1998 Saturn SL1 Coolant Leak/Bad Piston Sleeve

Hello:

My son's Saturn was losing antifreeze and I was afraid it was going
into the engine oil. A trip to the local GM dealer (nearest Saturn
dealer is 240 miles and I didn't want to drive it this far) revealed
coolant in the oil.

They thought it was a head gasket so they replaced it but it is still
leaking into the oil. They now think it is a piston sleeve and are
working up an estimate. This engine has 45K on it.

Can a leaky sleeve be fixed or will it need a new engine? And is it
unreal for me to expect Saturn to cover part of this expense? An
engine with this few of miles on it should not have this kind of
problem. And what is the best way to contact Saturn to discuss this
problem?

Thanks for your help. You can email me directly at:

dvoeltz!@!pie!.!midco!.!net (remove the !'s from the email address)

Dave in Pierre, SD

 

Hi, Dave,
When I had the infamous engine head problem, my dealer's service manager
referred me to Saturn Customer Service in Spring Hill, Tennessee
(http://www.saturn.com/saturn/contactus/index.jsp?nav=7000). From what I
understand, my service manager confirmed with them that I had maintained my
Saturn (it was not a neglect problem) so they agreed to cover the cost of
parts (about $1000 retail).
Hope that helps!
Steve T