I finally found where the coolant was going and stopped by O'Reilys and picked up a new radiator. And got my Mitchels book out to follow the instructions on installing it. I have owned that car, a 94 SC2 now since Valerie bought it in 1996 and it has been a real favorite when it comes down to it. Changing the radiator is not a difficult job but as the car is actually rather small and it undertakes to house the cooling system, the fwd, the retracting head lights, the A/C and other stuff all up front, the air cleaner and plumbing it is both fascinating how well the parts are integrated in the final assembly and how they interface and match up with the function and actually are not hard to get to along with having to get the car up in the air, you see things not normally looked at. It is a bottom breather the grill is a dummy, all the air for cooling the engine comes from the bottom of the car. A lot of plastic is used, but parts fit together and/or interlock for multiple function with maybe one fastner used to hold things together. Yes there is a sequence that must be followed but there is also a manual that must be read to understand it. It acually went well. Surprise, the made in China replacement radiator was an exact copy of the oem design, and it fit just as well. Some of the plastic part tolerances were a bit off or due to age, the plastic stiffend up some so mounting the press here to insert components required removal, generally one step from the end so I got good at diss-assembly and re-assembly a couple of times. I had to file a little clearance or bevel a sharp edge but when done, everything slipped together and fit as it should. And while up in the air again I looked at the front suspension. The lower control arm is much like an early AMC or Ford Pinto with a single arm and a pivot point with a strut rod to stabalize it.
But Saturn did it different and it is so cool the way it was done, the front roll bar, a big beefy thing also acts as the other part of the V a control arm uses so it makes up the rest of the control arm. The roll bar serves dual function also as part of the control arm. The S series Saturn has been a favorite of mine since Valerie bought hers and I became the maintanence person for it. So man things are well designed. When repairs were needed, the repair has always been logical. I can put brakes on a wheel in about 20 min per wheel starting from scratch.
It's main selling point, an advantage if you live with rust, the plastic pieces is it's biggest detrement here in the heat and the UV, there are parts of the car I am afraid to touch due to plastic breakage. But then again I don't think they intended the car to be functional as long as I have kept this one up. 22 years and still counting. I still have the odometer to fix when I get the guts to pull the dash board with out breakage and a new motor in the passenger side window. And I am going to have to deal with the moon roof and then repaint it again. But it is a neat toy and it is Valeries car and untill she desides to do something else with it, I'll keep it up for her.
Happy New Year!
And hopefully I will get a computer soon, this "Note Pad" kluge set up works better than nothing but just barely.

 

Good to hear from you, Unc. I hope all is well on the home front with Valerie. Derf and I were starting to get concerned, as he called me and wanted to know if I'd been in touch with you. He wants to help you with the computer, so if possible, get in touch with him via PM or call him.

 

Glad you got it fixed and it wasn't horrible. With a car this small, doing stuff can be tough, but even DH hasn't come in cussing ours (yet). I still think it's pretty cool that these little 4-poppers have such a long life span - of course maintaining them is crucial - and we're planning to get a lot of years out of our '95.

Wishing you and yours a Happy New Year for 2015.

 

My computer being down has been a source of frustration, but by the end of next week things should be resolved. There were a number of objectives needed to be met to continue using things. Microsoft is like the government with the health insurance. It does not care what the problems or needs are, just that it's solution is used. Phoo!

This week has been good on top of finally looking like I'll get something running again. I am at the present using a borrowed note pad which does not seem to be working well at all, but given enough lattitude, I seem to get places eventually. I am not thrilled with the technology and this one works balky at best.
The radiator change out went well on the Saturn. Apparently where the transmission lines went in it developed some small leak that for some period of time caused the low water indicator to periodically go on and it was low on water, but had no idea why. It was not leaking enough to be evident and as the 94 is a bottom breather, there is no direct access to the radiator to see what is going on. It was only when it got bigger that I saw what was happening. Everything disassembled and laid out on the work bench, the mounting hardware cleaned up by running through a vibratory parts cleaner along with scrubbing the plastic and insuring things went back together correctly it all worked. The fan runs as it should and no leaks. This car had a partially plugged catalytic converter a number of years ago causing the engine to run hot until I figured out what was going on. Not immedietly in fact it took quite a long drive on a hot day here (equal to or over 100 degrees) before it became and issue and I discovered what as going on. I think at the present the thermostat is in a frozen open failure mode the way it acts. For the most part is a non-issue so I think I will just ignore it for the time being. I need to prep it for a re-paint before I worry about that.
But it is nice to know that that there is not heating issue any longer. Need to check to see why windshield wipers do not work, but suspect corroded contacts on the switch on the stalk, and maybe a little wiggling will take care of it. I know the Fan works, and the AC is cold and the heater and headlights work, the radio plays my favorite country music and I can get satelight radio installed if I was driving it more. I also need to take a good look at the controls for the moon roof and see if I can get a new rubber gasket for the sealing of it if I am going to repaint the car again.
Why do I do those things for a now 20 year old car? I dunno, I like the thing. I drives out well and is a happy camper and it is a coupe. That means 2 not 4 doors. I also have the parts to fix the passenger side window motor and the odometer.
Along with that I verified the Mercury Marine motor that I converted to automotive use and mimicked if you will a 350 Corvette equivelent and installed in my Hornet with World heads, and air gap intake, an 800 CFM Carter Thermoquad, Iskenderian 270/280 cam, Corvette Ram Horn Exhaust manifolds and a 700R4 is going to tune out exactly the way I wanted it to, and the next stage is a trip to the muffler shop for new exhaust system.
It still needs some interior detailing and some body work detailing in prep for paint and I think I will install a trailer hitch on it.
I am very pleased the way the motor is turning out, it was a bit out side of my comfort zone and it has come out meeting the goals I set for it. I think I will even get to have it smog certified which would be to my benefit if I could.

Trying to get this note pad to do what I want it to do is a pain in the butt. but it beats having nothing.
I'll be in touch later and have a happy New Year and remember!!! It is Amature night, one of the two nights of the year it is dangerous to get out on the road, the drunks will be there and they are scary.
The serious drinkers stay home on that night. they might get killed


Wishing you and yours a Happy New Year for 2015.

 

You've given me some things to think about with my little '95 - is it a bottom breather as well? It runs warmer than I like when sitting still but since we got it this fall I won't know really how it acts until later this year. Will have to see where the fan kicks in vs. where the temp gauge shows. Yep, we're a little OCD about these, and from what I've heard from the guys here this is fairly common. We did replace The Most Common Sensor to be on the safe side already, and I know the fan turns on when the A/C is activated. Looking forward to warmer weather - but then DH will have to look at it again. I still have my Exploder as a back up, so we'll be fine....