95 SL1 owner reporting in
 

Hey guys long time GM-enthusiast, first-time saturn owner here. Picked up a pretty clean 1995 Saturn SL1 the other day for a fair price to save on gas. Have a few questions:
1. Any problems I should watch out for on these cars?
2. I have a Check Engine light that comes on when I accelerate and stays on. I'm thinking O2 sensor. Thoughts?
3. The driver's side interior door handle doesn't work and neither do the lock switch. Both seem to have undue tension on them that prevent them from going into one position or the other and seem stuck in the middle.
4. The brakes on the car take a bit more pressure than I'm used to applying. Is this normal for these cars?
5. The AC makes the engine noise quite a bit louder, but doesn't make anything rough.
6. I've read about oil burn in Saturns and wonder if I should switch to synthetic? Im thinking a Synthetic High Mileage brand like Pennzoil Platinum High Mileage

Thanks in advance!

Welcome to the forum, man. That's a pretty clean hooptie! The SOHC isn't too bad on oil at all. At least the one I had wasn't. I had the DOHC that I checked weekly. The SOHC I had used about 1/2 quart in 5,000 miles, so I was happy. The door skin is what comes off if you want to check the linkage binding inside the door for the handle. You can pull up all kinds of great videos on youtube. Guy there named richpin had some very good ones on the Saturns. The weak thing on the S series is that sorry ass TAAT4 transmission. Fortunately, it's usually valve body related and they're pretty simple to repair or replace.

Damn that engine sure looks familiar. I know I've seen that engine somewhere before......hmmmmmmmmmm I wonder where....

oh, BTW - Welcome

The car is marked Saturn of Westbrook, Maine. If that helps.

Ok, so far I got the door straightened out and did a brake job. The calipers were rusted to all **** and were preventing the piston from fully disengaging. 163,000 miles and original pads and rotors. So replaced calipers, pads and rotors.

However my radiator fan is not working. What should I begin checking?

Thanks man howdy from Gainesville

Sorry NHRAracer, my attempt at humor was pretty bad. I'm in the process of rebuilding one of these engines right now. That's why it looked so familiar.
Sorry. I promise to never attempt humor ever again.

Most likely it's the fan. I've had to replace mine since I've had the car. The simplest approach is to take a pair of small leads from your battery and connect them to the connector on the fan to see if it comes on when wired directly to a 12v source.

Welcome. Car is nice and clean. Turn on your a/c while running, the fan should come on and stay on (always did in mine, awesome for when your stuck in traffic). If not, check your relay and then try 12v directly at fan. Taking them out isnt that hard either. its 2 or 4 10mm bolts and it will pop out.

thats obd1, search on the interbutts to find out how to get codes. normally jumping something in the diagnostic connector will make the check engine light flash a certian amount of times, count them out and youll have your dtc.

only thing to watch out for is if the ects (engine coolant temp sensor) is original to car. they started by using rosin tipped sensors(is that what it was?). Either way the old style would swell and crack over time and the computer has a hissy fit, and can cause a no start condition. GM replaced them with brass tipped ones and all was well. If you do need to replace it, go to a gm dealer and get a new sensor and connector and rewire connector. The computers dont like aftermarket ones very much.

Havent had a sohc, but keep an eye on that oil level regardless for awhile. My twin cam was going thru 2-3 qts of oil every 1500 miles before i rebuilt it.

Octavious indeed covered it.
I however feel as though I am going to overcover it in gruesome detail -- just because......

Indeed AC on should cause aux radiator fan to run constantly based on the fan being commanded on by the PCM. This closes the fan relay and completes the electrical circuit for the fan, which then runs.

If fan does not turn on, swap fan relay in underhood junction box w another of exact same type (there's one in there). If that works, replace relay. If that doesn't work, do the direct to battery fan test.

Yes I troubleshoot in the opposite direction on simple stuff.

The fan will also come on when the PCM infers a temp from the resistance of the ECTS that is lower than x (don't remember x ). On most temp gauges this corresponds to right near the H tick and nudging into the red. This is often disconcerting for "new to you" S car owners, but is actually the norm.

The ECTS should be pulled on an ice cold engine and checked to see if it is the brass one described above. If the squeeze connector shows signs of corrosion or green, replace both the ECTS and connector using OEM GM parts per Octavious.

If the ECTS is defective or connector corroded, the PCM's inferred temp reading will be wrong, and usually high, so the PCM will never tell the fan to turn on ---resulting in the car overheating

I believe that is enough overkill for now.....

a)The "louder with AC on" noise is likely the fan kicking in (which is a good thing.
b)Reading OBD I codes -- the paperclip method
https://www.saturnforum.com/forum/sa...ng-codes-3062/

c) check your oil every other day until you figure out how much it is burning, if any, per unit time. Using synthetic will reduce the amount of oil you go through, but of course is more expensive.

d) sounds like a combination of the rods being bound up and possibly the cylinder being stuck. Try some graphite powder in the the cyl (ask for it at the key cutting counter at home depot)