2005 Saturn Vue

On Wed, 09 Mar 2005 04:33:43 +0000, blah blah donned fireproof underwear
and scratched on the wall:

> In article >,
> says...
>>
>> Let's not forget, too, that beautiful Honda engine. I'm sure it'll last
>> longer than the POS Vortec 4300 I had on my Jimmy.
>>
>
> Are you kidding? The 4.3 sounds like a reflection of ones ownership and
> that Honda engine is a trash design! I cant stand maintenance on those!
> Japanese engineers are inconsiderate to mechanics and dont consider we
> keep licencing our cars after 3 years. The 4.3's were damn cheap to
> maintain and hauled ass without mashing the gas.

I should specify - I had one of the early CPI models - a '95 Jimmy. In the
six or so years I owned it I went through three fuel injector spider
units, two EGR valve units a head replacement, valve replacements power
steering pump, water pump, and an alternator. All that in a mere 145K
miles. By comparison, I put 120K miles on my Z24 Nissan engine and only
adjusted a throttle valve once.

I really wish I had one of the TBI units
from '94 and earlier, cause they were so much more reliable, AFAIK.

--
kai - www.perfectreign.com

kai@yoda:~> format a:
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On Wed, 09 Mar 2005 03:25:44 +0000, Nada Effinway donned fireproof
underwear and scratched on the wall:

>>
>
> Amen on the V6 -- have had mine about a month and only have the following
> negative feedback...
> 1) wish all cars co$t le$$, especially the ones I buy
> 2) wish all cars got better fuel economy, especially the ones I buy
> and
> 3) my VUE is a "red line" with leather interior and because it handles
> fairly well I wish Saturn had put seats with a little more lateral
> support into the red line.

That RedLine looks like a nice car! I would've sprung for it but this is
the wife's car and she wanted a regular V6. She did go for 17" tires
though. Darn things are huge!

--
kai - www.perfectreign.com

kai@yoda:~> format a:
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In article >,
says...

> I should specify - I had one of the early CPI models - a '95 Jimmy. In the
> six or so years I owned it I went through three fuel injector spider
> units, two EGR valve units a head replacement, valve replacements power
> steering pump, water pump, and an alternator. All that in a mere 145K
> miles. By comparison, I put 120K miles on my Z24 Nissan engine and only
> adjusted a throttle valve once.
>
> I really wish I had one of the TBI units
> from '94 and earlier, cause they were so much more reliable, AFAIK.

Wait till you have to get the water pump on the 3.5 replaced... I'll
trust the timing chain in the jimmy for 800k before I trust the timing
belt in the honda or nissan for 10k. I havent heard or seen hardly any
problems with CSMPFI (Injector Spider unit) other than sticking poppit
valves. What did your's do to warrent replacing so many times???

Alternators for GM cars are cheap and usually only go bad when the
battery goes bad or is discharged to many times. Water pumps are easy to
replace on 4.3s and they seldom become a problem unless you go past the
coolant change interval.

"EGR valve units a head replacement, valve replacements power steering
pump" Didnt follow any of that. EGR's can be cleaned though.

On Wed, 09 Mar 2005 20:32:31 GMT, someone posing as blah blah donned
fireproof bloomers and chiseled in the wall:

> Wait till you have to get the water pump on the 3.5 replaced...

Hmmm, hadn't seen anything when I googled. What is the cost that you know?

> trust the timing chain in the jimmy for 800k before I trust the timing
> belt in the honda or nissan for 10k.

Well, we'll see on this one. Fortunately they gave us a 5/60 plan in the
deal.

> I havent heard or seen hardly any
> problems with CSMPFI (Injector Spider unit) other than sticking poppit
> valves. What did your's do to warrent replacing so many times???

Exactly those. The CSMPFI unit was later than mine. My unit was a CPFI
model. It was the first year of that unit, which replaced the TBI
"injector" from '94. On several occasions, the valves clogged and the
cylinder would go dry. Apparently on one of the occasions, cylinder 5 was
firing with no fuel and this caused (somehow) the valve guides to go bad. I
ended up needing a new valve guide and cover at that point. This was the
third CPI unit - replaced at around 120K. The first was replaced at 70K and
the second at 100K.


> "EGR valve units a head replacement,
> pump" Didnt follow any of that. EGR's can be cleaned though.

I did clean the EGR regularly. I used to go the route of putting sea foam
in the vacumn hose, like GM recommended. At around 75K teh first unit went
bad and I tried to limp along with the sea foam solution. I eventually
replaced it. It then went bad again at around 130K


--
kai - - www.perfectreign.com

kai:/> format a:
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To format a floppy, use "fdformat /dev/fd0"
and then "mkfs.minix /dev/fd0".

In article >,
says...
>
> On Wed, 09 Mar 2005 20:32:31 GMT, someone posing as blah blah donned
> fireproof bloomers and chiseled in the wall:
>
> > Wait till you have to get the water pump on the 3.5 replaced...
>
> Hmmm, hadn't seen anything when I googled. What is the cost that you know?

A bunch considering all the timing belt crap has to come off first. I
dont have the "Labor Time Guide" for this but I est it to be in the 300-
500 dollar range just in labor. My personal GM LTG only goes from 96-01
and doesnt cover saturns.


> > trust the timing chain in the jimmy for 800k before I trust the timing
> > belt in the honda or nissan for 10k.
>
> Well, we'll see on this one. Fortunately they gave us a 5/60 plan in the
> deal.

You should follow the severe use interval for your timing belt or split
the difference.

> > I havent heard or seen hardly any
> > problems with CSMPFI (Injector Spider unit) other than sticking poppit
> > valves. What did your's do to warrent replacing so many times???
>
> Exactly those. The CSMPFI unit was later than mine. My unit was a CPFI
> model. It was the first year of that unit, which replaced the TBI
> "injector" from '94. On several occasions, the valves clogged and the
> cylinder would go dry.

If they just clogged then it required no replacement. A pressurized
injector cleaner would clean those right out.

> Apparently on one of the occasions, cylinder 5 was
> firing with no fuel and this caused (somehow) the valve guides to go bad. I
> ended up needing a new valve guide and cover at that point. This was the
> third CPI unit - replaced at around 120K. The first was replaced at 70K and
> the second at 100K.

I've never seen such problems. Kind of sounds like some upselling took
place? The only majore issues I've seen with that era of s/t platforms
have been worn valve bodies and leaking lower intake manifold gaskets,
which lead to brown coolant with people to inept to check their cooling
system. The 95-96 4.3's were a test bed for the 1997 5.3/5.7 vortecs and
those are good engines.

On Wed, 09 Mar 2005 23:07:22 +0000, blah blah donned fireproof underwear
and scratched on the wall:

>
>> Apparently on one of the occasions, cylinder 5 was
>> firing with no fuel and this caused (somehow) the valve guides to go bad. I
>> ended up needing a new valve guide and cover at that point. This was the
>> third CPI unit - replaced at around 120K. The first was replaced at 70K and
>> the second at 100K.
>
> I've never seen such problems. Kind of sounds like some upselling took
> place?

I wish. I actually took it in to two mechanics - the one who did that work
has been working on my father-in-law's '86 Chevy Van 20 since forever.

> have been worn valve bodies and leaking lower intake manifold gaskets,
> which lead to brown coolant with people to inept to check their cooling
> system. The 95-96 4.3's were a test bed for the 1997 5.3/5.7 vortecs and
> those are good engines.

Never had a cooling issue. OTOH, GM had so many complaints about this
model engine that they ended up giving warranties to 100K for parts. I
took adavantage of it once, since the darn spider unit cost IIRC $500
without labor.

Other than the engine issues and a minor power window
issue, I really liked driving that little truck.

And I shouldn't complain too much. I did put on 145K miles in six years.

http://www.perfectreign.com/uploads/jimmysale_sm50.jpg

I do miss having a truck.

All I've got now is a minivan and the vue.


--
kai - www.perfectreign.com

kai@yoda:~> format a:
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C. E. White wrote:

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "The Real Tom" <Tom @ www.WorkAtHomePlans.com>
> Newsgroups: rec.autos.makers.saturn
> Sent: Saturday, March 05, 2005 10:01 AM
> Subject: 2005 Saturn Vue
>
>
>
>>If you haven't bought the vue yet, you want to research it more.
>>We've seen vue's being advertised by local dealers for 0% interest.
>>Makes me leary why they have to sell the vehicle so hard.
>
>
>
> So what vehicle don't you worry about? Virtually all SUVs (except for high
> priced German ones) have rebates and/or special financing.
>
> Regards,
>
> Ed White
>
>
I've had my 2004 Vue V6 AWD since 11/03 and still love it. The engine is
a delight, very good acceleration and smooth. I have almost 25,000 miles
on it with only one problem (RDM replacement) which was handles under
warranty. I have the 0% GMAC loan which is great and Saturn gets to make
a reasonable profit on the vehicle on the initial sale.
Paul
04 Vue V6 AWD
05 Relay 3

--
"To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to
society" - Theodore Roosevelt