2001 LW200 ignition woes

Luckily we have a Extended Service agreement, so if the problem is truly
fixed it only cost us the $50 deductible.

Notcied the car was louder suddenly. Sounded like the valve covers or
maybe a header was loose. Didn't see any drippings or smoke out of the
pipe, but the oil appeared low.
Filling it up didn't quiet it.

Service manager said the computer reported tens of thousands of mis-fires
in cylinder 3. They replaced the ignition module and coil(s?). Soudned
better this morning when I picked it up, so i guess i am happy.

I know the LW200 manual is fairly rare, but wondering if the
ignition/coil issue is common. Also what long-term effects should I be
on the lookout for due to the misfires. Should the cylinders all have a
compression test at this point?

About 70,000 miles on it, so the extended service plan is up in about 2-3
months of driving.

Reposting with different subject

Luckily we have a Extended Service agreement, so if the problem is
truly fixed it only cost us the $50 deductible.

Noticed the car was louder suddenly. Sounded like the valve covers or
maybe a header was loose. Didn't see any drippings or smoke out of the
pipe, but the oil appeared low.
Filling it up didn't quiet it.

Service manager said the computer reported tens of thousands of
mis-fires in cylinder 3. They replaced the ignition module and
coil(s?). Sounded better this morning when I picked it up, so i guess
i am happy.

I know the LW200 4-spd manual is fairly rare, but wondering if the
ignition/coil issue is common. Also what long-term effects should I
be on the lookout for due to the misfires. Should the cylinders all
have a compression test at this point?

About 70,000 miles on it, so the extended service plan is up in about
2-3 months of driving.

My SO thinks once the extended coverage is up we should shop for a new
vehicle, fearing a big ticket we have would pay for in full. I would
prefer to drive the car for several more years if we have not hurt it.

In article >,
_CUT says...
> Reposting with different subject
>
> Luckily we have a Extended Service agreement, so if the problem is
> truly fixed it only cost us the $50 deductible.
>
> Noticed the car was louder suddenly. Sounded like the valve covers or
> maybe a header was loose. Didn't see any drippings or smoke out of the
> pipe, but the oil appeared low.
> Filling it up didn't quiet it.
>
> Service manager said the computer reported tens of thousands of
> mis-fires in cylinder 3. They replaced the ignition module and
> coil(s?). Sounded better this morning when I picked it up, so i guess
> i am happy.
>
> I know the LW200 4-spd manual is fairly rare, but wondering if the
> ignition/coil issue is common. Also what long-term effects should I
> be on the lookout for due to the misfires. Should the cylinders all
> have a compression test at this point?

Usually to much resistance will take out a coil. No its not a common
issue. You're probably about due for new plugs. (I'm not sure why they
didnt go ahead and sell that job to you while they were right there at
it.)

> About 70,000 miles on it, so the extended service plan is up in about
> 2-3 months of driving.
>
> My SO thinks once the extended coverage is up we should shop for a new
> vehicle, fearing a big ticket we have would pay for in full. I would
> prefer to drive the car for several more years if we have not hurt it.

Whats cheaper in the overall scheme of things? A 300 buck monthly car
payment or 100 bucks a month, at worse, in repairs? A "big ticket"
repair is still far cheaper than a $15,000 dollar car. The Ecotec
powered LW200 w/manual is a sweat little car. Keep it. Unless you want
to sell it to "me" cheap

=?iso-8859-15?Q?Bl=E4Bl=E4?=
. S!RCRE4P.C0M> wrote in
:

> In article >,
> _CUT says...
>> Reposting with different subject
>>
>> Luckily we have a Extended Service agreement, so if the problem is
>> truly fixed it only cost us the $50 deductible.
>>
>> Noticed the car was louder suddenly. Sounded like the valve covers or
>> maybe a header was loose. Didn't see any drippings or smoke out of
the
>> pipe, but the oil appeared low.
>> Filling it up didn't quiet it.
>>
>> Service manager said the computer reported tens of thousands of
>> mis-fires in cylinder 3. They replaced the ignition module and
>> coil(s?). Sounded better this morning when I picked it up, so i
guess
>> i am happy.
>>
>> I know the LW200 4-spd manual is fairly rare, but wondering if the
>> ignition/coil issue is common. Also what long-term effects should I
>> be on the lookout for due to the misfires. Should the cylinders all
>> have a compression test at this point?
>
> Usually to much resistance will take out a coil. No its not a common
> issue. You're probably about due for new plugs. (I'm not sure why they
> didnt go ahead and sell that job to you while they were right there at
> it.)
>
>> About 70,000 miles on it, so the extended service plan is up in about
>> 2-3 months of driving.
>>
>> My SO thinks once the extended coverage is up we should shop for a new
>> vehicle, fearing a big ticket we have would pay for in full. I would
>> prefer to drive the car for several more years if we have not hurt it.
>
> Whats cheaper in the overall scheme of things? A 300 buck monthly car
> payment or 100 bucks a month, at worse, in repairs? A "big ticket"
> repair is still far cheaper than a $15,000 dollar car. The Ecotec
> powered LW200 w/manual is a sweat little car. Keep it. Unless you want
> to sell it to "me" cheap
>

So Friday morning SO starts the LW200 and it fires and then coughs,
sputters and dies out. Weird. Restarts is hard, turns over a few times
before hitting and then blows a little cloud.

Still had the sucking/tapping noise. So we drop it off Friday afternoon.
I go for a ride with the Service Advisor. We both agree there is a little
gurgle after revving the engine, he thinks it is cracks in the weld of
the resonator - I say the whole tailpipe is solid, the sound is from
behind the block. We also pop the hood and hear a sucking noise, maybe
a vacuum leak?

SO get the call back this morning.
The sucking noise, is the power steering, Service advisor wouldn't worry
about it. (Btw, he didn't push for spark plugs when doing the coil since
it only has 70k and plugs should go over 100k in his words.) I tell him
we had the PS pump replaced once already and because it is not power-
ASSIST, when the ps goes out the car is not driveable.

Says they foudn the gurgle source too, gasket to the exhaust headers....
right where I said it was and what I inferred as the original problem
earlier this week. They start to pull the headers and replace the gasket
(in stock) but find cracks in the manifolds... not in stock.
So our wagon sits on their lot all weekend and we canot get the rental
until Monday mid-morning :-((

At least the car should be tip-top after that.

In article >,
_CUT says...
> SO get the call back this morning.
> The sucking noise, is the power steering, Service advisor wouldn't worry
> about it. (Btw, he didn't push for spark plugs when doing the coil since
> it only has 70k and plugs should go over 100k in his words.) I tell him
>

Should doesnt mean will. What is 100k miles anyway? 100k Highway miles?
100k City miles? A car can sit in the driveway and idle day in and day
out without racking up 1 mile will still wear out the plugs. My rule of
thumb on double platinum plugs is to replace at 80k. This will help keep
engines running at their optimum performance. A visiual inspection of at
least one plug should of been done...

ignition/coil issue is common

Saturn had a recall on some L 200 2001's for the ignition module. I had
mine changed.


"Steph" > wrote in message
...
> Luckily we have a Extended Service agreement, so if the problem is truly
> fixed it only cost us the $50 deductible.
>
> Notcied the car was louder suddenly. Sounded like the valve covers or
> maybe a header was loose. Didn't see any drippings or smoke out of the
> pipe, but the oil appeared low.
> Filling it up didn't quiet it.
>
> Service manager said the computer reported tens of thousands of mis-fires
> in cylinder 3. They replaced the ignition module and coil(s?). Soudned
> better this morning when I picked it up, so i guess i am happy.
>
> I know the LW200 manual is fairly rare, but wondering if the
> ignition/coil issue is common. Also what long-term effects should I be
> on the lookout for due to the misfires. Should the cylinders all have a
> compression test at this point?
>
> About 70,000 miles on it, so the extended service plan is up in about 2-3
> months of driving.
>