2008 Saturn Outlook XR - Bad Cams ?!?

[rpasquarello]

Check engine light came on at 2000 miles. Mileage is really bad. Dealer will be replacing CAMS and sensors this week and giving me a loaner. At least a 3 day job. I am not happy as I heard (not from the dealer) that this is apparantly a major problem with the motor. Is that true or common? Anyone else have this happen to them?

[onefunkar]

ive never heard of it

[QuinneyZoo1]

I have never heard of it either.

[scottginfla]

whats the build date of your outlook?

[QuinneyZoo1]

Mine was built January 2007.

[rpasquarello]

I am not sure (I am at work and don't have any of the paperwork with me). It was built-new (for the options we wanted). We took delivery in the 3rd week of December 2007, so am I guessing that it was built med-to-late November 2007.

[onefunkar]

ive had mine since friday the 13th in july. 9800 miles so far so good. no problems and i like the car alot. drives great

[SATURNSTPAUL]

I too have never heard of this issue. And the 3.6 is used everywere, and I have not heard a thing

[borndead]

the cams have too much lateral movement in the journals
i have fixed this in the 08 vue with the 3.6 not in the outlook
most of the problems are in the front bank

[Outlook IL]

13,000 miles on my 07 XE purchased 02/07 and the engine has been solid!! Only complaint, gas mileage..

[djhhjd]

WHAT? I've never heard of this either.

[rpasquarello]

Originally Posted by rpasquarello

Check engine light came on at 2000 miles. Mileage is really bad. Dealer will be replacing CAMS and sensors this week and giving me a loaner. At least a 3 day job. I am not happy as I heard (not from the dealer) that this is apparantly a major problem with the motor. Is that true or common? Anyone else have this happen to them?

06/03/08 WARNING: Here's an update. Truck took 2 weeks to get fixed (1 week for parts and 1 week to repair). Dealer told me it was OK to drive short distances even though the check engine light was on pending replacement bank/head. 2 weeks after I got the truck back, the tensioner pulley snapped off and I was towed. Truck down only 4 days this time. One month later check engine light came on and sensor was replaced. 4 days in shop. 2 weeks later the check engine light came on again and guess what --the CAMS/heas were replaced a second time by Saturn at just over 4,000 miles. Saturn refunded us 1 1/2 payments for the downtime of the truck and "as a matter of goodwill." Saturn claims "badly machined parts" from the factory both times -- from the same casting run....be careful on the engine issues and save your paperwork. Our cousin has an '08 Acadia with the same problem 2x as well. I heard that GM is having issues with this motor in the CTS, too. No recalls or TSBs on this motor as yet.

[slv01sc2]

Demand A New Car! You Should Not Be Ging Through All Of That!

[ALWAYS V5]

I have personally sold two Outlooks that have come back for this very same problem. The camshaft has too much freeplay and can "walk" out of position. When this happens the cam sensor cannot tell the computer the correct position of the cam for engine management, variable valve timing etc...The fix has been replacement of the entire cylinder head. A long and costly job. The techs are pissed, I'm embarassed, and of course you the guest are pissed. Very unfortunate.

P.S. The first head that came from GM was packaged poorly and damaged in transport.

[chunda2]

[QUOTE=ALWAYS V5;1263179]I have personally sold two Outlooks that have come back for this very same problem. The camshaft has too much freeplay and can "walk" out of position. When this happens the cam sensor cannot tell the computer the correct position of the cam for engine management, variable valve timing etc...The fix has been replacement of the entire cylinder head. A long and costly job. The techs are pissed, I'm embarassed, and of course you the guest are pissed. Very unfortunate.

QUOTE]

I brought my 2008 Outlook in for this problem today. The Traction Control & Stabilitrak warning lights kept coming on. The dealer says they are well aware of the problem. They also said it's common for the ABS warning light to come on as well. They ordered the parts, will take 3 days to get here...but I will be fine to continue driving my car until then. Hopefully this is the case and doesn't screw my car up even more!

They told me I have to have the Head Cylinder replaced...which is a "piece" of the Cam Shaft. How invasive is this? Are they tearing apart my engine? (Yes, I'm a chick and know absolutely nothing about cars)
They also said it would only take 1 day to fix...but the previous post implies otherwise?

I purchased the vehicle August 2007, has 18K miles...

[BobbyP]

Originally Posted by onefunkar

ive never heard of it

It's not new news. We've had several posts on this forum from users that had to have the heads replaced on their new engines. The good news is not many Saturns had the problem.

The camshaft problem with the 3.6L engine has been reported in every GM car that uses it. VUE's, Outlooks, Acadia's, and Enclaves...

This same engine also had problems with the timing chains stretching. Some only lasting 10k miles. They had a recall on these affected engines.

The Enclave and Acadia forums are livid over the failures.

[eagles27]

I to recently purchased a saturn outlook xe on 4/26/08, it has 1900 miles on it and the check engine light came on. Turns out that the cams/and cylinders were not manufactured correctly. I am currently battling with saturn and the dealership to replace the car with not much luck. The dealership is going to replace the cams/cylinders, and head gaskets, which they say should fix the problem. I am not satisfied with this and am demanding a entirely new car. Any suggestions from others with this same problem.

[chunda2]

I'm willing to give them the opportunity to replace the head cylinder and do the fix. However, if I have ANY additional problems related to this I will then have to escalate it. I bought my car in August of 2007 so I don't really have any negotiating power....but since you bought yours under 2 months ago I would think they would replace it!!! I would push the issue.

This is my 6th Saturn (SC1, SL1, Wagon, SL2, L3, Outlook) and have NEVER had a problem...until now. I would like to think if I have an ongoing issue with this Cam stuff they would replace my vehicle etc...but I won'd hold my breath. It's tough times for GM - I'm sure they will fight tooth and nail. Loyalty won't get me very far.

[chunda2]

Just a follow up:

So I brought my car in for service. I should've known right from the start this wasn't going to go well when the service guy couldn't even remember why I was bringing my car in and couldn't find the parts that he assured me had been delivered. Anyway, the parts they had weren't the right parts so they had to order more. The trouble was actually FINDING the parts they needed; apparently they aren't readily available. They get the parts delivered but now there's an additional problem. The timing on the belt wasn't syncing with the sprocket...so they had to manually time the engine. I guess this is a very time consuming process - and doesn't make me feel very good thinking Gomer Pyle is [I]manually[I] timing my engine!! Today the guy calls and says the engine is put back together...but now there's electrical problems. They are checking all the ground wires and relays to see what the problem is. But he assures me he thinks my car will be ready tomorrow morning.

This process, which I was originally told would take 1-2 days, is now going on 10! I don't have much faith that I won't have future problems...

Has anyone had any success at just getting their vehicle replaced instead of having continual work done?

[chunda2]

Car still in the shop...
Now they say the engine is "fixed"...but now they have to replace my entire Wiring Harness....