So really how bad are Saturns with burning oil?

I found a 95 5 speed Saturn SW locally for cheap. I have heard yes and no to them being oil burners. What is the truth to this? Also, what are the goods, bads and uglys to Saturns of that vintage?

my girlfriends is a 99 twincam, we have had no trouble with oil burning at all...I change it every 3000 though, and the car has been well cared for. Her stepmother bought it brand new, and it only has 120,000 on it.

They are terrible. Run away! But give me the phone # ! Really, I have been looking for a early stick wagon for a few years. If you pass on it, let me know. The oil burning issues are basically from the rings getting carboned up and sticking. They don't break, they just get "stuck". Some of the early twin cams were prone to head cracking, but offer a bit more performance than the SC/SL/SW1s. Other than that, they are decent, especially with the 5 speed. The biggest drawback I've seen(personal experience) was the seats. Swap them out with something newer, and your ready to roll.Some fatter tires will help handling, gas mileage is very good, and they're pretty darn reliable. Look for rust on the rockers, that could be a deal breaker.

My dad had a '94 twin cam 5-speed wagon that he passed on to my son at 185k, and then it was stolen and trashed.

At that mileage, it went through a quart of oil every 1500 miles or so, but dad takes pretty good care of his cars and is a gentle driver - the car was still on the original clutch and rear brakes.

didn't those things get close to 40 mpg on the interstate? I thought they had some insane mileage rating...

sohc of that year with 5sp was rated upper 20's in town and upper 30's on the highway. later model's actually did get the 29/40 rating at the time.

the dohc has a shorter final drive and 25% more power which add up to 2 mpg worse respectively.

yes they burn oil, but as minimac said, the rings get stuck not worn out. First thing I usually do is pull the spark plugs and soak the pistons with sea foam. Then hot rod the poo out of it. Repeat as necessary. That process has turned mosquito foggers into cars that use a quart every 2000-2500 miles.

A co-worker had one that went through quart in very few miles. He had it rebuilt and was fine.

Xceler8x wrote: didn't those things get close to 40 mpg on the interstate? I thought they had some insane mileage rating... My '94 Twincam 5-spd coupe got 34-36 on the highway no matter how fast I drove it. One time just for the hell of it, I hypermiled it for a 90 mile highway trip and got 42. Supposedly, there is a "de-carbonizing" procedure that sounds like snake oil but actually works to fix the oil burning on these cars. I don't recall who was talking about it, but you might go to the archive of the old board and look around, because that's where the discussion was.

I just got myself a 1999 SL2 from m girlfriend. 207,XXX miles. Needs a clutch...finally. Burns oil yeah, but still gets almost 40 MPG. Cant beat that

Average is one quart per 1,000 miles. Bad is a quart every 400 miles, like my sister's...but she beats on it because she thinks cars are appliances that don't need to be shown respect or cared for. Change it every 3,000 and you should be good. I can get 40 mpg on the highway with the A/C on, I get 34-36 mixed highway and city driving.

As for whether it's a good car, '95 is the best year for Saturns...OBD-I, old bodystyle, new interiors. Expect to replace an upper motor mount (easier than easy), the coolant temp. sensor (also easy) and probably front brakes. Change the oil every 3,000 and that car will run long enough to make the Honda guys wonder what they did wrong.

Does running synthetic fix or helps free these rings?

Wagon 5 speed in Cleveland

http://cleveland.craigslist.org/cto/1193892693.html

shuttlepilot wrote: Does running synthetic fix or helps free these rings?

It won't make much difference. They are stuck from carbon buildup, so it is beyond a state that oil would clean then. The oil burning issue doesn't happen on every engine, so its hard to make an argument that only using synthetic will prevent the problem. From my experience with them it seems that the cars that get the crap beat out of them don't have as much of an issue as those that are driven around by grandma.

word.

I'd speculate that using synthetic will help keep the problem from reoccurring once you've got them free'd up, but that's about it.

The sea foam soak really does make a world of difference.

When I worked for a Saturn dealer they used to rebuild about two motors a week and the guy they had doing it told me the rings were almost never actually worn out. Most of the time they'd just get stuck and the owner would drive around low on oil till there were other problems.

I had a 97 SL2... what a fun car!

The timing chain tensioner oil port is VERY small, so make sure the car has had regular oil changes so the port isn't getting sludged-up.

In terms of the diff, if one wheel is spinning for extended period of time (e.g. alot of peg-leg burnouts, or rally use) the diff pin & accompanied parts will overheat, wield themselves together, and destroy the trans.

The rear wheel bearings aren't the most durable.

saturnfans.com has a ton of great info on these cars.

My girlfriend's previous car was a '92 SL 5-spd. It got around 40mpg highway. Didn't go through a drop of oil. YMMV She only got rid of it a few years ago 'cause she got a deal on an '02 SL2 with 40k mi. for $5000.

Here is the original wagon I was speaking about: http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/1206790363.html

Just found this one too: http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/ctd/1217003174.html

that first one is an SW2. Did it have a window broke out in the back door? Price sure is right.