I am new to owning a Saturn. I had VERY strict objections to EVER owning one. I am the proud owner of many Toyota Tercel 4wd Wagons. I borrowed a friends Saturn and I really liked it..... So I finally caved and bought 2 Saturn's, but the requirement was that it had to be a Wagon, and it had to be a Manual. I was pleasantly surprised and no longer "racist" towards Saturn's. I have a problem though that I can not get any info on.

It started with engine noise. I took the valve cover off to inspect the timing chain (DOHC), all looked well. I figured the noise was a bad lifter, it was not loud at all.

I was pulling a trailer on the freeway and the car died, rolling in gear I heard some loud noises. I turned the radio off, and the engine sounded like it was knocking. Got it towed home and when I got it home, it fired right up. It would not start on the side of the road after it died.

Problem I have is the knocking noise is very intermittent, usually a rod knock follows rhythm, this goes quiet, hits once or twice and is silent for about 3 seconds on idle. Lifters and valves look fine.

The best description I can give of the sound is it sounds like a broken valve in one of the center cylinders that only makes contact with the head "sometimes". But I pulled all 4 spark plugs and the pistons look fine, there is no broken valve.

If this is posted in the wrong spot, I apologize. I really like the car and want to know if anyone had a similar experience like this.

 

Well, I'm NOT a mechanic and don't claim to be. But that being said, I have worked on my own vehicles for over 50 years. It sounds to me like it could be a belt tensioner. I'd start it, pop the hood open and with it idling, watch the tensioner. It might snap or jump and give itself away. Does speed or rpm of the engine increase the frequency? If so, you may want to have someone sit in the car and bring the rpms up while observing the belt and tensioners.

 

Rube is referring to the serpentine belt of course

 

So, I was quick to just blow off checking the Belt, as I "know" that is not the problem. I did not want to send a reply until I at least tried that. Confirmed. The belt is not the problem: Belt, Tensioner, idler, etc........

Still makes the intermittent noise. I feel confident that it is a bad lifter, but until my 1999 SW2 my newest car was a 1985 Toyota Tercel.

Does anyone have experience with what a bad lifter sounds like?

My biggest confusion is that when it failed the car died on the freeway and would not start at all, it acted like it wanted to run, but would fart out and die. After towing it home, it fires right up, but with the engine noise.

 

Lifters don't make knocking sounds. Connecting rods or bearings do. Lifters and valve make a clicking or tapping noise. You need to verify which you have. Did you check the oil level in the car? If you ran it low on oil, then odds are you damaged a rod bearing or rod. The 1.9 DOHC is a known oil burner.

 

There are a few common sources of said described not wanting to start while hot yet starting fine when cold. The crapping out on the highway part is not good, but obviously there are multiple possibilities for that.

Were you going up a steep hill when it happened? Did the car seem to be low on power before it happened?

I can't see your posts right now while I am replying. Were there any codes stored?

What was the reading on the temperature gauge? Half? 3/4? Near the red? Note I am not asking if the vehicle was actually overheating, only what the sensor read on the dash.