I just took our '00 Saturn wagon in to my local mechanic, 'add coolant' light was on, a little antifreeze on the garage floor. He put it up on the hoist & said looks like it's leaking out of the head gasket. -- He put some stop-leak liquid in, for a temporary fix. Has anyone on this NG replaced a head gasket on one of these? The car only has 44K on it, so I don't want to lay out a lot of $$in labor to let someone else do it, but I'd never torn down the engine on one of these....
Terry
If it were me I would first try Saturn to see if they will pay a share for the repair.
"Terry" typed until their fingers bled, and came up with:
It isn't too bad of a job. takes me about 8 hours to do in my driveway.
Well I wish you were my neighbor, I'd have you help me do it! I have a garage and tools, but I'm used to working on muscle cars, I've never did engine work on a 4 cylinder--
Terry
I might just try that...I'm the second owner, so I have no warranty info whatsoever...but any help that I'd get from Saturn would be great...
Terry
"Terry" typed until their fingers bled, and came up with:
If you're anywhere near St. Louis, I'd be glad to help.
just think of it as working on 1/2 of a V-8.
Hint: don't use much muscle! ;-)
If it were me i'd first try re-torquing the head bolts and see it that stops the leak. Pull them out one-at-a time and clean & oil them to pull the gasket tight.
I might re-torque the head bolts, I did take the car to a mechanic I know, he put in some stop-leak, said if the leak was real small that might stop it. They then pressure-tested it and it seems okay...I've put almost 1K on it since, so far so good---
Yes I would follow my mechanic's advice before trying some backyard re-torquing... Does it seem wierd that this would happen with only 45K on the car??
well i have a 94 saturn sl, I was told that I can just replace the gasket seal, the seal cost about $22. anyone no any thing else different i can do.
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