Hi everybody!
I''m a newbie here and have searched around this forum without posting until now. I''m really about to give up on this problem. NO ONE can figure it out, including the Saturn dealership.


I have a 2002 Saturn L300. A few weeks back, I had the pipes to the heater core replaced (it was dripping antifreezeinto the passenger floor..yuck!). They also did aflush and replaced thecoolant. And of course they pressure checked it then. After that, I took the car on a 100 miles trip, nothing happened, then did another 100 mile trip, and when I drove into my parking spot, antifreeze came pouring out of the car. Ever since then, every time I drive the car enough to get it really warm, when I park it and turn it off, antifreeze comes pouring out of the overflow tube on the reservoir tank. It only happens when the car is warm, and it only happensonce the car is turned off.


The real kicker is that when it first happened, I didn''t feel comfortable going back to the Saturn shop, since I knew there was a coolant problem and I didn''t want to drive it on the highway (45 miles). So I took it to the GM shop here in town. They pressure testedthe systemand couldn''t find a problem. They checked for exhaust in the reservoir tank and didn''t find a problem. They checked the water pump, and didn''t find a problem. They did replicate the antifreeze overflow a few times. Then, I said to just put on a new cap for the reservoir tank in case that was all it needed. It didn''t solve the problem either. So the next morning, I drove to the Saturn shop. After an hour on the highway, I pulled into the shop, told the mechanic to come out and watch when I turned it off, and of course, it didn''t overflow (for once!). I left it with them the rest of the day, and they tested everything...the pressure of the coolant system, the compression, all of the cylinders are perfect, and the head gasket isgreat. They really tested it all...and then drove it and tried to make it happen again, and they said that 5 times the tried to replicate the overflow and never saw it do anything! I drove the car back home (another 45 miles) and it didn''t happen when I got home. So I thought maybe it was really just having the stomach flu, and it was better now
But today, I drove a bit around town, and it happened again. So it kind of seems like when I drive on the highway, for a long distance, it doesn''t happen. But around town doing errands, it will puke out a good liter of antifreeze when I turn the car off.
So, all the mechanics are at a loss as to what it could be. And I have to say, I''m about to give up too! What else is there that could be the problem. And it could it be somehow related to that initial work I had done on the heater core pipes / flush of the sytem?

Any advice would be appreciated...I''''m willing to try ANYTHING!

~earthquakes


PS. They also tested the temperature sensor I think...and I should mention that the car never overheats... the temp is always normalEdited by: earthquakes

 

well it must be a leak. Somehow there is pressure leaking into the coolant system and causing it to bubble over and spill out because its releiving the pressure. Since they couldnt find a real leak in piping i would assume its a gasket for something.

Also i know this is stupid sounding and i would think a mechanic would have already thought of this...but try replacing the radiator cap

 

I did replace the cap. There isn''t a cap on the radiator...just on the reservoir tank.

Since the last post, I talked to the mechanic and they thought it was still just air bubbles. I did more running it with the cap off... not sure if that really solved the problem, but the overflow didn''t happen for two days...so I''m just crossing my fingers now


Thanks for your response.


~eq