mmarton Posted September 14, 2008 Posted September 14, 2008 I am a dunce when it comes to engines and such, so we have that out of the way. My mother has a 1996 Saturn SL1 with over 250K miles. Just a beater to drive around town. She was taking it to the Saturn dealer for service but they started giving her quotes that were outlandish. The were talking about thousands of dollars to do repairs related to the CEL coming on. I took the car to Auto Zone and got the free ECU scan. It came up with an EGR issue. The guy there said it could mean a lot of different things, but a new valve is about $125. What other different things? Any help? I know that the gas mileage on the car is pure crap for a small four-cylinder, so I originally thought it might be the oxygen sensor. Thanks. You guys were a big help when my 05 NA wagon threw a CEL. More than 10 days now after disconnecting the battery and no CEL.
mmarton Posted September 19, 2008 Author Posted September 19, 2008 Well I should have done this first instead of posting the question here. There's a forum like this one for Saturns called Saturnalia, where I was able to learn all kinds of things about EGR valves and ECTS. The downside is that the site's administrators aren't on top of things like they are here. I registered on Saturnalia days ago but they still haven't sent the follow-up email to complete the registration. I can't post any specific questions.
mmarton Posted January 2, 2009 Author Posted January 2, 2009 Just an update: Bought a new EGR valve from Autozone a few weeks ago for less than $100. No trouble installing it but the CEL (Service Engine Soon on the Saturn) remained lit. The original scan was at Advance. Their prices are higher than Auto Zone. So I ran the car for a bit and still no luck. I took the EGR valve off, sprayed some carb cleaner in the openings and started the car before re-installing the valve. Still no luck. I then disconnected the negative battery cable for a few hours and no change. Finally, I disconnected the negative battery cable and turned on the lights for a few minutes. Success! CEL is gone.
TrueWhiteBoy Posted January 2, 2009 Posted January 2, 2009 I remember having that problem with a 1992 Saturn SL2. In addition to the EGR I had to replace the IAT sensor, unfortunately my 2 years of auto 8 years ago isn't quite enough to say that's the problem, but it may be worth looking into.
mmarton Posted January 3, 2009 Author Posted January 3, 2009 I'm just trying to sell the car. It runs great, the MPG improved considerably once I installed the new EGR and the light is out! For now. I wonder if all I needed to do was clean the old part instead of buying a new one.
TrueWhiteBoy Posted January 3, 2009 Posted January 3, 2009 I remember reading a bunch of threads back when it happened and a lot of people said yes, all you needed to do was clean it. At the time I was working and still living at home so I had a nice abundance of money and just bought a new one since I didn't want to deal with it
Bolksey85 Posted January 3, 2009 Posted January 3, 2009 At the same time, with a quarter million on the clock, the OE unit probably wouldn't have lasted much longer so buying a new one was a better idea.
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