My '96 Saturn SW-1 finally passed the ultimate POS threshold when the exhaust fell off a few days ago. The list of things wrong with the wagon is embarrassing when you consider I'm a decent mechanic. For the past few years, the wagon has pretty much been a garbage scow. The interior is covered with hydraulic fluid, kitty liter and cigarette butts. With 337K miles and years of deferred maintenance the car is beyond disgusting and is not fit for a dog to rid in.
So... time to buy another hooptie.
I really like Saturns because they are cheap and durable. After a few days of searching Craigslist, a 2002 SL with a SOHC and five speed caught my attention. Even though the SOHC engine is a slug, I prefer it. The five speed is absolutely necessary, because I never learned to drive an automatic.
$700.00 gets you this..... The car runs excellent and drives perfect!
Low miles and a half a tank of gas...that's what I'm talking about!
The car has some issues... it hit a guard rail. Blue duck tape is fine for a hooptie, but this is sort of an easy fix.
A quick search of the local pick & pull's online inventory indicated that they had 3rd gen Saturn in stock, unfortunately the color was listed as 'unknown'. 45 min latter this is what I found...Hmmm
UNKNOWN.... WTF?
Pick & pull was having a labor day weekend sale and everything was 50% off. The fender was $14.00. It will work until I can find a blue one.
The Miata is my only running vehicle and thankfully the fender was small enough to fit in the car. I always worry when I park outside a junkyard...My cars tend to questionable and could easily be mistaken for inventory...
Ok, let's take a look under the duck tape...It could be worse....
The bumper cover is berkeleyed.... however a little heat and some applied pressure usually gets 'em to look ok.
After some fiddling and whatnot, the bumper and fender looked good enough for now. I'll keep an eye out for a proper blue fender and bumper cover.
More to come...
Can't stand a dirty engine bay.... so off to the car wash for some cleaning. 
that's better. 
The base model cloth seats were ok, If nothing else, a little cleaning would get them spiffy again.... but this weekend was half off at the pick and pull so I pitched these seats and picked up a nicer set. 
$24.00 gets you a full leather seating from a premium model Saturn.... not to shabby. 
looking good! 
So rule #3 is to replace the engine coolant sensor(ECT). The OEM sensor is plastic and will crack after a few years. A cracked sensor can fail completely and the ECU will think the engine is running -20 degrees or something like that. A replacement sensor should be brass. 
This looks like an original plug....and its way past NFG. 
regular NGK plugs are just what the doctor ordered. 
The O2 sensor was probably original. Being a cheapskate, I swapped the O2 sensor from the wagon to the new car. The wagon sensor has about 3K miles on it. 
The PO complained about insufficient heat last winter so its probably time to replace the thermostat. The cardboard tube is actually tool used to disengage the thermostat from the housing.
The thermostat is buried under the AC compressor. It's possible to change the thermostat without moving the compressor however its tough to see with what your doing. 
Moving the compressor makes R&R of the thermostat so much easier. 
The thermostat....you'll need the cardboard tube to get the thermostat off the housing. 
The idler pulley was making some noise and I was feeling motivated ...so I actually did something about it.
Here is a new idler pulley that I bought for the wagon a few years ago...Whelp it ain't going in the wagon. 
The new car is 1000% better than the old car...but isn't as fun. 
Lumbering down the highway in a melancholy blue Saturn.. sigh. The sedan got 37.5 MPG on the first tank....yawn. 
The car is so bland I had to artificially give the leather interior the proper aroma. 
Stock up on Prozac if you attempt to drive the sedan version of a Saturn. 
The wagon is woefully under powered just like the sedan, but it had personality. 
Sparky!.. the solar powered cockroach permanently stuck in a wad of gum. I'll miss him. 
More gum because no berkeleys were given. 
Carpeting is soaked in hydraulic fluid, random wires from past experiments and a general disregard to preserving the car.
After 337K miles, this is actually the second interior... the first interior had major issues... 
Rust and a stack of serious problems makes the wagon unsafe to drive..
After a long journey through the northern suburbs of Detroit I had arrived. The clouds parted and the brilliant rays of the sun shown down. My eyes beheld the mighty blue Saturn in all its glory.... or something like that.
In a furry of mechanical wizardry the blue Saturn was reduced to a pile of blue parts and unceremoniously carted off to the casher.
$202.00 gets... Left front fender, Front bumper cover, rear bumper cover, left rear quarter panel, rear tail panel and two brand new tires mounted on Saturn rims. Somehow I managed to fit all this crap in to the El-Cheapo blue Saturn and hauled it back to headquarters. 
White fender must go! 
Fender and front bumper cover were cast off to the bottomless pit. Saturn's are stupid easy to take apart. 
Behold the blue fender! 
An undamaged bumper cover completes the front of the Saturn... 
