Manual transmission problems with 2001 saturn SC-2

I have a 2001 Saturn SC-2 I purchased new. It has 84000 miles on it.
Two weeks ago I discovered a leak coming from the the differential were
the axle connects. I assumed it was the differential oil seal. I took
it to a mechanic to get it fixed. They replaced the seal but it still
leaked. They called several transmission shops in the area and they
told them it was probable a hole in the bell housing next to the
differential. They pulled the transmission and did discover a hole were
a gear had worn thru the housing. I was floored! I had never heard of
anything like this happening. My mechanic sad that the transmission
shops said the the gear in the differential is able to slide a little
and it just slowly wears thru the housing. I call 5 transmission shop
and every single one of them had come across the same problem. I called
Saturn customer service up sense this is oviously a design fault on
their part. All I ask for was to have the Bell housing replaced and the
differential gear to be repaired. The car only had 84000 miles on it
and this should not have happened. Saturn customer service was very
polite when they told me what I could go do with myself! I will never
buy another GM produced ever! They said that they only warrenty the
transmission for 36000 mile and thats it. Even KIA seems to have better
faith in there produces than Saturn & GM do in theirs. Could this be
why GM is loosing so much market share? Has anyone else had this
problem?

P.S. I have pictures of the transmission if anyone would like to see
them.

 

Oh yeah one issue with a make that doesnt share a single part with
anything else in the fleet causes me to stop buying everything they make
too. Hence why I dont buy anything anymore...

It has nothing to do with better faith. You over pay for a cheaply made
car and they wont mind keeping you're butt covered for a long time with
cheaply made parts. Besides that warranty isnt all its made out to be.
If you feel a car company should hold your hand for 10 years then you
shouldnt be driving...

Sure upload them to photobucket.com

 

My condolences on your loss.

By my humble experience you should have changed your transmission fluid
twice or more. Was this done? Do you normally drive in a "spirited"
manner, with shift points regularly above 3000 rpm? or do you use aggressive
downshifting at high rpm for increased engine braking? How is your clutch?
Do you EVER allow one wheel to spin when trying to get unstuck in the snow?

The search for fuel economy has resulted in all components being made
lighter and lighter. Transmissions in both cars and especially light trucks
have seen vastly increased failure rates as a result.

I would normally suggest that you consider welding your case but I have
trouble with the concept that gears could contact the case without first
wearing away a lot of steel. If it was the differential cross shaft that
failed then the transmission internals may still be serviceable.but may
require rebuilding all the trust washers in the tranny and since (in my
uninformed opinion) these transmissions are not really designed to be
rebuildable it may be cheaper to price a new (find a friend or shop that can
buy wholesale) or find a used tranny. If buying used I would suggest you
pick one that does NOT come from either a SC or a twin cam.

There are few guarantees in life and those that are claimed almost always
have exclusions that apply to you. The basic warranty is to cover infant
mortality and poor quality control and does not claim to provide lifetime
protection. I am not suggesting that 84000 mi is satisfactory service life
but sh_t and bad luck are both facts of life.

 

i have a 94 wagon that the gas pedel went under the brake causing me to
crash and saturn says they have been testing this scenario at the plant
all day and it is impossible due to the pedel sizes- they will be able
to get me those pedel sizes by Wed. next week-apparently no rulers at
the plant.