The S-Series was part of a family of compact cars from the Saturn automobile company. This was the first series of Saturn vehicles. Essentially if you are looking for engines for sale for the first generation SL and which were made from model year 1991 to 1995, there are plenty of them in several forms.
Rebuilt engines with the proper updates are the most desirable engines and are quite affordable. Though, used engines for sale are not as abundant anymore, the best suppliers of engines for sale know where to locate a second hand engine.
The SL1 trim level featured a SOHC 1.9 L I4 LK0 engine that was rated at 85 hp, which was upgraded to the 100 hp L24 engine for the 1995 model year.
The straight-4 or inline-4 engine is a four cylinder internal combustion engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be arranged in either a straight up or or an slanted design. Where it is inclined, it is sometimes called a slant-4.
The straight-4 layout is the simplest design which is in perfect primary balance:
Primary balance is the balance achieved by compensating for the eccentricities of the masses in the rotating system, including the connecting rods. Simply put, Primary balance is controlled by adding or removing mass to or from the crankshaft, typically at each end, at the required radius and angle, which varies due to design and manufacturing tolerances. (tires are primary balanced with weights place opposite the lighter in weight side).. In theory any conventional engine design can be balanced perfectly for primary balance.
Primary balance adds a degree to the mechanical simplicity which makes it popular for economy cars. However, despite its simplicity, it suffers from a secondary imbalance which causes minor vibrations in smaller engines. These vibrations become worse as engine size and power increase, so the more powerful engines used in larger cars generally are more complex designs with more than 4 cylinders.
One very popular vibration related question we field is why does this car have such a “heavy vibration” at an idle. We were be asked if it was the motor mounts, or the engine itself. We were even asked if it was a transmission problem.. The question of vibration is answered above. Which indicates that there is nothing that can eliminate the bad vibes. Perhaps new engine mounts will give you some relief.
With the high technology used now, it is possible to lower the vibration level during the process of rebuilding the engine with the more precise balancing techniques. The design dictates you can not eliminate all of it. Chances are it has vibrated from the beginning. Often people get used to the vibrations and small inadequacies until a problem occurs.
I call this phenom, when a consumer spends a bunch of money on an engine for sale, a ‘heightened sense of alertness‘, meaning people pay now more attention to their car. It is quite common to develop a new sense of awareness to your car when you spend the type of money necessary to buy an engine for sale.
One more thing to mention about the SL1 engine on our GotEngines.com blog, the engine has a sensor built into it that detects engine oil level. If the oil level drops, the engine shuts off. It won’t run until you refill it with oil. Probably prevented many engine failures, which is why there is an abundance of SL1 engines for sale..
[...] to 1995. The particular engine in your car is an SL-1 series sohc engine. I did an article on a the SL1 Saturn engines which may interest you. The test you mention is a balance test to make sure the compression is [...]