1998 Saturn Overheat Problems

We had a 1998 Saturn SL with a 1.9 Liter engine come into the shop this week and had some trouble diagnosing its overheat condition. At idle the car seemed fine, but as soon as we increased the RPMs it overheated creating at "grumbling" noise coming from the front of the engine (this was the coolant boiling and creating pressure against the top of the coolant reservoir). This was a particularly tricky issue to diagnose because the coolant seemed to be flowing as if the water pump was working. We replaced the thermostat and reservoir cap to correct the issue, but the car continued to overheat. It was not until we removed the water pump from engine that we discovered a sizable crack running across the impeller. This particular water pump is susceptible to this kind of wear.

Blog back in business!

If you've had the extrodinary pleasure of visiting our blog over the past couple of years, you may have noticed something wonderful and fantastic...that I never post anything! Luckily, I've had an epiphany: I can carve out some time to answer questions and post some thoughts and even promote this blog; and still run Lube and Latte. As a matter of fact, as soon as I stop wringing my hands over every little detail at the shop, I can relax with a nice latte and do a little writing. Maybe these words will find their way to you and help you out of a jam with your car. I can only hope!