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I want to tell you a story about my baby, my 2002 Saturn SL2.

I bought her used in 2004, she looked new, inside and out, even the Texas sun had not affected her light blue paint. She was sweet as candy. Her mileage to date had been mostly highway, so she loved to run on the big road and just purr like a kitten. She has been a good and reliable car all these years, after all she is 21 years old now and does not show her age.

She has lived her whole life in a college town and due to her ingenuous design and built with dent resistant side panels she does not have one single ding or dent on her vertical panels.

Follow up:

I am not joking when I tell you her factory battery lasted 13 years.
Her factory water pump made it just over 15 years.

A couple years ago I did have to replace her ignition lock cylinder, it had started sticking in the off position and would not release when the key was inserted.

A few days ago that aftermarket lock cylinder (not a genuine Saturn part) began sticking, so I pulled it out to check it and see if it needed to be replaced or could just be lubricated.

I found it could just be oiled and so I went to reinsert the cylinder, I however did a very dumb thing, I reached inside the housing and turned the switch at the rear slightly to make sure everything was in good alignment.

BAD IDEA!

I accidentally turned it just a bit to far, as the switch was in between the ACC and RUN positions, I bumped the starter without the cylinder or the key in the housing.
Never Ever Do This in a Saturn that has the factory built in Security system!

After that, I reinstalled the cylinder and tried to start the car with the key, no dice.
Funny thing was, the starter solenoid would click, but the starter would not turn. The dashboard tattletale security light was not on or blinking either.

But still when I turned the key to Start, no dice, the click of the Solenoid but not starter movement.


Once this happened the security system has to be reset.
So, I did several online searches to Reset my security. I found a bunch of websites and blog posts that mentioned how to disable or bypass it, I had no interest in that.

I want my baby to work like she was made to do, so I searched some more.

I found a couple of methods.

One said to insert the key, try to start the car, then leave the key in the RUN position for 10 minutes (but not 11 minutes). Then rotate the key to the OFF position for 3 minutes. Then repeat the entire process again, 3 to 5 times. Then try to start the car.
No Joy! This did nothing for me.


Then I found a post that said to lock the car with the key fab, double click to set the security (the Security light flashing on the dash), wait 3 minutes then unlock all doors with the key fab. Repeat this process 3 to 5 times. The try to start the car.
No Joy!


I was getting frustrated and my old days of shade tree mechanic work on my Small Block GM engines got the better of me.
I got to thinking if I can hear the solenoid but the starter wont budge then it must be a bad starter. After all, I was not seeing any indication on the dashboard that the security system had been tripped and the mobilizer engaged.


Yes, you guessed it, I ordered a starter.

BTW: On a 2002 Saturn SL2 and I can assume most of the Elegant line of Saturn S cars, you will need a deep well 10mm socket for the starter wire (note if your starter wire is to the left (the back of the car) or the right (the front of the car) from the Battery and Alternator connector on the Solenoid). The battery cable nut and mounting bolts are both 13mm.

For personal reasons I had not yet installed the new starter when I was reading through a bunch of blog posts about S car security system, it's failures and how to bypass it I found a sentence on one post I had not tried.


So I had to try it.
Lock the doors with the key fab, single click so as not to set the security system.

Unlock the drivers door with the key.
(When I did this the alarm went off, horn started chirping), I took that as a good sign as I had not set the Security system..

Insert the key and turn it to the Accessory On position ( the first click, when the radio can be used).
I had to turn mine to the Run position to get the alarm / horn to stop sounding.

Turn the key back off and remove it from the car, leave the doors unlocked but closed.
Wait 30 minutes.

Try to start the car.


Viola! After almost pulling what little hair I have left out for 2 days, my baby came to life! She started right up!
I think I have heard this referenced to as a 30 Minute Reset

If I am understanding this right, the car will then use the next 100 start cycles of the key to Re-Learn your key.


I had to tell you this tale since I could not easily find this process and I almost changed a started for no good reason!


Happy Motoring!


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