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1996 SL2 and Brown Sediment in Coolant

I have about 145,000 km on this boat. I took it in for routine work and Canadian Tire pulled me aside and said I had a leaking head gasket and to prove it they showed me flakes of brown sediment which allegedly came from my cooling system. The cost to repair would be around $1800.

Naturally, I wasn't about to go crazy and have it done before I did some research. I know that Saturn has a bad rep for bad head gaskets, and after searching and finding additives to stop leaks I've grown skeptical that it's a head gasket at all. From what I've read, a leaking head gasket will cause water to get into the cylinders, causing huge amounts of smoke/steam discharge at the tail pipe. I don't have this. Second, my oil would have a milkish look to it, and I've never noticed this. I'd also see a drop in engine output and engine overheating. I don't have this, although it is winter.

So it seems to me it could just be dirty coolant. I think I've had it flushed a long time ago.

So, any opinions?

Reply to
Father Mike
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I certainly wouldn't replace a head gasket based on that diagnosis.

The definitive check for a blown head gasket is a compression test. If it's more-or-less normal on all cylinders, your head gasket is fine.

I share your opinion that it's probably just dirty coolant.

Reply to
Doug Miller

If anyone does not have a maintenance log of some kind, ( I use a simple spreadsheet and enter ALL maintenance and other events and expenses) now would be a good time to start one. IMHO, you should know exactly when you last changed your coolant (mileage and date) as well as whether you refilled with standard (usually 2 year) or long life (usually 5 year) coolant. (Best to not mix coolant types or brands) I suspect that your coolant is now far past its best before date, and you have and are probably doing damage to your rad and coolant pump as well as contributing to deposits and corrosion damage to engine block and heater core.

The days of ignoring coolant age as long as the antifreeze level was OK ended with cast iron engines and copper radiators. Modern (especially heavy duty) engines fail more often from cooling system failure than lubrication failure.

Coolant is cheap and requires periodic change. It is easy to do yourself. I recommend (high phosphate) dishwasher detergent as a good flushing agent to clean your system before complete flushing with clean water and refill with long life coolant either premixed (expen$ive) or mixed with deionized (distilled) water usually available cheap (~$0.50/gal) from health food stores.

It is a lot easier (and cheaper) to use your maintenance log to plan required maintenance so you can do this job in warmer weather.

Good luck, YMMV

Reply to
Private

Yes, other people I've asked and whose knowledge I respect, are of the same opinion. Thanks for the reply.

Reply to
Father Mike

That's good advice about the maintenance log and something I've wanted to do, but it's still on my todo list. :) Guess it's kinda late for this car. But I do plan to flush the cooling system. Thanks for the reply.

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Reply to
Father Mike

OK, just out of curiosity about the 'father mike'... are you a priest or have children of your own? (or possibly both) Oppie

Reply to
Oppie

Never trust a Canadian Tire "mechanic". I had a similar experience about 10 years ago. While replacing my tires, a CT "mechanic" pulled me aside and told me that I need new struts and the parts+labour would come out to about 500 bucks. But he was nice enough to recommend a different shop to get it done cheaper (probably a buddy of his). I ignored his "advice" and I'm happy to say that I'm still driving on the same struts about 300,000 kms later.

Reply to
navaidstech

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