2002 Saturn SL2 service engine soon light came on

[quote:b57df491e9="cgalinski"]Engine Mechanical problem
2002 Saturn SL2 4 cyl Two Wheel Drive Automatic 100010 miles

my 'service engine soon" light came on and stayed on, I looked at my manual/book and it said to check the gas cap. Gas cap was fine, light still on..any suggestions?[/quote:b57df491e9]
go to a auto parts store like autozone have them read the codes and let me know what they are and ill help u out.let me know.

Hello, I had to take my car to a Pep Boys, they ran a free diagnostic...they said I needed to take it to a transmission shop cuz the code 02 sensor said "gear ratio for #1 is incorrect".

I called the transmission shop they recommended and they also have a free diagnostic...and they said if they end up taking apart the transmission, then it will cost me about $475, and labor is a part of that.

If u have that code for first gear it should be code p0731 the good news is if u had a bad piston for first gear u would have to take the transmission out or completely apart to service it.all u have to do is to remove ur side cover on the transmission ur first gear clutch pack is at the end of ur input shaft under ur side cover out side the transmission.my guess is u have a loose input shaft nut pretty common on the newer s model saturns that would require removing the side cover and replacing the nut.if the nut gets too loose I have seen the side cover get damaged and from the nut being to loose and it sliding from side to side warp and bend the second gear clutch plates causing the car to to move foward in neautral and other shifting problems.u will just have to let them look at it before it becomes a bigger problem.but make sure they check the first gear actuator and the first gear piston.let them know what I told u about ur car.let me know what they say before they make a repair and I'll let u know what questions to ask them.let me know what they find.

Welll, what I did was research a bit on the transmission shop. I found out that they do some shabby work, been taken to court, etc, have an F- rating on BBB...so I reseached another place closer to me called Mr Transmission and they have an A- rating, etc. They also said that if they had to take apart the transmission, that is it not $497, but $395 and I do have a $100 coupon too. They actually went to Pep boys and picked up the car for free and took it to their place to take care of it for me since I could not get it myself there till later. But when they call, I will see what they say..and I will read to them what you said...but as far as sending you the reply and waiting for your reply back, I don't think I can hold on for that long. But I will play it by ear for now, and will let you know everything they say. I am writing down everything.

Well if they say they have to take the transmission out and all the way apart then something is wrong unless there is a damaged input shaft or something like that.also have them check the trans line pressure with the line pressure fuse in and out and get the readings for both and let me know what they are.low line pressure in the transmission will cause this code as well as the loose nut.they have problems with the pressure regulator in valve body usually causes codes like p0733 and p0734 which is gears 3rd and fourth.let me know I have worked on these transmissions for over 16yrs and Iam factory trained on them.I did the trip to spring hill Tennessee for three weeks where there made and was factory trained by Saturn.so let me know.

Hello, I just got done talking to them. They saidit was a valve body & accumulator, they said I was really kind of like missing 1st gear and I don't have a stick shift. It is going to cost total, $913.51...they cannot get a remanufactured one on it.

is there a number I can reach you at or can u just answer this asap...

[quote:4d72620244="cgalinski"]Hello, I just got done talking to them. They saidit was a valve body & accumulator, they said I was really kind of like missing 1st gear and I don't have a stick shift. It is going to cost total, $913.51...they cannot get a remanufactured one on it.

is there a number I can reach you at or can u just answer this asap...[/quote:4d72620244]
well the labor hrs on replacing the valve body not including diagnoses is 2.3hrs for non abs and if u have abs its 2.6hrs times whatever the labor rate is.the valve body from the dealer is 725.00 so depending on his labor rate that sounds right for replacing the valve body did he say how he diagnosed it as a valve body issue?did he remove the valve body and air check the clutches including first gear?what that entails is taking air and forcing it into all the transmission clutch feed holes then let the air sit in there with no new air supply and seeing if the piston clutchs bleed the air down or if the air comes out another feed hole meaning theres cross bleeding.if he didnt do that u could have another problem like a loose input shaft nut or a leaking piston.did he even perform a line pressure test with and without the line pressure fuse in?usually if u get a bad valve body u will get a delay in reverse or bang in reverse and sometimes a p0733 and a p0734 no 3rd and no 4th gear or incorrect ratio.because the higher gears need more pressure to hold the clutch packs from slipping.but ask him how he figured out it needs a valve body.and what the line pressure was at with the line pressure fuse in and with it out.from these questions u will catch him off gaurd and u will be able to tell if he knows what he is talking about.they also sell rebulit and worked valve bodys for a few hundred dollars.let me know what he says.

Hi, he said that he did many diagnostics and it all pointed to the valve body & accumulator. He said I could get the remanufactured one, but they would not warranty it and it would cost a couple of hundred less. I have told him what you have said and he thinks you are funny....that he has been in the business over 20 yrs and that he knows what he is doing. By the way, I did call AAMCO and told them my dilemma and he said that the price I got quoted was reasonable, it was about that much with them. I will be hones, I have no idea if I am being taken advantage of, but I am having FAITH on this that I am not. I have no idea what else they did to determine what I had to have done, but I guess obviously I don't know what they are doing or suppose to do, and both you and he does.

By the way, I am not sure of this, but if you are referring to the clutch as in a stick shift, I don't have a stick, I have an automatic.

[quote:8ff4bfc060="cgalinski"]Hi, he said that he did many diagnostics and it all pointed to the valve body & accumulator. He said I could get the remanufactured one, but they would not warranty it and it would cost a couple of hundred less. I have told him what you have said and he thinks you are funny....that he has been in the business over 20 yrs and that he knows what he is doing. By the way, I did call AAMCO and told them my dilemma and he said that the price I got quoted was reasonable, it was about that much with them. I will be hones, I have no idea if I am being taken advantage of, but I am having FAITH on this that I am not. I have no idea what else they did to determine what I had to have done, but I guess obviously I don't know what they are doing or suppose to do, and both you and he does.[/quote:8ff4bfc060]
yeah i know that u have a automatic transmission its basicialy a manual trans with planetary gears with clutch pistions that are filled with fluid and pressure to in engage them instead of being shifted into manually with shift forks.a very simple good design.he thinks iam funny when iam asked to explain how i came to a diagnose on a customers transmission i dont say i performed many diagnostics and it all pointed to x or y i tell what i did to find out what was wrong.he could very well be in the bussiness for 20 yrs in transmissions but i specialized in saturns working at the dealers i have even been shop foremans and team leaders there for over 16yrs i have saturn certs they gave me to prove it.to me my opion the way he answered ur question by how he performed many diagnostics and wouldnt answer a simple question like what ur transmission pressure was if he air checked ur clutches etc then says iam funny sounds like he is the clown thats just my opion.doing the steps i have told u is basic steps to determine if u have a bad valve body or a leaking pistion bad seal loose input shaft nut etc.u can belive who u want iam not there to see or do any testing thats why i asked u to ask him those questions.sounds like he didnt like my questions thats why he got all defense of with iam funny and his 20 yrs expernice.jsut make sure he will stand behind his work like if ur service light comes back on with ur p0731 first gear incorrect ratio he isnt going to charge u a bunch more money and say its a differnt problem.a quick story i dont drop names so i will in directly drop one.that other place u called to see if it was a fair price they brought in a car into the dealer i worked at with a transmission problem that they rebuilt the whole transmission everything clutches seals everything for a hard shift in every gear.this was a customers of theres i looked at the car for like 20 mins called them back to tell them it was just a bad line pressure actuator a in car repair.i dont know if they ate the mistake or the customer on that one.and there comercial says no body knows ur transmission like us.and i have nothing to gain or loose in this one iam just here to answer questions which i volunteer my own free time to do so.so on this one i gave u my opion and u can do with it what u wish but keep me posted i would love to hear what happens with ur car.also remember iam here if u have anymore questions.

he told me off basically, and now I am really afraid. Kind of like a restarant, if you tell the waiter the meat is cold or something is wrong w/the food, the cooks have a tendency to spit or do something horrible to your food. Well, I am hoping that he fixes it properly and does not make cause for another problem to arise.

[quote:46659b3522="cgalinski"]he told me off basically, and now I am really afraid. Kind of like a restarant, if you tell the waiter the meat is cold or something is wrong w/the food, the cooks have a tendency to spit or do something horrible to your food. Well, I am hoping that he fixes it properly and does not make cause for another problem to arise.[/quote:46659b3522]
well sounds like he failed my test unfornately it was a easy one with not iam going to tell off the customer because there too imformed and asked me how they found the problem with my car.hopefully he knows how he found the problem and just didnt guess at it.from my expernices when people get nasty like that with customers that usually means there cornered and dont have a good answer.i wish the best for u please keep me informed with whats going on with ur car.and iam here if u need anymore questions answered or have anymore concerns.

Well, since I was a BIG chicken and did not want my car sabataged (I am sure he wouldn't have, but ya neva know) I called him back and had a woman to man converse w/him. Ok, this is what he said, my service engine soon light is not going to go off, because of this.
I had 4 things wrong w/the diagnostics, these are the codes:
1. P0128 coolant thermastat, just to let ya know, my car does not overheat at all, knock on wood.
2. P0442 evap system....he says it is a bad gas cap...my Saturn book states that usually one replacing the gas cap will make the light go out, I mean taking the gas cap off and putting it back on again, not getting another one.
3. P0731 The valve body thing.
4. U100....he said it looks like I have had a battery replacement or something, I told him I did a while ago.

But he said, I won't break down or anything if I don't get the gas cap fixed or the other things....NOW, the ONLY thing that is now concerning me is.....I have inspection due in July, will they allow a passing inspection w/that stupid light on?

By the way, I will give a donation to this site when I have built up my savings again.

[quote:299781543d="cgalinski"]Well, since I was a BIG chicken and did not want my car sabataged (I am sure he wouldn't have, but ya neva know) I called him back and had a woman to man converse w/him. Ok, this is what he said, my service engine soon light is not going to go off, because of this.
I had 4 things wrong w/the diagnostics, these are the codes:
1. P0128 coolant thermastat, just to let ya know, my car does not overheat at all, knock on wood.
2. P0442 evap system....he says it is a bad gas cap...my Saturn book states that usually one replacing the gas cap will make the light go out, I mean taking the gas cap off and putting it back on again, not getting another one.
3. P0731 The valve body thing.
4. U100....he said it looks like I have had a battery replacement or something, I told him I did a while ago.

But he said, I won't break down or anything if I don't get the gas cap fixed or the other things....NOW, the ONLY thing that is now concerning me is.....I have inspection due in July, will they allow a passing inspection w/that stupid light on?

By the way, I will give a donation to this site when I have built up my savings again.[/quote:299781543d]
so ur inspection in july is it a state inspection or a emissions inspection?ur code p0128 is ethier the thermostate bad staying open and always letting ur coolant circulate.or u have a bad coolant temp sensor miss reading ur thermostate being bad.ur p0442 could have been ur gas cap wasnt tight and the code is set in history or u could have a bad gas cap when u get ur car back look at ur gas cap seal see if its cracking if it is u will have to replace ur cap.or u could have a vapor leak some where in ur fuel system or a bad fuel pressure sensor or wiring to it.it could be alot of things on that.hopefully ur p0731 will be gone with this transmission repair.ur u1000 is usually a computer communication error.sometimes it just sets as a freak thing play that one by ear.as far as ur donation if u want to make a donation thats fine when ever ur ready.thanks for the donation in advance glad ur enjoying are website.let me know when u know how ur car turns out and if ur up for a state inspection or a emissions inspection.

It is the state inspection. Here in VA they do it every year. It passed just great last year,but last yr i didn't have that nauseating light on. I am probably going to go to the junk yard to get a new gas cap or should I say used one.
My son informed me this evening that he works with a bunch of guys that fixes cars and he is gonna talk to them tomorrow morning and see if they agree with that guy. I am very sick inside because of all of this. I guess when it rains, it pours

I wanted to say thank you for all of your help, I have another question. How can I reset those codes to make my service engine soon light go out? I know there is a way.....

I am at the same place this guy is , maybe a little further on.My advice to him is to listen to you.I replaced the two nuts on the side of the trans and got rid of my reverse slam but the first gear had and still does have a shifting problem.It seems not to go into first maybe when just cold.I replaced the valve body . So it seems that part about the thing-a-ma-jig (have to go back and reread your msg) is on the money.The fluid is not getting enough force because it is restricted to move the t-a-m-j .how do I clear out the restricted passageway? This is my first trans job. Total shade tree.You have the best expertise I have come across yet.You people are hard to find!