Yesterday night I was driving my 2002 SL2 (35K miles, just out of
warranty) home and noticed the temp gauge pegged in the red. Yikes!!!
The fan was running and the engine was running smoothly, so I figured
thermostat, I was almost home anyway...

I let it cool off overnight, in the morning the coolant level was right
where it should be, no sign of leaks or overflow, and plenty of coolant
in the lower hose.

Started the motor, and cold it immediately jumped to 3/4 temp, then as the
motor warmed up it crept into the red.

Called the oh-so-helpful Saturn dealer (who had already replaced the BCM
and engine coolant temperature sensor this year) - they couldn't look at
it for several days, so I took it to a local shop.

Local shop thought it was a sensor associated with the gauge, they ordered
one. Went to pick it up this afternoon, they said all the sensors were
fine, that the temp was right around 190, the BCM was sending 190, but the
gauge refused to read the right temp. As the instrument cluster is a
single board, their diagnosis was that the gauge was bad on the cluster.
And that only the dealer could provide a new cluster, probably for about
$1.2K. Yikes!!! The rest of the instrument panel was tested and is fine.

Needless to say I was not happy, even less happy was my wife (who drives a
just-out-of-warranty 2001 LW300 when it's not in the shop).

Called the dealer, no help there, they said that they'd never seen a gauge
fail, but they'd be glad to rediagnose it for another $100 or so before
replacing the cluster for $500 plus labor plus tax. No help offered,
despite the low mileage.

So I'm weighing my options. Even if I liked the dealer, they wouldn't be
getting a grand from me for a gauge!

Used clusters seem to be not much, at least from what I see on eBay, so
next stop may be my local junkyard. Failing that, perhaps a stand-alone
gauge?

OD




--
Orin Day | Women's Basketball Photos at http://www.dwhoops.com
lobster @ |
lobsterdevil | no quote today
.com |