04 saturn ion redline

Starting this for hopefully positive feedback/advice, and to keep track of expenses and progress. This is the first gm/saturn car i have really done anywork on. This thing has every quirky gm problem i have ever heard about and then some.

My goal with the car is a family driver for the short term and maybe to resell when all is said and done. The last owner had the car listed in the cd/vhs for sale section rather than the cars/ trucks section. This gave me plenty of time to decide on the buy and kept other potential buyers away. The mistake also says a lot about the last owner... Nice guy tho Original cl ad still up for now

The car was listed at $1800 and i got it for $1300. I overpaid by about $1000 but whatever it beats our last car an 05 pt cruiser. ( the pt was a "free" car from a family member after it had some major issues.) Ended up getting $3000 for the pt/heap and starting again with this ion redline/ heap.

So part of the car looks good i guess, 120,000 miles, supercharged 2L, nice factory recaro seats,no leaks so far from the motor at least.

Some of the bad: Duct tape and one ziptie were the only thing holding the trashed factory bumper cover on. A really bad wheel bearing, half inch worth of wheel travel. Garbage barge worthy tires, two mismatched pairs, both sets are dry rotted and chunking, and bulging in the sidewall.

Drivers side window is completely disconnected from the window glass. I really dont understand how it even stays up.

Lots of leaks from around the doors and sunroof

Headliner doesnt match the rest of the car and is stained with water marks and coming down

Doors dont shut tight

Obdii port wasnt working ( cig lighter fuse blew...and that somehow powers the obd2 port?!)

Then a hundred other little things like switches not working, evap solenoids throwing codes, random working ignition cylinder,supercharger liquid cooling system empty...

Front bumper cover as recieved... One zip tie holding it with duct tape sticking it to the fenders.

I like cheap beater projects. I'll be following along!

Call and run a recall check on the vin. My wifes 04 non redline is full of them.

dropstep wrote: Call and run a recall check on the vin. My wifes 04 non redline is full of them.

Thanks for the tip, i started looking into some of the the tsb and recalls. There are a loads of them that havent been done apparently.

I got a little work done over the weekend. The first fix was to cut the barely taped on bumper cover off.

Next was the hood latch, so the hood could be opened without a screwdriver. The hood cable was routed wrong and missing a section of plastic (i assume, not sure what was supposed to be there). Until i find a replacement at the junkyard i made a quick fix. I drilled a hole in a bolt and mounted it like a throttle cables adjustment.

I got the wheel bearing/hub swapped out after having to double back to the parts store ($130 for the china made moog next time im getting 2 for $80 from fleabay ). 5 lugs not 4, parts guy used the vin and called the dealer... Still got it wrong glad i didnt get the car apart and find out afterward. When the work started i found out the redlines steering knuckle is aluminum which is pretty cool. Not sure if that is normal for ions or not but it must save a few pounds at least over a cast iron variant. Despite the dissimilar metals the hub was good and stuck with the 3 bolts removed. Snapped my hft mini pry bar in the struggle

I also ran into a nice surprise after i changed the oil and started filling the empty superchargers radiator... As i was filling the heat exchanger/radiator ( with the engine running) the water started dissapearing... Endlessly! It wasnt pouring onto the ground either. I noticed the motor was idling poorly and had a sudden sinking feeling. The supercharger cooling system was spewing water into the intake manifold!

There are 4 cooling tubes integrated with the intake manifold. Some of the 8 orings that sealed the tubes were leaking. There was standing water in the intake manifold when i pulled it. Lots of coolant softened oil all everything except the intake valves and their immediate area. I looked into replacement o rings and the rumor has it they run $20 per ring. I pulled the tubes cleaned the manifold and looped the lines for the time being. Hft sells assorted orings so i am going to make a stop over there pretty soon and see if they have a match.

Also got some uhp no season sumitomo tires (Sumitomo HTR A/S P02 225/45R17)from tirerack on order. Not going to win any races with them but they were like $350 shipped and better than whats already on the car...

In reply to jere:

The bolt is a pretty slick fix, really.

java230 wrote: In reply to jere: The bolt is a pretty slick fix, really.

Thanks

Stopped at summit racing and got a 2.5 inch glass pack jones muffler (23 inches long) for $20 and tax.

It will replace the obnoxiously loud factory resonator. Currently the car sounds like the goodyear blimp is flanking me. I pulled the big water filled wing off the trunk too. I still had an s4 audi and a supercharged regal trying to race in traffic...

Picked up 2 boxes (metric and non metric) of nitrile orings from hft for $8 each.

Bought some ngk g power spark plugs (no coppers in stock ) for $15 and a gallon of tire mounting lube for $8... I know it might not go well but i going to attempt to mount the new tires with the (16 inch max not for low profile tires) hft tire mounter/bead breaker post thing. Maybe try hft balancer as well.

Had a few set backs, hopefully things will work out anyway.

The tires came in, i tried changing them and ended up dropping $70 and waiting 2 hours for shop to do them. On the wheel i tried got the old tire off with ease. Getting the second bead back on wasnt happening, lesson learned i guess. I couldnt compress the tire enough on my own with pry bars or jumping on the tire/changer like a fool ( a dangerously slippery tire at that). I did add the studs from the old wheel bearing to the changer so i wont have to mess with the spider clamp thing the hft changer came with. The setup with the studs was a big help but not enough. The plus side of it all is the inside of the car has a nice new tire air freshener/ tire mold release "rubber" scent.

"dangerously slippery"

I got lucky with the drivers side window, absolutely nothing was broken missing or worn out. The two factory plastic glass retaining clamps where disconnected. I think the last owner tried to change out the door trim and had no clue what he was doing and knocked the clips loose.

I made a run to the pull apart and bought another front bumper from another ion (sedan).The whole time i was thinking i got lucky and just saved all kinds of cash.... The sedan bumper is totally wrong for the coupe opps. I would have to swap the bumper,hood, fenders, and lights to get it all to fit. I am going to try to just sell everything for twice what i paid for it ($200)... Winter/bumper car season is coming soon. The bright side of this is i got 20+ plastic fasteners, and a replacement mirror switch free out of it all.

Basically i pulled a bumper like this one, should have had curves where the headlights and the fender are.

I ordered a regular coupe (non-redline ion) primered front bumper from ebay for $186 shipped in my defeat. Picked up a $24 gallon of gloss black rustoleum enamel and see what it looks like on the bumper when it comes. Might be another long shot, but i will find another project to use the paint on if it looks too bad (sw2 or camry wagon). I have sprayed it a few times with ok results just not on cars yet. I also ordered a questionable "aluminium" ball shift knob and "suede" shift boot from ebay ($16). I think they were for a honda but i will make them fit or break them trying!

Cool, I love seeing beater cars rejuvenated!

I'm trying to figure out what's going on with the intake. Is it like a mini intercooler or something?

Yeah thats it, its a coolant based intercooler system that goes through the intake manifold. There is a separate radiator and electric water pump that pump coolant through the aluminum fin-ed tubes. Its a really compact water to air system.

Right now it is all currently by-passed, and the car still will break the tires ( or a tire no lsd ) loose in 1st or 2nd gear from a roll. So it should be fun to get it all back together and see what it does.

I didn't realize that the redline had the s/c intercooled like that. Pretty neat.

Cool, that's a pretty neat bit of kit!
So no LSD in the Redline? I thought it had the same F35 as the Cobalt SS.

XLR99 wrote: Cool, that's a pretty neat bit of kit! So no LSD in the Redline? I thought it had the same F35 as the Cobalt SS.

My understanding is there was a performance package that added the lsd but the run of the mill 04 redlines didnt get it. (The 04 redlines in general were a special test offering and they only made 4000 or so and they were rushed to market). They are interchangeable with the ss supercharged cobalts lsd transmissions(and some saab transmissions. The final drive and a speed sensor might be different in the redlines). Later years might have had lsd from the factory but i am not 100% certain.

There really is some good thought that went into these cars. Also a lot that was just pulled from the parts bin at GM and thrown in at the last minute too.

LSD was an option on all the supercharged/turbo cars. Look for RPO code G85.

Gearheadotaku wrote: LSD was an option on all the supercharged/turbo cars. Look for RPO code G85.

Was the Lsd option just the cars that got the "stage x" upgrade or could one pick and choose,and just get the lsd thrown in?

XLR99 wrote: Cool, that's a pretty neat bit of kit! So no LSD in the Redline? I thought it had the same F35 as the Cobalt SS.

Zero '04s have that option, and only around 100 '05 model years have it. Only way to get LSD on the Ion Redline is to have the '05+ Comp package(includes gunmetal wheels & ladder tach w/ boost gauge)

Personally, I would try my hardest to find another IRL bumper cover or attempt to fix the one you have currently. The base model E36 M3 is ugly.

Personally, do you really want to keep the S/C setup, or do you want to make power? Cannibalizing some select Saab 9/3 parts will allow you to convert to turbo on the cheap and delete the w2a intercooler for a front mount a2a.

Also, FWIW, there are only about 6000 Ion Redlines that were built. Yours being a black 2004 is the most common of them being 1 of 1012.

Ion Redline

Scroll down to the bottom of history for the production numbers. Redlineforums used to be a great place to find parts & ask questions, but I haven't been there in some time.

Thanks for clearing up some of those facts. I have been reading a good amount of mis information all over the web, especially in random 2003 press releases.

I am going to see what the regular coupe cover looks like for now. Even ugly beats no bumper or the duct tape bumper.

I have read a little about the saab turbo swap and the double charging options. If a 9-3 drops in my lap I might go through with it. I do have a fun fwd car that already has more everything power,lightness,suspension,brakes...

Getting this redline kinda bridges the gap between mind numbing practically and street car/death machine. For now i have stopped thinking about the beams swap in the camry wagon and trying to fit two child car seats in the back of the turbo nx2000...

And as worthless as the 4 coupe doors are in a side impact collision, they are awesome in easy of access to the rear seats... Ok maybe thats not such a good point

In reply to jere:

Ahh, gotcha. If you can fix up the stuff wrong with it, it should be relatively reliable....and I never questioned side protection on my '05, but then again, I took all the plastic panels off each spring.

I'll keep an eye on your progress, and try to answer what questions I can. I will probably have to pick your mind about my slightly older NX this spring. I only have a 1.2L displacement advantage over your SR.

Where do you live? I have a 9-3 that could find its way to you.

WOW Really Paul? wrote: In reply to jere: Ahh, gotcha. If you can fix up the stuff wrong with it, it should be relatively reliable....and I never questioned side protection on my '05, but then again, I took all the plastic panels off each spring. I'll keep an eye on your progress, and try to answer what questions I can. I will probably have to pick your mind about my slightly older NX this spring. I only have a 1.2L displacement advantage over your SR.

Very cool I would love to hear more about your nx project and your 05. Do you have a build thread?

Derick Freese wrote: Where do you live? I have a 9-3 that could find its way to you.

Only on GRM!! Awesome!

I am in Akron Ohio, a pretty big stretch from Florida

In reply to jere:

I had my '05 from 2008-2012, aside from catalyst and power steering recall work, it was a very reliable car and a local harbinger of doom in G-Stock.

The NX I snagged is the probably infamous 3.2L sho v6 swapped one that floated around the Michigan/Indiana/Ohio area at the beginning of the summer, but between bikes and spending the last 12 weeks laid up with a broken collarbone, I haven't made any progress yet.

Ouch collarbones are the worst. That [pulsar]? nx should be a tire spinning machine! Awesome swap! Trade the sentra calipers in for some nx2000s and some hawk pads if you get the chance.

In reply to jere:

I'm trying to find info on doing the 300zx brake swap, but cutting through the bullE36 M3 that is Nissan based forums is greatly annoying. I'm also going to have to find suspension options again as the coilovers that were on it when I last saw it are long gone. At least someone raised the engine so the oil pan doesn't drag the ground.

And yea, it is a wedge pulsar NX. No cam back unfortunately, but it is actually very quick.