i just got back from a 600-mile trip to the mountains...at one point, my little 2002 Saturn SL1 had 5 people in it, for a total weight of more than 1000 pounds (in addition to some gear and a kayak), and we were going up and down some pretty steep roads...easy to say that my 4-banger got a major workout and was probably stressed all to hell

that said, i didn't notice anything off about it...no funky noises, temp was right, oil was good...shoot, i got 35mpg, even

then, yesterday (the day after i got back), i'm driving my car and i notice the tachometer is waaaay off...as anyone who drives a manual knows, you learn to feel where your car's shifting points are, where the tach should be at a certain speed, etc...even if i HADN'T already felt that it was wonky, the fact that at idle it was showing 0 RPM would have been a clue (it usually hovers between 750-1000 RPM at idle)

it was like that for a 10-mile trip, i turned it off to run inside a store and pick up some things, and then it seems to be better ever since

it's back to normal (for the past 50 miles), but i'm concerned that this might be a precursor to something serious...ideas? suggestions? should i get it checked out (despite the fact that it's not doing anything off right now)?

3/17/2008 8:29:46 AM

It sounds like the clutch might be beginning to slip. What I'd do is put it in a higher gear and floor it, see if the tach and speedo go up in proportion to one another or the tach goes up a little unproportional to the speedo. If it does go up at a unproportional speed, your clutch is slipping

It will only get worse.. once it starts you might a well have it replaced because it will degrade very quickly



[Edited on March 17, 2008 at 9:35 AM. Reason : just read about the tach being at 0..that's odd, not sure what to think about it]

3/17/2008 9:34:49 AM

i'm pretty sure that the tach sitting at 0 & a slipping clutch are not related

3/17/2008 9:37:00 AM

Yeah, I read that wrong. I thought he was saying they were just off randomly..which would easily be related to a clutch problem.

It being at 0 when it shouldn't be isn't a clutch problem. My mom's infiniti does this however but I have no idea why

3/17/2008 9:49:35 AM

well, if it were the clutch, i wouldn't be surprised...i had some issues with the shifter cables a while back (dan can tell you more about that...they were a bitch then, and they're STILL kinking up a bit now)...either way, i drove my car without 1st gear for nearly a month (as in, 2nd became first and i'd just ride the clutch to get it going...awful, i know, but i didn't have time to work on it)...i probably did some considerable damage to it then, and it's got about 115k on it

yeah, i thought the 0 RPM thing was strange - it was like the tach shifted by 1000 RPM, so my readings were uniformly off by that much...but now (of course) it works just fine, so i can't even show it to anyone

how hard/expensive is a clutch?

3/17/2008 10:14:25 AM

tachs hardly ever read correctly anyway

i wouldnt worry about it especially if it was off uniformly in all gears

did it sound like it wanted to stall? your ears are you best source of information anyway

3/17/2008 10:45:25 AM

ehh n/m

[Edited on March 17, 2008 at 10:52 AM. Reason : .]

3/17/2008 10:52:14 AM

^^ well, i still had a kayak (badly) strapped to the roof, so i was getting a lot of wind noise

i didn't have any music on, and i didn't HEAR anything out of the ordinary...i could, of course, feel when it was time to shift rather than hear it, but aside from it being off, i didn't notice anything else

3/17/2008 12:25:50 PM

this is the car gods punishing you for being a kayaking queer and taking a queer trip to the mountains with 1000lbs of dudes in a saturn SL1. sorry.

3/17/2008 5:07:57 PM

awww, jealous i didn't invite you?

3/17/2008 7:27:37 PM

bttt...any other suggestions? should i not worry?

3/18/2008 11:27:38 AM

IPC are always goin out on gm's

3/19/2008 6:18:36 AM

its a saturn.. dont question it.. just be glad it still runs

3/19/2008 9:14:40 AM

vehicle speed sensor going bad?

working intermittently?

located on the back of the trans. with wires sticking out of it.

3/19/2008 10:36:45 AM

vss making the tach wrong? am i missing something?

3/19/2008 10:49:29 AM

^^ yeah...i have no idea where that might be...is there a computer test i can run to see if that's it? or is the only solution to replace it and see if that was the problem?

Quote :

"its a saturn.. dont question it.. just be glad it still runs"

we have 3 saturns in our family - two 99s and my 2002...this is the first problem i've had with it, save for the shifter cables (at $50) and a leaking hose from having a rock go through it...additionally, i drive the damn thing like it was my mustang

3/19/2008 6:15:06 PM