I have a 2003 saturn ion automatic 2.2L ecotec. I changed the timing belt it was not broken when I changed it after I changed it the car fired up just fine and drove fine. I drove it down the road stopped at a gas station put gas in and when I went to drive off I put it in gear and the car just revved it didn't move but it was still running. I've figured out that when the temperature of the car is cool you can drive it just fine but when the car gets up to temperature it won't move when I put it in gear it just revs. I don't know what it could be I've took the coil pack off and put it back on and it still does the same thing.

 

You need to have someone look at your automatic transmission. You are describing a transmission problem.

 

If its the transmission why can I drive it when it's cold but not when it gets up to temperature.

 

If the engine runs fine but the car won't move then you most likely have a transmission problem. You don't by chance have a cvt automatic ? I have heard they are very problematic.

 

You don't understand. It WILL move when it is cold I can drive it just fine like nothing is wrong but when it gets up to temperature is when it won't move.

 

I understand that the car works fine cold and will not move hot. So when the car is cold drive it somewhere and get the transmission checked.

 

if it is a 2003 ion COUPE then I believe it has to be a CVT as that was the only tranny offering for ion coupes in 2003 and 2004.

Mileage between 100 and 135K?

1) Get diagnosis of quickly approaching CVT death
I'm pretty sure you can swap to a regular A/T but I don't think the cost hassle is worth it
2) Not worth replacing with used CVT with many miles on it. They all bite the dust.
3) Attempt to sell privately as a full parts car, running engine, bad tranny. Craigslist is a great place to list these
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If it is a 2003 Ion SEDAN , my guess is as the tranny heats up, one of the critical solenoids -- maybe the line pressure solenoid---goes into failure mode, the tranny can no longer build line pressure, and therefore it won't shift into any gear. I truly have no idea.

Do as 02 LW300 said -- plan a cold drive trip to a tranny shop who you've told you're coming so you can drive it right into the bay & on the lift instead of stopping and having the thing heat up on you and be stranded 20 ft from the bay.

 

While I agree with both Andy and derf, I'd at least try a fluid and filter change on it. And replace one quart of the fluid with Lucas transmission treatment.

 

cvt's take a completely different fluid than normal ATF i believe. so the Lucas aditive may not be a good idea. Research it first.

And is it a CVT or not?

 

Ahhhh, I completely missed the fact that it could have a CVT transmission. If indeed it is a CVT in your car, then DO NOT put any type of additive in it. If it's a crappy as the ones Mopar uses, then you should probably just get rid of the car and get something else. Nissan is the only company that seems to have figured out the CVT for some reason. And it appears they're not sharing the information! I don't know if JATCO builds them to the Nissan specs or if Nissan is manufacturing them themselves. I do know that the Mopar ones are not rebuildable. They remove the old, junk ones, toss them and put in a new junk one.