Vehicle

Saturn Ion

The compact that replaced the S-series, and the Saturn most people still have. Two things dominate its fault traffic: the electric power steering column, which was recalled and whose failure sets a chassis code and kills assist without warning, and the ignition switch — the same defect that produced GM's 2014 recall, where the key can move out of Run and shut the engine and the airbags down. Both are safety items rather than driveability ones, and both look like electrical faults until you know the pattern.

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Saturn Ion, front view — Interesting.cars.insta · CC BY 4.0 (external)

Generations

First generation 2003–2007

GM Delta; the electric steering column and the ignition switch are both recall items and both present as electrical faults until you know the pattern.
Body styles

Sedan · Coupé

Platform

GM Delta
Engines
2.2 Ecotec — L61 · petrol · 104–108 kW (140–145 hp) · 197–203 Nm (145–150 lb-ft)

2.4 Ecotec — LE5 · petrol · 127–130 kW (170–175 hp) · 220–222 Nm (162–164 lb-ft)

2.0 supercharged Ecotec — petrol · 153 kW (205 hp) · 271 Nm (200 lb-ft) · Red Line

2.0 — petrol
Transmissions

CVT · 5-speed Getrag F23 manual · 5-speed Getrag F35 manual · 4-speed GM 4T45-E automatic · 5-speed Aisin AF33 automatic

Drivetrain

Front-wheel drive

Information, not instruction

CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.

Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.

Posted about the Saturn Ion

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The car — make, model, year and engine. The same fault behaves differently on each.
What you measured, not only what you replaced.
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