2008 Saturn Vue Xr

LousCrew · May 16, 2009

Please Help!

My mom's Vue is having some electrical problems and I trying to help my parents out. While the cruise control is on, if you use the blinker, the cruise control will turn off. Or the radio will make a "clink" noise. Or the wipers might turn the cruise off. Sometimes, when just using the blinkers, they act up. Or sometimes, the cruise just won't work at all.

Basically, it just works out to where most of the controls on the steering column are acting up pretty bad. The warranty is up due to the mileage (more than 110 miles daily), so my parents are stuck at a cross roads...trade the vehicle in while the mileage is still reasonable (38K) or take on the challenge of finding and fixing the ever elusive electrical nightmare.

Does anyone have experience or knowledge of these problems, particularly in a Saturn Vue?

bill190 · May 16, 2009

For that type of problem, you're going to need an experienced electrical person to find the problem. (Unless someone here has had the same problem and can tell you what it was.)

I would suggest calling the dealer and asking how much it would cost to get a diagnosis of the problem and estimate for the repair.

Then if it is too much, I suppose the salesmen types would be more than happy to wave the diagnosis charge and wheel and deal for a new vehicle!

Or if not a big deal, have it fixed.

Alljackedup408 · May 17, 2009

that is weird.

nbscanuck · May 17, 2009

Two words

Warranty work.

superjim · May 17, 2009

Two words

Warranty work.

It has 38,000 miles on it.

No more warranty.

Alljackedup408 · May 18, 2009

depending on how the dealer is.. they might warranty it. ive worked on cars with 40000 and still used the 36k warranty....

LousCrew · May 18, 2009

depending on how the dealer is.. they might warranty it. ive worked on cars with 40000 and still used the 36k warranty....

the idea had crossed their minds to try the dealership; however, my dad is unsure if it is worth it. First, I don't think their dealer would do warranty work as it has already expired. Secondly, electrical problems can be such a pain. And more than likely, any work that gets done may get "logged"; therefore, possibly hurting trade-in value.

I was hoping some Saturn Vue owners would see this and pipe in that they had a similar problem. Me personally, I told them to get rid of it. It is such a weird problem, especially since it is intermittent. Probably just a short somewhere, but where?

Alljackedup408 · May 18, 2009

wouldnt have a clue.. never worked on one.. it could be in the millions of miles of wiring or any module. its a crap shoot and time taker really.

bill190 · May 19, 2009

Sometimes I've found the cause of problems like that to be something simple - a short between two connections somewhere. And when mixed with electronics, all sorts of weird things happen.

It appears the whole works has gone haywire! But it is a simple short. Once the short is removed, everything works as normal.

Other times it is an integrated circuit chip in an electronic module. In this case with automobiles, you would need to replace the entire electronic module.

The problem is in "finding" that simple short or broken electronic module. This can sometimes be found quickly. Other times it can take hours or even days to find.

With electronic modules, if you are a factory repair facility, you may have spares in the stockroom or spares from another vehicle which you can try "swapping" to see if the problem goes away or transfers to another vehicle (product). This is a very quick way to find which module has the trouble or to determine all modules are OK and there is a wiring problem somewhere. But you need to be a factory repair facility (dealer) to have access to these spare parts.

If you know electronics, you can do certain tests to narrow down the trouble. You would also need a factory electrical manual for this.

But if you don't know electronics, then probably best to take it to a dealer. They would have the tools (spares/factory wiring diagrams) to fix it more easily.