2002 1.9 engine ??

Looking at getting a fully loaded 2002 SL2 with the 1.9. I've been through the paces with a 95 that had the same size motor with the dreaded ring problems. Did they correct this problem in the latter years of this same engine?

by "dreaded ring problems" you mean the oil burning?(which by the way there is a easy and cheap piston soak how-to on saturnfans.com) well the design of the pistons including the ring lands did change two or three times between 95 and 02, in part to help the carbon build-up on the rings. they may have changed the design specs on the rings a bit, but they are still the same basic product from the same manufactior (Hastings i think?). so in other words, sticking piston rings = better but not perfict, only time will tell.

by "dreaded ring problems" you mean the oil burning?(which by the way there is a easy and cheap piston soak how-to on saturnfans.com) well the design of the pistons including the ring lands did change two or three times between 95 and 02, in part to help the carbon build-up on the rings. they may have changed the design specs on the rings a bit, but they are still the same basic product from the same manufactior (Hastings i think?). so in other words, sticking piston rings = better but not perfict, only time will tell.does anybody know if these oil soak procedures are effective? i seem to see a lot of conflicting info on that site. i have a 2001 sc2 which burns no oil at all, but the car only has 19,000 miles on it & i don't expect it to now. i hope my engine has the improved rings, or whatever they did to the engine in later years to stop the oil burning problem....

the pistons were change in 96 and again in late 99. and, assuming the rings are the problem, the soak does have a high success rate.

I'm not sure how much my info will help, because I have an SL1, that I used for commuting an hour each way to school. It's a 2002, with a 1.9SOHC, it's already got 108,000 miles on it though. I drove an hour each way to school during the week, and to work on the weekends. Now I have a 2002 Taurus SEL, and my mother took my car to drive an hour and a half one way to work daily.

So mostly, it's a highway-mile car, it's used for commuting.

It burns oil now like you wouldn't believe. About a quart every week and a half, give or take a couple of days.

I've lost a lot of compression in my cylinders causing a noticeable loss of power. My timing chain got stretched and caused problems, and now the clutch is starting to go.

I know a couple people with '02 SL2s, and '02 SC2s, none of them have had a real terrific time.

What I can say is, that under 80,000 they run great. But I'm looking at a complete rebuild now, when it gets towards like 125,000.

It probably doesn't help that I whooped the crap out of the car when I bought it new, I was into racing and such ::shrugs::

If you treat them well, they run forever, but they don't take a beating. This goes for every saturn I've ever really run into. So think about your driving habits, if you don't plan on beating it, then I'd say go for it.

my 2002 sc2 has @42,000mi on it and has had no problems with burning oil