I think another dealer is in order. It should be obvious to the service
manager that you take maintainence seriously and he should honor your claim
even if you can't produce oil change receipts ( I know I can't :-). Its this
kind of lame ass crap that has made extended (and expensive) bumper to
bumper warrantees so poplular.
Good luck,
Alan
On Tuesday, July 06, 1999 3:19 PM, Jeff Blankenship [SMTP:jblanken@itds.com]
wrote:
> I went to the Saturn dealer over lunch to have a look at the old parts.
>
> The good news is the chain appears to be intact, and the gears look to be
> in good condition as well, so I feel confident that there is not a major
> problem with metal particles in the oil. The true failure appears to be
> in the chain guides and/or the tensioner. One guide had plastic
clips/tabs
> broken off, and chipping on the pivot end. Each guide is a two-piece
> part, consisting of a plastic+nylon channel that the chain glides on,
backed
> by a metal part that bolts to the block. On one side of the engine, the
> tensioner pushes against the back of a guide to take up slack in the
chain.
> What looked odd to me was grooves worn on the face of the tensioner, and
> on one of the metal backing plates, as if something (the chain?) had been
> riding on them.
>
> Also, the tensioner itself was extended, possibly to its limit, I couldn't
> tell because I couldn't move it at all.
>
> Anyway, the service manager agrees that this is a very unusual failure and
> he says he will submit a claim to Saturn as soon as I provide
documentation
> for the oil changes that weren't done by Saturn, to show that routine
> maintenance was performed. I am hopeful that Saturn will reimburse the
> cost of repairs or at least a substantial portion of it.
>
> I am, however, still a bit insulted at the service manager's insistence
> that oil changes be done every three months regardless of mileage. That
> is just excessive pollution. He also said Saturn doesn't recommend using
> synthetic oil. When I pressed him for a reason, he said people run it
> 10,000 miles before changing it, and then have oil-related problems.
> Well, I might not go that far, but I can name people who do, and have
> 200,000 miles on their cars. Oh well, as long as he stands behind us on
> the timing chain, I can humor the guy. Thanks for all the support.
> --
> Jeffrey D. Blankenship Senior Technical Consultant
> jblanken@itds.com ITDS - TRIS
> neon enthusiast #478 Champaign, IL, USA
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