Saturn woes in Wisconsin

The 24K mile Saturn I bought in '21 on Cars and Bids and drove from CA to Milwaukee ended up being my daughter's daily driver and has been a great car with no major breakdowns - until this afternoon.  I'm out of town and the car is making nasty grinding noises from the engine front and spewing a "viscous liquid".  She knows enough not to open a hot radiator and will check it tomorrow morning, but she doesn't think it looks like coolant, so maybe it's not the water pump.  Best case is the AC compressor and maybe turning off the AC makes the car driveable?

Anyway, the reason I'm posting is I'm wondering where the hell do you take a thirty year old car for service?  Service has always been Dad's Garage and so we're both wondering where to go with it.  The obvious answer is a small independent, but how many would want to dig into an old Saturn?  Anyone have suggestions near beautiful Waukesha Wisconsin, or how to look for a reliable shop? 

Might be time to find her a driving appliance like a Corolla since I'm gone more than in town.

Gm power steering pumps can make odd grinding noises.  

Just giving this a bump in case anyone from our morning crowd has any input.

I have no knowledge of this place, but their website says they specialize in Saturns and ... they're in Waukesha!

https://www.hopsonautorepair.net/Waukesha-saturn-repairs.html
 

I agree with steering based on the description. I think it doesn't have a true radiator cap - just the pressurized overflow which should be very obvious to anyone that opens the hood. I would think any Indie shop will be fine. It's not really an odd car from a repair perspective. Anyone with access to Alldata or similar will have the repair info they need. 

In reply to Coniglio Rampante :

That's just a page that is generated when you search "Waukesha Saturn repairs"

They also specialize in Chryslers by that logic:
https://www.hopsonautorepair.net/Waukesha-chrysler-repairs.html

 

Any shop you would trust to work on other cars.  They are simple and very easy to work on.

prodarwin said:

Any shop you would trust to work on other cars.  They are simple and very easy to work on.

 

Agreed, pull into the local indy mechanic near her, and make sure they seem to have a good attitude.  Saturns are GM parts bin cars on a different chassis, overall, they're very simple machines.

I also agree that the PS are problematic on these.  It could be the AC, but normally those will lock up the clutch and then shred the compressor, siezing.  They won't (normally) dump sludgey fluid.     My vote is for PS.

You can have her pull the oil dipstick on the engine and see if it's glittery or grey/brown sludge, that'll help you remotely diagnose it.

@prodarwin - that's the problem, I haven't needed outside repairs done in a couple of decades and don't know who to trust.

She took the car to the nearest independent shop and they told her it was a water pump.  $466.  On one hand I'm happy that it's not the AC system, on the other this is a job that we could have done in the garage for fifty bucks in an afternoon but I'm gone until November.  Oh well.

In reply to jwagner (Forum Supporter) :

In this new world of $100 per hour shop rates, a $466 repair (including parts and fluids) is the new "going rate" and generally not a bad price.  

$300 seems to be the new repair shop "minimum".

In reply to Russian Warship, Go Berkeley Yourself :

Figures.  Thanks for pointing that out.

...

My wife had a Saturn a long time ago and I don't recall any serious engineering differences for the drivetrain and accessories under the skin between it and the similar GM offerings.  Maybe there wer some, but it seemed like basic GM stuff, nothing revolutionary or made from "unobtanium" so any decent Indy or GM shop should have sufficed.  
And I know, recommendations of such a shop is exactly what was requested.  (Sorry about my prior post/not realizing how the search function worked.)

So hopefully the problem has been resolved correctly for her.

Hi, daughter here! I was looking at the wrong thing and apparently adding "shipping" which I am pretty sure is the advanced auto parts literally in the same building, and tax. It came to $513. Labor was $150 an hour.

So definitely looking for suggestions for next time. Thanks!

Edit: I looked at the place Coniglio suggested and the reviews at least look good. I'll give them a try.

L & M Auto in North Prairie

@FSP, thanks, South Prairie is about 15 minutes away, so that's a good possibility.

I don't think there's anything magic about a '94  Saturn, I was mostly concerned about ready parts availability and the willingness of a shop to take on an "antique" car.  Although it's a California car, cars around here get to be a real pain to work on after a bunch of winter salt and nobody wants to deal with them.  Looks like she found one willing to fix it.  I wouldn't go near a dealer with this, my recent experiences are not exactly confidence inspiring.

Hi Nic, nice to have another GRM forum member on board.  ;-)

And since she's on the board now, I'll embarrass her with of couple of introductory pictures at TT Nats '18 with her racing dog and driving the mighty Exocet...

More fun with the Saturn...

The water pump was installed by a local shop, and when they did that the radiator cracked at the transmission cooler connection.  I'm not surprised or holding them responsible, it's a thirty year old plastic radiator.  The coolant leaked for a while and red lights went on.  She was driving it since then, topping off the coolant every time she used the car, keeping it going until I get home in a week from now to put in a new cheap radiator and hoping that it wasn't overheated.

Until yesterday.  Got a picture of the Saturn through the rear window of a tow truck.  The key wedged in the ignition.  Won't turn.  Asked perplexity.ai about it and damned if it didn't come up with TSB 95-T-20 that applied to a range of '94 serial numbers, ours included.  AI occasionally knocks it out of the park.  The cylinder needs to be drilled out since it can't be turned to ACC, which is where it can be released from the column.  Anyway, we're looking for a real auto locksmith, which should be easy but apparently most "locksmiths" are now just call center front ends that dispatch "partners".   I did find a new GM cylinder on ebay for $26.

Enough bitching, she's renting a car for a week and when I get back next week it will be time for a lock cylinder and radiator and hoses.  And a newer car.