2003 Saturn Ion

INVESTIGATION DISCLOSED THAT THE MANUFACTURER ISSUED A SERVICE BULLETIN IN AUGUST 2003, REGARDING SERVICE THAT REQUIRED REMOVAL OF THE WIPER ARMS.GM ISSUED THE BULLETIN AT THAT TIME TO ADDRESS CUSTOMER COMMENTS ON WINDSHIELD WIPER CHATTERING OR HOPPING ACROSS THE WINDSHIELD DURING WIPER OPERATION.THE CORRECTION WAS TO REPLACE THE WIPER ARM AND BLADE.HOWEVER, THE BULLETIN DID NOT PLACE SPECIFIC EMPHASIS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF USING THE PROPER TOOL AND PROCEDURES TO REMOVE THE WIPER ARM AND TO PREVENT DAMAGE TO THE PIVOT SHAFT HOUSING.IN GM'S RESPONSE TO ODI'S INFORMATION REQUEST LETTER, GM STATES, ...THE WIPER PIVOT HOUSING IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLE MAY CRACK AND/OR FRACTURE AS A RESULT OF AN OVERLOAD CONDITION APPLIED TO THE WIPER PIVOT HOUSING DURING IMPROPER REMOVAL OF THE WIPER ARMS.GM'S FIELD SURVEY FOUND THAT ...DEALERS DO NOT ROUTINELY USE THE WIPER ARM REMOVAL TOOL WHEN SERVICING THE WIPER ARMS.ODI CONCLUDES THAT THE FAILURE AND WARRANTY REPORTS IN THIS INVESTIGATION DO NOT IDENTIFY A SAFETY RELATED DEFECT TREND.ODI DOES HAVE CONCERN, HOWEVER, THAT PRIOR AND IMPROPERLY PERFORMED WIPER ARM REMOVAL MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE FAILURES IDENTIFIED DURING THIS INVESTIGATION.IN AUGUST 2007, GM ISSUED A NEW TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN (GM NUMBER 07-08-43-007) TO SPECIFICALLY EMPHASIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF USING THE PROPER TOOL FOR REMOVAL OF THE WIPER ARMS TO PREVENT PIVOT SHAFT DAMAGE DURING THE PROCEDURE.THIS INVESTIGATION IS CLOSED.

ON DECEMBER 12, 2005, ODI RECEIVED A DEFECT PETITION (DP05-008) REQUESTING THE INVESTIGATION OF TIMING CHAIN FAILURES THAT COULD CAUSE STALLING IN SATURN VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH THE 2.2L (L61) ENGINE. ODI OPENED PE06-006 ON JANUARY 24, 2006, WITH 24 VEHICLE OWNER COMPLAINTS THAT ALLEGED A BROKEN TIMING CHAIN CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO STOP OPERATING.ON APRIL 12, 2006, ODI RECEIVED INFORMATION FROM GENERAL MOTORS (GM) CONCERNING TIMING CHAIN FAILURES IN APPROXIMATELY 412,000 MODEL YEAR (MY) 2000 THROUGH 2003 SATURN L-SERIES AND ION VEHICLES WITH 2.2L ENGINES. GM'S RESPONSE INCLUDED 1,020 OWNER COMPLAINTS AND FIELD REPORTS CONCERNING TIMING CHAIN FAILURE, INCLUDING 228 THAT ALLEGED THE FAILURE CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO STALL WHILE DRIVING.GM ALSO PROVIDED WARRANTY CLAIM DATA THAT SHOWED 1,902 SUBJECT VEHICLES RECEIVING TIMING CHAIN REPAIRS, INCLUDING 261 WHICH INDICATED THAT A STALL WHILE DRIVING RESULTED FROM THE FAILURE.THE GM COMPLAINTS, FIELD REPORTS AND WARRANTY CLAIMS THAT DID NOT CONTAIN SUFFICIENT INFORMATION TO DETERMINE THAT A STALL WHILE DRIVING OCCURRED WERE PROVIDED IN THE CATEGORY OTHER.GM STATED THAT THE MAJORITY OF THESE INCIDENTS PROBABLY OCCURRED WHILE THE VEHICLES WERE PARKED SINCE THE TIMING CHAIN IS MORE LIKELY TO BREAK DURING HIGH CHAIN LOAD SITUATIONS, SUCH AS ENGINE STARTUP.GM'S DATA SHOWED ELEVATED FAILURE RATES IN APPROXIMATELY 20,500 MY 2001 L-SERIES VEHICLES PRODUCED DURING A FOUR MONTH PERIOD FROM NOVEMBER 2000 THROUGH FEBRUARY 2001.OVER ONE-THIRD OF GM'S TOTAL COMPLAINTS AND FIELD REPORTS (34.3%) AND WARRANTY CLAIMS (38.2%) INVOLVED L-SERIES VEHICLES BUILT DURING THE 4-MONTH PERIOD, WHICH ARE ONLY ABOUT 5% OF SUBJECT VEHICLE PRODUCTION.THE TIMING CHAIN FAILURE RATE IN THE VEHICLES BUILT DURING THIS RANGE IS OVER 10 TIMES GREATER THAN THE REMAINING SUBJECT VEHICLE POPULATION. FOR THE MY 2001 L-SERIES VEHICLES BUILT DURING THE 4-MONTH PERIOD, THE 36-MONTH FAILURE RATE FOR REPAIRS INVOLVING STALL WHILE DRIVING IS SLIGHTLY UNDER ONE PERCENT.HOWEVER, IF THE INCIDENTS CODED AS OTHER ARE ADDED, THE 36-MONTH FAILURE RATE RISES TO NEARLY FIVE PERCENT FOR THOSE VEHICLES.ODI AND GM ARE CONTINUING TO ASSESS THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS AND WARRANTY CLAIMS CODED BY GM AS OTHER THAT INVOLVE INCIDENTS OF STALL WHILE DRIVING.GM'S STATISTICAL MODELING OF THE FAILURE DATA INITIALLY CONCLUDED THAT THE FAILURE RATES WERE DECLINING WITH AGE AND MILEAGE FOR ANY SET OF WARRANTY DATA ANALYZED (E.G., STALL WHILE DRIVING, OTHER OR COMBINED).HOWEVER, SUBSEQUENT ANALYSIS SHOWED THAT THE FAILURE RATES ARE INCREASING. BASED ON THE HIGH COMPLAINT AND WARRANTY RATES FOR TIMING CHAIN FAILURE IN THE 4-MONTH PRODUCTION PERIOD FOR THE MY 2001 L-SERIES VEHICLES, THIS INVESTIGATION HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS TO FURTHER ASSESS THE FREQUENCY OF STALL INCIDENTS DUE TO TIMING CHAIN FAILURES IN THOSE VEHICLES (EA06-009).

ANALYSIS UNDERTAKEN IN RESPONSE TO THE PETITION IDENTIFIED 26 COMPLAINTS ALLEGING TIMING CHAIN FAILURES IN MY 2000-2003 SATURN L-SERIES VEHICLE EQUIPPED WITH THE 2.2L L4 ENGINE.MOST COMPLAINTS OF TIMING CHAIN FAILURE REPORTEDLY RESULTED IN A SUDDEN LOSS OF ENGINE POWER AND STALLING.ODI ALSO NOTED THAT CERTAIN MY 2002-2003 SATURN VUE AND MY 2003 SATURN ION MODEL VEHICLES WITH THE 2.2L ENGINE VEHICLESCOVERED BY A TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN (03-06-01-017) THAT ADDRESSED TIMING CHAIN DESIGN AND SERVICE PROCEDURE CHANGES, EXHIBITED NO COMPLAINTS OF TIMING CHAIN FAILURE.ODI WILL GRANT THE PETITION AND OPEN A PRELIMINARY EVALUATION TO ASSESS THE FREQUENCY, TREND, SCOPE AND SAFETY CONSEQUENCES ASSOCIATED WITH THE ALLEGED DEFECT IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLES.REFER TO PE06-006.

THE COMBINATION FRONT TURN SIGNAL/DRL IN MY 2003 SATURN ION COUPES EXPERIENCED SIGNIFICANT EARLY-LIFE FAILURES DUE TO VARIOUS BULB QUALITY ISSUES DUE TO INADEQUATE DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE.THIS PROBLEM TREND APPEARS TO HAVE DISAPPEARED AFTER THE FALL OF 2003.THE CHANGE OF LEAD WIRE MATERIAL NEAR THE START OF MY 2004 VEHICLE PRODUCTION APPEARS TO HAVE REDUCED THE FAILURE RATE FOR MY 2004 SATURN ION COUPES.ALTHOUGH OPERATING TEMPERATURES IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLES' LAMP ASSEMBLIES ARE BELOW THE SOCKET MATERIAL MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE SPECIFICATION, THEY ARE ONLY SLIGHTLY BELOW THE SPECIFICATION.IN DECEMBER 2004, GM REDUCED THE VOLTAGE TO THE LAMP ASSEMBLY IN ORDER TO REDUCE THE TEMPERATURE IN THE ASSEMBLY OF THE SUBJECT VEHICLES.WARRANTY CLAIMS ON THE SUBJECT VEHICLES DO NOT INDICATE AN INCREASING TREND OVER TIME.WARRANTY CLAIM RATE OF SUBJECT VEHICLES (EXCLUDING EARLY MY 2003 CLAIMS) IS NOT SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN OTHER GM VEHICLES THAT USE COMBINATION TURN SIGNAL/DRLS.A SAFETY-RELATED DEFECT TREND HAS NOT BEEN IDENTIFIED AT THIS TIME.FURTHER USE OF AGENCY RESOURCES DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE WARRANTED.ACCORDINGLY, THIS INVESTIGATION IS CLOSED.THE CLOSING OF THIS INVESTIGATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FINDING BY NHTSA THAT A SAFETY-RELATED DEFECT DOES NOT EXIST.THE AGENCY WILL TAKE FURTHER ACTION IF WARRANTED BY THE CIRCUMSTANCES.SEE ATTACHED SUMMARY REPORT.

I took my 2003 Saturn ion to my local Chevrolet dealership in Lincoln Illinois and they refused to complete the recall issues (2) both are to do with the ignition and keys.thwy told me it was not fixable it needed a whole steering column that would cost me they said around $800.so it has now been 2 weeks my car has been there at Graue Chevrolet Dealership unfixed and they refused to fix please help me it's my only means of transportation and I have health issues that I have to go to Dr appointments quite frequently.

NHTSA ID

11755714

Incident

Jul 20, 2026

After I did the recall several years ago, the problem came back. The key will not come out of the ignition. It's happened many times.

NHTSA ID

11674132

Incident

Jul 16, 2025

The contact owns a 2003 Saturn Ion. The contact stated that less than a minute after starting the vehicle, the steering wheel seized. The contact stated that the vehicle lost power steering functionality, with the power steering failure message was displayed. The contact stated that after shifting to park(P), the contact would wiggle the key around in the ignition before being able to remove the key from the ignition switch. The vehicle had not been taken to the dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had not been made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 111,350.

NHTSA ID

11615481

Incident

Aug 19, 2024

Mileage

111,350 mi

The contact owns a 2003 Saturn Ion. The contact stated that occasionally the key failed to turn while in the ignition. The vehicle was slow to start. The contact had to avoid bumps in the roadway while driving. The lock symbol was displayed. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 14V171000 (Electrical System) and 14V047000 (Air Bags, Electrical System); however, the parts to do the recall repairs were not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who declined to service the recall repairs due to an insurance issue. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact called another unknown local dealer, who informed the contact to place the vehicle in park(P) and restart the vehicle, and the symbol turned off. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The manufacturer was contacted and opened a claim and informed the contact that a technician would be sent to the residence, but the technician failed to show up. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000. Parts distribution disconnect.

NHTSA ID

11612866

Incident

Jan 1, 2015

Mileage

60,000 mi

I have the power steering column issue that still needs to be fixed as advised by GMC of Port Richey, FL where I was promised my replacement vehicle even 10 or 20 yrs later if I bought another one. If on my walking tape recorders and contact lens, I pull off my brake peddle flat lining at least twice without crashing however he would grant me whatever 2 vehicles on the lots I chose as long as I had insurance. However, I do not have the money for the tow and corporates to include the police will not listen too. Please, contact me immediately for a more rapid communication please at [XXX] or [XXX] . INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11572951

Incident

Oct 31, 2023

The contact owns a 2003 Saturn Ion. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist. The contact restarted the vehicle to correct the failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, and the dealer confirmed that there was no recall associated with the VIN. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 173,000.

NHTSA ID

11503126

Incident

Dec 30, 2022

Mileage

173,000 mi

2003 SATURN ION, CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO BROKEN TIMING CHAIN. THE CONSUMER STATED WHILE DRIVING THE TIMING CHAIN BROKE, NEARLY CAUSING A CRASH IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INTERSECTION.

NHTSA ID

11441262

Incident

Nov 22, 2021

Rack and pinion is going bad, my mechanic said it's a common issue in these vehicles. When going around a corner it will want to float the opposite way, the steering will eventually get tight my mechanic said until I loose all steering. I am a single mother and have already replaced the whole front end on this vehicle pretty much. I know I've read so many others experiencing the same issues with their Saturn Ion, so I wanted to make it aware that this should be a recall and fixed before someone who knows nothing about vehicles ends up in a severe accident due to this big issue. Also the Key don't want to come out most of the time. An there is an issue with the car not wanting to come out of park sometimes. Not to mention it eats ball joints like crazy every other month I'm replacing the ball joints in this car. If I could afford another vehicle trust me I would but I can't even save for a new car due to all the repairs I've made. It's just frustrating that so many people are having this issue and no mechanic wants to do the rack and pinion job with out charging a fortune.

NHTSA ID

11426252

Incident

May 27, 2021

This PI communicates the requirement to provide a pico file to receive diagnostic assistance from TAC.

This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that have an unusual noise and is difficult to identify, isolate or pinpoint. Technician should get record a sound clip or take a video of the noise for assessment by engineering. Technician will need to call General Motors Technical Assistance Center for further assistance.

This Preliminary Information communicates to the dealer the process for downloading or updating operating software for the Tire Pressure Monitor, Active Fuel Injector tester, multi media tester, PICO Scope, GR8 starting/charging tester  and Vehicle Data Recorder tools, giving website address and step by step instructions to complete the update.

This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that the Heater-Vent-Air Conditioning blows warm air. Before calling General Motors Technical Assistance Center technician will need to have high and low pressures, outside temperature, humidity, and vent temperature.

This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that the Heater-Vent-Air Conditioning blows warm air. Before calling General Motors Technical Assistance Center technician will need to have high and low pressures, outside temperature, humidity, and vent temperature.

This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about changing the tire and wheel size on vehicles. General Motors will only support a tire calibration for tires that have been sized, tested and designed for the vehicle in question and its applications. Technician should not use the information that is provided by the antilock braking system tire size selection.