Expert: Sean Halliday - 7/17/2006

Question
I've been having a problem with my 2002 Saturn LW300 for about 2 months now, and would greatly appreciate any advice you can offer. Here's a timeline of what's happened:

In May I ran out of gas (wondering if this has anything to do with subsequent problems). 2 days later, the car began to stall on the highway (felt like a very hard thump or kick) and then died (could not accelerate but still had electrical power).
- had car was towed to garage. 2 error messages came up - MAF (mass air flow) sensor and "Internal PCM Fault"
- garage contacted Saturn dealership, who said PCM computer was still under warranty so I should bring it there if it happened again
- garage replaced MAF, and car ran OK afterwards

Several weeks later - car was running very rough again (getting hard "thump" or "kick" feeling while accelerating, like it was stalling for just a second) and next day, "service engine soon" light came back on.
- took car to dealership to see if it was PCM error message
- dealership said they saw 1 error message for the MAF and they could go ahead and replace it
- told them other garage had just installed new part; they said "it's not a genuine Saturn part" so they couldn't guarantee anything
- took car back w/o having any work done

Shortly after, I took the car back to original garage, who said they used a brand new ACDelco part which was under warranty so they'd be happy to replace it again in case it was defective. They did, and after a few days, the light came back on. Last week, after driving it w/ the "service engine soon" light on for about 2 weeks, it started acting up again and a 2nd "SERVICE" light came on, along with the "thumping" or "kicking" sensation. Not knowing if driving it home would cause damage, I had it towed to the garage. They said there was not an error message for the MAF this time, but there was one related to a fuel line – I’m afraid I don’t remember the exact error. They couldn’t find anything wrong, cleared the error messages, drove it in the city and on the highway, and it ran fine. I picked it up over the weekend and it’s running OK but today the "service engine soon" light is back on.

I'm at a loss for what to do. Sorry for the lengthy explanation, and thanks in advance for looking it over!

Answer
you got yourself a lemon for sure.sorry but thats it.saturn in particular have all kinds of problems with pcms,no other car i have seen has so many faults.my opinion is take it to the saturn dealer and if it is under warranty ask them to fix the thing right.it may need a new pcm.and or maf sensor.as for the fuel i am sure its related to the pcm,power control module which controls all of the engine systems.running out of gas isnt good because it runs the pump with no fuel and may burn it out.theres really no instant fix for your problems the dealer will have to look at it.