Flashing Check Engine Light - 2004 Vue

[addicted2mickey]

Has anyone had this problem?

When I tried turning on my Vue a few days ago, she had a hard time starting. It sounded like a dead battery. When she finally did start, I had a 'check engine' light come on. When I tried to drive her, acceleration was very sluggish and the 'check engine' light began flashing. I heard a "putt putt" type of sound under the hood.
We replaced the spark plugs that night ---no fix---
We rented an OBDII code reader and it wouldn't come up with any code.

It's going to cost me $80 to read her codes at the dealership PLUS another $75 to have her towed there. Then heaven knows what the repair costs are going to be!! If it's the fuel filter, they are now located in the gas tank with a repair cost of over $350.
(If I would have known this, I would have purchased an earlier model)
One of the reasons we've loved our Saturns all these years is because we could do the repairs ourselves for 1/10 of the cost. Now we're stumped.

This is a 2004 Vue with 39K miles on her (just over the warranty of course!)
Does anyone have an idea of what this could be?

[Ritz]

Originally Posted by addicted2mickey

Has anyone had this problem?

When I tried turning on my Vue a few days ago, she had a hard time starting. It sounded like a dead battery. When she finally did start, I had a 'check engine' light come on. When I tried to drive her, acceleration was very sluggish and the 'check engine' light began flashing. I heard a "putt putt" type of sound under the hood.
We replaced the spark plugs that night ---no fix---
We rented an OBDII code reader and it wouldn't come up with any code.

It's going to cost me $80 to read her codes at the dealership PLUS another $75 to have her towed there. Then heaven knows what the repair costs are going to be!! If it's the fuel filter, they are now located in the gas tank with a repair cost of over $350.
(If I would have known this, I would have purchased an earlier model)
One of the reasons we've loved our Saturns all these years is because we could do the repairs ourselves for 1/10 of the cost. Now we're stumped.

This is a 2004 Vue with 39K miles on her (just over the warranty of course!)
Does anyone have an idea of what this could be?

The flashing CEL is telling you that one or more of your cylinders is misfiring. Strange that there's no code stored. Without that information, it's pretty hard to be very helpful. Had you recently gassed up someplace new? A bad load of gas could cause that. You say you've changed the plugs, did you check to make sure they were all getting spark?

Cheers,

[ssicarman]

Welcome to the Board.

DO not drive the car with the SES light flashing. Try not to run it with the SES light flashing.

It will ruin your catalytic converter.

You did not give the engine size but more than likely it is the four cylinder from what you say is happening.
It is more than likley your ignition module that is bad. I would reccomend replacing the module and the plugs. See if you local Saturn service department will goodwill any of the repair with you see as you are not out of warrenty by very much.

[addicted2mickey]

I finally took my terrible 2004 P.O.S. Vue to a mechanic. The problem with the engine not starting was due to the ignition control module which we fixed ourselves at a cost of $110. A week after that was repaired, my clutch pedal went all the way to the floor without any resistance and I couldn't put it into gear... so the entire clutch system had to be replaced at a cost of $1,100. Now, just 2 months after that has been fixed, I have a leak in the fuel line near the transmission.

Both of my previous Saturns (1994 & 1999) were fantastic, but something about the models beyond the year 2000 and beyond just plain stink. I hate to say it but it's time I switched to a Toyota or Honda.
Anyone want my Vue?

[kodak_jack]

That's pretty crappy for a 3 year old anything, let alone a Vue. Would Saturn do anything for you? How many miles? Clutches should last a good 100,000 miles.

[runerx]

I had the same thing (clutch) happen about the same time (3years) The accordion boot in the slave cylinder blows out and viola no clutch. My dealer picked up the cost of the part, because mine was only a few thousand out of warranty, but I still had over 700 dollars in labor. In hindsight I wish I had them replace the clutch disc while they had it apart. The clutch now chatters pretty badly if it's cold. It sucks that they put the slave inside the tranny instead of mounting it on the outside with a fork. This would have been an hour repair, at the most, and cost 35-40 bucks on my old truck. Instead you have to drop the suspension, jack the engine up, and remove the entire tranny cradle FWIT.

Dave

[addicted2mickey]

No, the Saturn dealer here wouldn't do anything but charge me nearly double what everyone else was charging. The same person owns all 3 Saturn dealerships here in Utah so you don't have any other options but to drive 4 hours to Boise, ID.
Even when the tires didn't pass inspection less than a year after I bought it (Saturn here told me they put new tires on it when it was purchased), Saturn refused to replace those. Normally, most tires have a 40K - 60K mile warranty.

It was purchased used with only 14K miles on it. My warranty expired at 36K. The ignition control module died just over 38K miles. The clutch went out at 38,500 miles. It now has 43,000 and I have a pretty bad fuel leak near the transmission. I'm basically fed up with this vehicle at this point.

I was stationed in Okinawa for 2 years and Saturns weren't a option there. Your choices were pretty much limited to Japanese manufacturers. We owned a Toyota Previa and a Honda Civic. Both with a lot of miles on them, but they were great cars (like my old Saturns). I don't know what happened to the Saturn company but I won't be dealing with them again. Someone told me they were bought out by GM, which explains a lot.

[Tom92SCm]

Originally Posted by addicted2mickey

Someone told me they were bought out by GM, which explains a lot.

Saturn has ALWAYS been a division of GM. Just at first, GM left them alone more. Now Saturn and GM are much more integrated.

Sucks about your VUE. I have essentially the same vehicle and I'm at like 42,000 miles with no major issues. The slave cylinder is a common failure though and I'm not looking forward to it happening on my VUE.

[addicted2mickey]

They need to start leaving them alone again. My 1994 SL1 made it to over 250K miles with only two non-regular maintenance repairs (wheel bearing and water pump). Loved that car!!!
My 1999 3-door coupe is at about 110K and the closest thing I've had to a "problem" is a broken key-lock and low refridgerant in the a/c.

Both spectacular cars. Low maintenance & cost. Great preformance... so if it were just one problem with my Vue, I wouldn't be so upset. But each time something gets fixed, another thing breaks. And when I google maintenance questions about this vehicle, it seems I'm not alone. This car has some major issues. The scary thing is the clutch dies on you AS you're driving with no real warning. Luckily, when mine went, I had just barely pulled off the freeway.

(btw, correction to my previous post. I just filed a complaint with U.S. Transportation and had to read over all of my old paperwork. Mileage at failure was about 39,500 - not 38, 500 and current mileage is just under 45K)

[Wayne12345]

There is a recall regarding the gas filler cap and the dash lite blinking. They extended the warranty to 10 yrs. regarding this.

[addicted2mickey]

Thanks but I took it in today and the fuel feed pipe has a crack in it!!!
They have been recalled on the 2004 Ions, but not the Vues...... yet.

I don't know who was working on the assembly line the day this car was made but I wish I could sue the crap out of them.

[addicted2mickey]

... and GM too.

[kodak_jack]

Originally Posted by addicted2mickey

... and GM too.

One of the reasons I bought my Vue was because it has the Honda V-6. My family has had THREE consecutive GM V-6's with intake manifold gasket problems. They produced those damned things from the late 80's to about 2003 before doing a redesign. Everybody who bought them in that time period is just SOL because GM never acknowledged the problem!! My son's repair was $1,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pontiac's answer to that was to send him a $1500 voucher to use on yet another GM POS. Gee, thanks.

[Wayne12345]

my 2004 vue just got a recall on it and good for 10 yrs. So if the filler kneck is cracked and you paid for it go get your re-imbursement.

[1saxman]

Hey, I just had a flashing SES yesterday. The weather has been cool and wet and I had not driven the VUE the previous day. I took it on about a five-mile trip to run a couple of errands. I came to a red light after about four miles and complete warm-up (thermostat open). As I came to a fairly hard stop the engine started to miss and the SES light lit then started to flash. The light turned green just then so I moved off with traffic. The engine recovered and the light went out. Total duration of the incident was about five seconds. I felt like it was a rich condition but have no proof of that - just that it felt like an old carburetor engine that tried to flood. I got where I was going okay and got home with no further incident. That night I drove it to my band gig and back, about a 70 mile round trip with no incident. I drove it to brunch today to the same area I went to yesterday and it's running fine. I have noticed no gas smell or any other abnormality. Naturally, any time something happens like this, you start to wonder when and where the breakdown is going to eventually occur, but there's always the possibility that it was some kind of one-time glitch, possibly fuel or moisture-related. I had filled up two days before the incident at my regular station. We have to use 10% Ethanol in my area, and have been for several years. Any thoughts on this?

[kodak_jack]

Originally Posted by 1saxman

Hey, I just had a flashing SES yesterday. The weather has been cool and wet and I had not driven the VUE the previous day. I took it on about a five-mile trip to run a couple of errands. I came to a red light after about four miles and complete warm-up (thermostat open). As I came to a fairly hard stop the engine started to miss and the SES light lit then started to flash. The light turned green just then so I moved off with traffic. The engine recovered and the light went out. Total duration of the incident was about five seconds. I felt like it was a rich condition but have no proof of that - just that it felt like an old carburetor engine that tried to flood. I got where I was going okay and got home with no further incident. That night I drove it to my band gig and back, about a 70 mile round trip with no incident. I drove it to brunch today to the same area I went to yesterday and it's running fine. I have noticed no gas smell or any other abnormality. Naturally, any time something happens like this, you start to wonder when and where the breakdown is going to eventually occur, but there's always the possibility that it was some kind of one-time glitch, possibly fuel or moisture-related. I had filled up two days before the incident at my regular station. We have to use 10% Ethanol in my area, and have been for several years. Any thoughts on this?

In good old New York State, that little incident, which should have stored a code, will cause your vehicle, 11 months later, to fail the yearly inspection. Any stored code is cause for a failed inspection. If you have the code cleared, you need to do a detailed set of driving instructions(a full sheet of paper worth) to get the computer set back to "normal" in order for it to pass. In 99% of cases, everything is OK, but the numb nods in this state just love to stick it to you!

[kaviation]

Originally Posted by kodak_jack

In good old New York State, that little incident, which should have stored a code, will cause your vehicle, 11 months later, to fail the yearly inspection. Any stored code is cause for a failed inspection. If you have the code cleared, you need to do a detailed set of driving instructions(a full sheet of paper worth) to get the computer set back to "normal" in order for it to pass. In 99% of cases, everything is OK, but the numb nods in this state just love to stick it to you!

Yup, same sh1t here too, I remember taking my ion in to my mechanic the first time, when the emission report printed out the info was printed for a 2003 Malibu. I called him up about it a week later and he said that the data base was all screwed up, the DOT hadn't uptaded or got all the bugs out yet.

[Wayne12345]

Originally Posted by ssicarman

Welcome to the Board.

DO not drive the car with the SES light flashing. Try not to run it with the SES light flashing.

It will ruin your catalytic converter.

You did not give the engine size but more than likely it is the four cylinder from what you say is happening.
It is more than likley your ignition module that is bad. I would reccomend replacing the module and the plugs. See if you local Saturn service department will goodwill any of the repair with you see as you are not out of warrenty by very much.

What haPPENS if one removes the catalytic and drives it with a fake hollow convertor?

[IMkenNY]

The rear O2 sensor will determine you dont have a converter and light up the check engine light.

You wont pass emissions testing (if applicable)

Excessive NOx+HC emissions (not good for earth)

[Saturn 2003 vue]

Had same issue as addicted2mickey. Really cold in New England over the weekend. Even changed the spark plugs. They were due anyway....I never changed them in the 2003 2.2L vue which I has 178k miles and 100k of those were mine. Thank you good people of the internet for posting your woes as they truly help others. I changed module and it runs like a beast.