What's your problem?2004 saturn ion..won't start when it's extremely cold out, sometimes it just hums, sometimes it tries to start. Tried a new starter, tuneup, battery, first real cold da

SOURCE: saturn ion,sometimes wont start

The problem is in the ignition - the grease gets thick in the cold and doent turn quite right the first time. everything turns on, but the anti theft system thinks you have the wrong key so shuts off pwer to the starter. it takes 8-10 mintues to reset. That is why it normally starts when you come back later. I have had the same problem and done tons of reseach. Right now my temp solution has been a small heater and an extention cord. I keep it plugged in over night on a medium setting - just enough to keep the inside temp above freezing. I am also researching remote starts because saturn dealership charges $250 to replace the ignition, and a remote start will run about $300. Saturn wont do a recall because they feel it is not a safety hazard. I say that is bull. Good luck!

SOURCE: saturn ion,sometimes wont start

There is a guide on this site that tells you how to fix the passlock problem

http://moontaj.com/passlock

SOURCE: Car will not start when cold on first try

its the passlock system. The passlock wire is tiny and fragile, and gets disrupted causing your car to think you are trying to steal it everytime you put your key in.

now you can search for this video on youtube, this is where i learned and ever since i did this i have had NO problem with my car starting for the past 5 months.

you need wire nuts, wire cutters, electrical tape, n socket wrench to take apart steering column

first, go to your fuses, find the airbag fuse and remove it just incase you snip the wrong wire. what you do is look below your steering wheel and take your steering column apart. there are a serious of wires electrical taped together that are plugged in. you peel all the electrical tape back exposing the wires, and you find the WHITE wire. its all white, no other color. This wire is for your Passlock system.... this is the wire that got faulty and is causing the car not to start. now what you do from here is kinda tricky, not too bad though.

Seclude the white wire from the rest, so that you are ready to make your cut. Now, what you do is start your car, leave it running, and while its running you cut the white wire in half. then after cutting the wire, turn your car off, and then turn it back on. it should start right up. Then just put wire nuts on the two ends, and electrical tape them back together

The point of doing this is, one is disables the passlock system completely, and two the reason why you do this while the car is running is because snipping the wire with the car running makes the car think that it got into an accident or something, and puts the BCM/car into a "Fail-safe" mode, making it start every single time no matter what.

i thought this sounded insane at first, but after searching for a couple of hours its the only answer that made sense. and now i am the happiest camper in the world as far as it starting

SOURCE: starting problem for 03 saturn ion when engine is warm

replace the ign switch. the key has nothing to do with it.