I have a 2008 saturn aura xe 3.5 v 6 and i have been having a slow coolant leak that has just recently started. about every 3 days i have to put coolant in the resivor. there is coolant in the radiator its self just seems to be the coolant reserve tank that leaks. i looked at the cap and that seems to be fine no wear on that so i am wondering if this is a common problem
I bought a 2008 aura with 32k miles on it in 2013.. from a Honda dealer. the car looks new thought I was getting a great deal. Well I now think the former owner dumped it because of the over heating issue. looking for the problem I notice the radiator and reservoir have been replaced. I had the thermostat replaced and it was fine for the short drives my wife makes. I drove it to work this week (200 mile round trip) going up steep grades and it over heated. got to work and added a gallon + of antifreeze and kept letting air out of the reservoir as it circulated. I noticed a puddle of water from the tail pipe. Now I pretty sure it's the head gaskets although there is no water in the oil but the change oil soon is laminated. could mean the antifreeze contaminated the oil but the water portion has burned off with the excessive heat. what ever the case it is obvious to me considering the other post and other sites such as saturnlanda, the consumer is screwed do to a defect that GM is going to ignore.. I will probably resurface the heads and see what happens... It's not the radiator or the reservoir I can insure you of that!. but a slow leak into the exhaust manifold that's why you smell the antifreeze burn off and when the fluid level becomes low the heater is cold because the thermostat has no water to sense the water temp to open to flow to the heater core and the engine block. I now wonder as I am posting this if you were to add stop leak into the radiator if it would temporarily fix the problem.. maybe that's what they been doing under warranty.. No that me being paranoid, right!
Update!! I had the heads resurfaced and the head gaskets replaced at a GM dealer in Febuary 2014. No proplems now, called GM customer service and they paid all but $900 of the bill.
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I have done two of these cars in the past year. Both came in with self diagnosis of bad head gaskets. However, one had just low coolant and the other had a bad reservoir. I replaced the reservoir on both cars because I like the car to look clean when I am done, and that first car needed a coolant flush and service. I replaced the radiator and thermostat as well on the first car. The guy was so happy that his car was fixed he gave me an additional $800.00 tip over the service and repair costs i normally charge just because I saved him a head gasket repair. He figured that since he was prepared to spend so much on the head gasket and didnt have to, he just gave me a nice tip.
So even though your car is newer, I have seen parts on these cars fail. Mostly I believe is because the cars run so hot in the first place, but I'm no engineer and thats just my guess. You will have to go to the dealership to get a new reservoir and I would suggest getting a new cap just to have a new one on your car since the old reservoir broke already, the cap may go next if not replaced. Just a suggestion.
It's the gasket were the cross over pipe meets the engine. Just had it fixed. Gm is aware this is happening with a lot of these vehicles but won't recall. Mind was first the reservoir, then the pump this time gasket. Contact the us dept of transportation, the more the better, maybe something will happen. Carman
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Access to change the headlamp bulbs is through the wheel well. The recommended method is to remove the front tire and then the plastic inner fender liner. Once removed, you'll have easy (more or less) access to the rear of the headlamp housing.
SOURCE: How to replace coolant tank on Saturn SL2
The antifreeze tank is held on by I believe two bolts on the side. It's pretty easy to remove,
Just unbolt, remove hose and do the reverse with your new one.
As far as a replacement, I'd junkyard or ebay one. Lot cheaper, quicker, and easier than trying to get an aftermarket one and modifying to fit.
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According to other forums I checked, the word is that the fuel filter is in the fuel tank and does not need to be replaced. I would simply call a Saturn Dealer service department and confirm that this is true.
SOURCE: Saturn has been going through coolant very fast. Leak? radiator?
1. Obviously there is major leak in the cooling system and you will need to rectify this before you cook your engine.
2. The radiator, all coolant hoses and hose connections need to be checked including the heater hoses. If you cannot locate the source of the leak yourself you will need to take it to a mechanic to check. He will pressure test the system.
Hopefully it is just a perished hose that is letting coolant escape and if so this will not be expensive to fix.
If the radiator has a leak, which is common in older vehicles, you will have to invest in a replacement unit.
If all flexible hoses on the cooling system are old you should, in any event, replace all of them as preventative maintenance.
3. The worst problem you could have is a faulty head gasket which is allowing coolant to escape under pressure into the engine cavities including the cylinders. Check your oil on the dip stick and if you can see a whitish substance in the oil you have coolant leakage. This will be expensive to fix as the head on the engine will need to be removed.
4. You should not be driving the car whilst it is losing coolant so quickly as you are risking very expensive engine damage from overheating.
SOURCE: 2003 saturn ion adding antifreeze every 2 weeks cannot find leak
There should be a radiator cap as it controls what goes into the overfill tank. You might consider replacing it. If there are no leaks in the radiator or hoses, there are only 3 places the coolant can go (water pump leak, blown gasket, or out throught the radiator cap). Hope its the cap because that's the cheapest. Good luck!
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I just had mind fixed and in 2011 it was the reservoir, in 2012 it was the pump, and in 2013 it's the gasket wear the crossover pipe meets the engine, I am currently trying to contact the us dept of transportation, because a number of people are having this problem and gm will not do anything about it, not even reimburse me. Anyone with this problem should contact the us dept of transportation maybe enough complaints will make gm take care of this problem. No more gm cars for me.
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