, #4 is the o-ring. #1 is the cap and #2 is the replacement o-ring for the cap.

I would agree with both of you, as the extra plastic piece is used as a spacer for accessing the oil cap without removing the plastic shroud.

But neither the plastic tube nor the shroud, to my knowledge, existed for the 2.2 L61 until 2006; if it existed in 2005 as standard for the 2.2 , the plastic spacer tube would show on the parts diagrams, which it does not.

So that leaves a few possibilities:

1) Someone decided they wanted to put a shroud over their 2005 2.2 L61. SO they went and bought the 2006 tube but probably not the o ring (or the o ring in there is compromised) and a 2006 shroud (no idea how it's attached). As Andy pointed out, they seem to have botched the tube install. (simplest explanation)

2) Someone swapped a 2006 valve cover in for your 2005. The easiest way to tell is to look at the end opposite the oil filler cap (the short side).

If the end is smooth all the way across, it is a 2005.
If the end has 2 distinct top sections for the cam sprockets, it is a 2006 cover.

So then the question is why......which we may never know he answer to.

(more roundabout explanation)

3) IF it is a 2006 valve cover, could the whole engine have been swapped in/replaced? Maybe.

TRY running the VIN decoder under the TOOLS menu on the site and see what comes back -- but ONLY if the valve cover comes back as 2006. There may be (used to be anyways) barcodes with the VIN on various underhood parts, and VIN etchings on the block and tranny. So you could check these too, although I have no idea where they are let alone if they are on the Ions..... (most overcomplicated and far fetched explanation)

Let us know what you find

The vIn checked out as an 05 model.

The cover is secured by two pegs, one in front the other in back.

I purchased the Ion used... From a used car dealer... Not sure what else to say... I'll try and find a vin on the engine.

Photo of the oil cap

see 2) above -- which valve cover is it -- 2005 or 2006?

Not sure what I'm looking for... If I take off the oil cap and look down all I see is a smooth silver piece, assuming the cam.