1999 Saturn SL from North America - Comments

Hell yeah! Been looking for a part like this for my 01 SL2 for almost a year. Been using high quality zip ties, but they only last so long. Did anyone else tell the guy behind the Saturn counter to go screw himself when he said it would cost $412?

Josh the Happy

Thanks for the info, as I was researching, I came across the site on ebay, well worth the wait to get that part, I would not pay $200 for an entire cable to fix a $5 part,

Saturn, you need to listen to your customer base on this one, great little cars but things like this give us all a bad taste.

My son just had the same problem with a 96 SL2 I gave him. The car has just over 100,000 miles on it. I fixed it before I knew there was a replacement bushing. I went to the local hardware store and bought a 8-24 half inch allen head screw and a few washers including a large fender washer. I drilled a hole into the round ball right in the center, there is a dimple there so it was easy to start drilling. I tapped the hole with a 8-24 tap, put a little thread locker on the screw. Put it all together and was good to go. I posted a video on You-Tube showing how I did it, just search key word "Saturn Linkage Repair", the video should come up.

Just finished replacing the bushing on the shifter linkage on my daughter's '99 SL2. It broke today, and in less than 4 hours - including internet searching and the drive to NAPA for the part# listed earlier in this post - she's back on the road.

Having used the NAPA part ($20), I strongly recommend using zip ties as a temp fix and going with either the stainless steel (about $32) or Delrin part (about $18) available on eBay instead.

The NAPA part looks like the original, and has flimsy plastic flanges that bent backwards several times as I tried to snap the bushing through the cable end. Very frustrating, but at least I didn't break any flanges in the process. The part design made the job more taxing than it should have been - especially when working in such a cramped space.

Hey, I'm glad NAPA carries the part, and that it was in stock, but hope my experience can provide someone with the hindsight I wish I had earlier today. In addition to being more durable, I can tell just by looking that the stainless steel or Delrin part would install much more easily.

I appreciate all the helpful posts on this topic. I'm handy, but not much of a wrencher, and wouldn't have had a clue what to do without your help.

What did we do before we had the internet?

Peace.

Bill 07/25/09.

Well I got screwed. I had to get my car towed in for this problem to an independent shop. I got taken for a ride, and over $400 later, they "fixed" the part. They replaced the whole shift assembly, when obviously this was the only problem!!!

OH well, my mistake, and now having found this website, could have saved me a ton of money.

DON'T TAKE YOUR CAR INTO A SHOP IF YOU CAN HELP IT. This is an easy fix with the part.

I will try to get my old part fixed and sell it to recoup some of the money...

My 99 Saturn SL cable linkage bushing broke on me in the Wal-mart parking lot on a Friday night. I was scared because I was in a bad part of town. Thank goodness for boyfriends with mechanical experience. A few zip ties and an hour drive later my car was home. I have been searching for a replacement, and will try some of the options given in this forum. Saturn wants me to buy a $200 part for a $5 fix, NO WAY!! This is insane how Saturn has used a crappy plastic piece for such an important part in shifting. If I had been on the interstate, I would not have a car.