jwagner (Forum Supporter)
jwagner (Forum Supporter) HalfDork
9/18/24 12:23 a.m.

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.

Fueled by Caffeine
Fueled by Caffeine MegaDork
9/18/24 8:00 a.m.

Gm power steering pumps can make odd grinding noises.  

Colin Wood
Colin Wood Associate Editor
9/18/24 9:28 a.m.

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

Coniglio Rampante
Coniglio Rampante Reader
9/18/24 9:39 a.m.

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
 

glueguy (Forum Supporter)
glueguy (Forum Supporter) SuperDork
9/18/24 10:54 a.m.

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. 

Russian Warship, Go Berkeley Yourself
Russian Warship, Go Berkeley Yourself PowerDork
9/18/24 10:57 a.m.

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

 

prodarwin
prodarwin MegaDork
9/18/24 10:58 a.m.

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

 

WonkoTheSane
WonkoTheSane UltraDork
9/18/24 11:06 a.m.
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.

jwagner (Forum Supporter)
jwagner (Forum Supporter) HalfDork
9/18/24 11:11 a.m.

@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.

John Welsh
John Welsh Mod Squad
9/18/24 11:38 a.m.

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".

Coniglio Rampante
Coniglio Rampante Reader
9/18/24 12:10 p.m.

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.

gltgphone
gltgphone New Reader
9/18/24 12:20 p.m.

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.

FSP_ZX2
FSP_ZX2 SuperDork
9/18/24 1:36 p.m.
jwagner (Forum Supporter)
jwagner (Forum Supporter) HalfDork
9/18/24 5:20 p.m.

@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.  ;-)

jwagner (Forum Supporter)
jwagner (Forum Supporter) HalfDork
9/18/24 5:30 p.m.

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...

 

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