coolant line?

[J Swain]

Hi,

I have a 2001 LW300 with >140K miles and recently the coolant level was
low enough to turn on the warning light. I was due for LOF anyway, so I
brought it in to the dealer to have it checked. They told me that
during a pressure test on the system the tech noticed a leak in the
engine cooling line. They put in the sealant tabs on the chance that it
would work, but if it doesn't, they say that the cooling line is >$500
and the labor is ~$500, so it's a $1050 to fix. Can anyone decribe what
the cooling line is that would justify it being so expensive? Most of
the time the repair parts for Saturn are reasonable when compared with
other cars, but this seems high....

Thanks,
Janet

 

[Philip Nasadowski]

They put in the sealant tabs on the chance that it
would work, but if it doesn't, they say that the cooling line is >$500
and the labor is ~$500, so it's a $1050 to fix.
(!)

Can anyone decribe what
the cooling line is that would justify it being so expensive?

Either the dealer's behind on boat payments, or it somehow involves some
magical Saturn part (Go figure, some of the pigtails for the electric
system are $30), or it's one of those parts located in a stupid spot
because the bean counters at GM won the 'how often will this break that
it needs to have easy access???' argument with engineering. I had a
wagon like that - you had to drop the fucking engine to change the power
steering rack. Naturally, the PS rack design was flawed so it broke
about 10,000 out of warranty...

Whatever the heck is a sealant tab, anyway?

In any case, I'm guessing this is just a leaky hose. If so, find a
better dealer, buy the hose, swap yourself. Cost you under 100, and you
can flush out the Dexcrud and put real antifreeze in there

 

[Blah blah]

2001 LW300
Which engine? 2.2 or 3.0?

Either the dealer's behind on boat payments, or it somehow involves some
magical Saturn part (Go figure, some of the pigtails for the electric
system are $30), or it's one of those parts located in a stupid spot
because the bean counters at GM won the 'how often will this break that
it needs to have easy access???' argument with engineering. I had a
wagon like that - you had to drop the fucking engine to change the power
steering rack. Naturally, the PS rack design was flawed so it broke
about 10,000 out of warranty...

Whatever the heck is a sealant tab, anyway?

Mostly made of walnut husk or ginger root. They've been used for
decades. They fill in holes and harden when exposed to air. Dealers way
of fixing things without fixing things. Its often why dexcool looks so
bad. Good coolant, poor gaskets. They throw that in weather you know it
or not and turns your system to slush and clogs your heater core because
air is in or still getting in the system.

In any case, I'm guessing this is just a leaky hose. If so, find a
better dealer, buy the hose, swap yourself. Cost you under 100, and you
can flush out the Dex<snip> and put real antifreeze in there

I doubt its a rubber hose, sealant tabs wont work there. Its probably a
3.0l engine with an aluminum pipe routed around everything acting as a
bypass, throttle body heater, or something. Dexcool is not the source of
his problem! Conventional coolant if not changed every year will just
eat up all the aluminum parts and then they will have a lot more leaks
to play with. Have fun with that switch.

 

[Philip Nasadowski]

Dexcool is not the source of his problem!

Yeah, but it's been the source of plenty. There's already class actions
being revved up, and the whole industry argues left and right about how
good / bad / ugly Dexcrap is. Try googling for the stuff some day. If
it's so great, why are so many having big problems with it?

 

[Blah blah]

Yeah, but it's been the source of plenty. There's already class actions
being revved up, and the whole industry argues left and right about how
good / bad / ugly Dexcrap is. Try googling for the stuff some day. If
it's so great, why are so many having big problems with it?

Yippie google searches, find anything and everything bad about the
world. Welcome to the internet where anyone can be a news reporter or an
expert... Look how far those people have gotten with those home made
webpages. Look at their background. Ever hear bad news travels fast? It
travels real fast through the mouths of automotive-ignorant people with
personal vendetta's. I dont get automotive advice from bigoted tripod
pages. If one was to look at actual root causes such as leaks, poor
mantinance, poor shop service, etc etc then the blaim would no longer
fall on dexcool. The systems I maintain have never fallen into the state
those poor souls have allowed their systems to fall into. All my systems
have "always" looked like fruit punch, not mult shakes. The ones that
look bad have got or had leaks at some point and werent kept filled or
had the air worked out of them.
I've had 100% success fixing the leaks in those trouble systems, doing
some mild flushing, and refilling them with dexcool. They go the entire
life cycle of the coolant without problems. No stopleak added either. I
hate symptom fixing.

 

[J Swain]

Whatever the heck is a sealant tab, anyway?

In any case, I'm guessing this is just a leaky hose. If so, find a
better dealer, buy the hose, swap yourself. Cost you under 100, and you
can flush out the Dexcrud and put real antifreeze in there

They called them tabs....it's the chemical tablets that they use to try
to stop the leak internally.
I have had a Saturn since 1997 and have had all my work done at this
one, with postive results for the most part.
I may have another Saturn dealership give me a second opinion....

Thanks