My Saturn ION wont start now

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lowkeydd
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Apr 25, 2017 5:31 am

My Saturn ION wont start now

Unread post by lowkeydd » Tue Apr 25, 2017 5:50 am

Ive been having issues with my car overheating for a few weeks now, it began with my cooling fan which needed a new plug. Before I could get that fixed it got really hot the other day and was making a funny screaming noise out of the overflow tank and the water was boiling and it caused it stall I let it cool off then started it again to limp it home but it died when the idle fell too low but I was able to limp it home.

Today I tried to start it which took a few tries and even though the car had not been running for over 24 hours the coolant got very very hot and started making the screaming sound after running for only 2 minutes.

Now it wont even turn on. Now I may be just a girl but I know that's all very bad. How can I diagnose my car? Is the engine blown? How to diagnose whats making it overheat? Is it something I can check myself because the mechanic tells me it's this that or the other and it's just gotten worse, he's obviously not fixing jack. Please HELP!!! Please only respond to this if you have experience with this type of issue I don't need anymore problems due to suggestions like,
'try changing your fuses"..." or "have you checked the battery?" no offense meant it's just that I've checked all the basics and I know it's much more serious and internal so I'm not trying to waste mine or anyone elses time. Thank you in advance

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carriedi
Posts: 2573
Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2013 12:42 pm

Re: My '04 ION wont start now

Unread post by carriedi » Wed Apr 26, 2017 12:05 am

sorry to give you bad news but I think your may be bad.

the screaming sound out of the over flow tank is just that. What coolant you have in your engine is steaming just like a tea kettle and what you hear is steam under pressure escaping your radiator cap. The radiator cap is set to a specific pressure and when the pressure in your cooling system exceeds that pressure it forces the cap's valve to open and relieve the excess pressure. If the pressure gets too high is will come out under high pressure. Be careful! you can get seriously injured if you touch anything in the cooling system when this happens. High pressure steam in excess of 240 degrees F can send you to the hospital or worse.

The reason the engine gets hot now and the cooling system builds up so much pressure within just a couple of minutes now is most likely a blown head gasket or maybe even a cracked head or block. Pressure from the cylinders are being pumped right into the cooling system. Way more pressure than the 12,13,14, 15 lbs/pressure your cap it rated for.

turn everything off and let it sit for a while. (at least 4-6 hours) overnight would be good.

open the hood and remove the radiator cap. With the radiator cap removed have someone start the engine. If the engine won't start but still will crank/turn over, Watch what happens to the cooling system with the cap removed. Look from a distance. Do not look down into the radiator! There is a good chance that the motor will push coolant out of the radiator right away or very soon after you start cranking. If that does happen then pressure from the cylinder 120-185 psi (or perhaps even more) will escape the cylinder and push coolant out of the system.

That's what sounds like is happening to your engine. It's possible there could be something else but it doesn't sound good. Sorry, even if a car overheats one time, it can damage the head gasket and the damage may not show up for months. But, when it does it will either show up as coolant disappearing because the engine is burning it or if it gets bad enough, the engine pumps the coolant ont of the system.
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stevo1960
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Aug 31, 2018 9:31 am

Keyless Remote

Unread post by stevo1960 » Fri Aug 31, 2018 9:44 am

I have a 2004 Saturn Ion 2 that had a new BCM and PCM replaced. When I got the car back from the repair shop, the Service Manager advised me they were unable to get the Keyless Entry Remotes to work. So on this information provided, I took the car to another repair shop to determine why the Keyless Entry Remotes weren't working. They advised me that when the new BCM was installed, the programmer forgot to enable the keyless entry feature. When I brought this information back to the previous repair they said they look into it. The 2nd repair shop advised me, once the new BCM is programmed you can't go back and reprogram it if something was omitted, is that correct?

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carriedi
Posts: 2573
Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2013 12:42 pm

Re: Keyless Remote

Unread post by carriedi » Fri Aug 31, 2018 2:18 pm

I don't know if that is true or not. I have heard that they can only be programmed once. However, the first repair shop should look into that. They should call their supplier for the bcm and tell them about the problem. If it can't be flashed to make it work they should send it back and get a bcm that works for your car.

did you have keyless entry with your old bcm? why did you change the bcm in the first place? Does the replacement bcm have the same number as the old one?

did either shop have a tech2 to look at it?
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