NHTSA Complaint #10102371 — 1997 SATURN S-SERIES SEDAN

OIL FOUND IN COOLANT IN MY 1997 SATURN SL IN SUMMER 2004 AFTER MINOR FRONT-END COLLISION. IN THE 2-3 MONTHS PRIOR TO COLLISION, I HAD TO ADD COOLANT EVERY 3-4 WEEKS, AS COOLANT LOW WARNING LIGHT WOULD COME ON. COOLANT HAD NORMAL APPEARANCE PRIOR TO ACCIDENT. CAR RAN FINE, TEMP GAUGE NEVER WENT ABOVE NORMAL. CAR HAD @ 78,000 MILES WHEN THIS BEGAN TO HAPPEN. ADVISED BY MECHANIC FRIEND THAT I HAD PROBABLY BEGUN TO DEVELOP A CRACKED HEAD BEFORE ACCIDENT, THIS WAS A COMMON OCCURRENCE IN SATURNS BUILT IN 90'S. THE COLLISION POSSIBLY WORSENED CONDITION. HE ADVISED THAT HEAD WOULD CERTAINLY NEED TO BE REPLACED, BUT CAR COULD POTENTIALLY RUN FOR SOME TIME BEFORE OVERHEATING PROBLEMS DEVELOPED-STATED I WOULD HAVE AN EXPENSIVE REPAIR, AND I COULD REPAIR NOW OR WAIT UNTIL I HAD TO REPLACE PART. HE ADVISED CAREFUL WATCHING OF GAUGE AND OIL IF I CHOSE TO WAIT. CAR RAN FINE FOR 6 FULL MONTHS AFTER OIL FIRST FOUND IN COOLANT, WITH FREQUENT OIL "TOP-OFFS" AND RELIGIOUS WATCHING OF TEMP GAUGE, WHICH NEVER WAVERED FROM NORMAL IN THOSE 6 MONTHS. ABSOLUTELY NO NOTICEABLE EFFECT ON CAR'S PERFORMANCE. IN LATE NOVEMBER CAR FINALLY OVERHEATED. THE CRACKED HEAD I KNEW I HAD 6 MONTHS AGO IS NOW BEING REPLACED. I AM FORTUNATE TO HAVE "FRIENDS IN THE BUSINESS," SO MY REPAIR WILL NOT BE AS EXPENSIVE AS THE FOLKS FORCED TO GO TO THE DEALERSHIP. I AM REPAIRING THIS CAR BECAUSE OTHER THAN THIS INCIDENT, THE ONLY MECHANICAL REPAIRS NEEDED HAVE BEEN A FEW MINOR REPLACEMENT CAMPAIGN PROGRAM ITEMS (HORN ISSUE AND STEERING ISSUE) TAKEN CARE OF FOR FREE BY THE DEALER AND ONE MINOR OIL LEAK FIXED UNDER WARRANTY. *JB